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Quality of service
3.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time
2.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism
3.0 out of 5 rating
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Value
5.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility
4.0 out of 5 rating
Great spot, but not so great to work with
We got married in the Lodge, which is really beautiful and also an amazing price for what you get. I loved everything about the venue itself. The event coordinator left a lot to be desired, however. I think one of the biggest selling points (if not THE biggest selling point) besides the cost is the fact that you can have animal visitors at your wedding. I let Hayden, the coordinator, know early on that I wanted to have animals before and during our wedding. I even dropped big hints about wanting a visit from the fennec if she was having a good day that day.
Communication with Hayden was very spotty, but I thought everything was on track. One week before the wedding, I sent her my finalized timeline which included when I wanted the animal guests. She then sent me a message back saying that because I hadn't told her I wanted animals, it was too late for us to have them. She said I should look at my contract, which stated that the handlers needed to be notified at least two weeks in advance. She implied that I was the one who was responsible for taking care of this step. I had copies of the months old emails I had sent her saying that I wanted animal visitors before AND during our reception, so I asked that she correct this HUGE mistake which was totally on her part. Having animals was the whole reason I wanted to get married at the zoo in the first place!
Because it was such short notice, we could only get parrots but she still charged us for all three of the the animal services (the greeting, demonstation, and walk about) which ended up being $750 extra. It's been six months since our wedding and I thought I would be less salty about it now, but I still wish she hadn't screwed that up. Parrots are pretty and all, but I definitely wanted a bigger variety of animal guests. Especially considering how much we paid for them.
TL;DR Get everything in writing VERY EARLY ON in the process if you're working with Hayden.
I'd also like to mention the food. At the point that we reserved our date, they were just transitioning to in house catering. We thought we were going to be able to choose our own, but ended up having to go with the one the zoo provided. The chef was really awesome though and did a great job with our dinner. The menu was pretty limited, so we chose street tacos. If I had gone with an outside vendor, I was thinking about maybe Asian noodle stations but there wasn't anything similar on the zoo's menu. I think if we had actually asked the chef to do noodles, he would have so going in don't feel like you're constrained to what items they have listed. The chef would be totally happy making whatever you could possibly want. He seemed like the type of dude that would like a challenge.
We got married in the Lodge, which is really beautiful and also an amazing price for what you get. I loved everything about the venue itself. The event coordinator left a lot to be desired, however. I think one of the biggest selling points (if not THE biggest selling point) besides the cost is the fact that you can have animal visitors at your wedding. I let Hayden, the coordinator, know early on that I wanted to have animals before and during our wedding. I even dropped big hints about wanting a visit from the fennec if she was having a good day that day.
Communication with Hayden was very spotty, but I thought everything was on track. One week before the wedding, I sent her my finalized timeline which included when I wanted the animal guests. She then sent me a message back saying that because I hadn't told her I wanted animals, it was too late for us to have them. She said I should look at my contract, which stated that the handlers needed to be notified at least two weeks in advance. She implied that I was the one who was responsible for taking care of this step. I had copies of the months old emails I had sent her saying that I wanted animal visitors before AND during our reception, so I asked that she correct this HUGE mistake which was totally on her part. Having animals was the whole reason I wanted to get married at the zoo in the first place!
Because it was such short notice, we could only get parrots but she still charged us for all three of the the animal services (the greeting, demonstation, and walk about) which ended up being $750 extra. It's been six months since our wedding and I thought I would be less salty about it now, but I still wish she hadn't screwed that up. Parrots are pretty and all, but I definitely wanted a bigger variety of animal guests. Especially considering how much we paid for them.
TL;DR Get everything in writing VERY EARLY ON in the process if you're working with Hayden.
I'd also like to mention the food. At the point that we reserved our date, they were just transitioning to in house catering. We thought we were going to be able to choose our own, but ended up having to go with the one the zoo provided. The chef was really awesome though and did a great job with our dinner. The menu was pretty limited, so we chose street tacos. If I had gone with an outside vendor, I was thinking about maybe Asian noodle stations but there wasn't anything similar on the zoo's menu. I think if we had actually asked the chef to do noodles, he would have so going in don't feel like you're constrained to what items they have listed. The chef would be totally happy making whatever you could possibly want. He seemed like the type of dude that would like a challenge.
Birmingham Zoo's reply:
Hi Stephanie!
I just want to start by saying, Thank you for choosing and supporting the Zoo on one of the most special days of your life. Your animal request should have been met with the utmost seriousness by our previous Events Manager, early in the process. I am SO sorry they did not meet your expectations! I am thrilled to hear that your experience with the food and our Chef was great- I will make sure to pass that word along to him. We pride ourselves on excellent food AND customer service, and we look forward to hopefully being able to show you the positive changes that have been made to our team since June. Please reach out to me if you have any questions, I am always here to help.
Erynne Sentelle
Catering and Events Sales Manager
