Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Reviews

There aren’t enough words to describe how happy we are that we got married at the zoo. Emma from the Zoo and Mary from Aramark were an absolute joy to work with - very accommodating, professional, understanding, and responsive. Highly recommend getting married at the zoo if you want a unique/fun venue or even just a beautiful place!

We love the outdoors and wanted to get married somewhere fun – mission accomplished! It’s been over a month since we got married and our guests are STILL raving about how much fun they had, how delicious the food was, how incredible and unique the experience was, and praise the staff.

Logistics were a big deal for us. With a lot of guests, some with mobility issues, we wanted to make things as easy for our guests as possible. Having the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception at one location took a huge burden off of us and it was one of the best decisions we made. Guests that had mobility issues felt well taken care of and could easily navigate the space, and the staff treated everyone like gold. There was one small issue with the last tram up breaking down part way through the trip before the ceremony, but the staff remained in contact with each other and handled it without us having to stress/worry.

Mary and the Aramark staff were fantastic to work with. Mary replied promptly to all of our questions, countless “what if” inquiries and requests about allergies, was gracious about any and all accommodations and changes and so much more. We had a plated meal for 200 guests and everyone was served in a timely manner with delicious meals well executed. The contract also included linens, china, silverware, etc. so having a one-stop-shop for that took away a LOT of additional contracts/stress. With a lot of different allergies, some severe – they took the time to understand each of them and accommodate everyone which went a long way with our guests. They often times go places and have to bring their own items, and to be included/accommodated meant a lot to them!

Emma was an absolute dream to work with and her staff was amazing. The Zoo will assign a day-of coordinator and Emma went above and beyond to make the day special for us, and take as much stress off of us as possible leading up to the wedding. From accommodating separate visits to the venue to help alleviate stress/anxieties that our parents, officiant, baker, etc. had – I can’t imagine other places handling it with such grace and poise. They also set up our place cards, centerpieces, chairs for the ceremony, tables/chairs for the reception, etc. that we (and our family and friends) could just focus on what we wanted to that day – it was a huge relief and help.

From hearing the lion roar during our ceremony, to riding the carousel during happy hour, or exploring the Asian lantern festival and being in the beautiful Stillwater, we loved all of it (as did our guests). Great value for the cost and amazing people to work with. We love the zoo and are so happy that our guests now love the zoo, too.

Emma and her team at Stillwater Place was an absolute dream. She was always quick to respond, caring and the best event coordinator I could have asked for. She made all my visions come to life at the zoo. If you are considering a wedding at Stillwater Place, it is without a doubt worth a tour! We had out wedding in December so the winter lights were up and made the venue even more breathtaking. We received so many compliments about the venue and would do it all over again.

I’m still on cloud 9 from our big day at the zoo. We had our ceremony outside under the pavilion, cocktail hour at the carousel and reception in Stillwater place. A few days later and I am still receiving messages from guests that it was one of the best weddings they have ever attended… we feel the same way! We primarily worked with Emma and Mary through the planning process and let me tell you, it was a well oiled machine! The communication was perfect, they both went above and beyond for us. I will never be able to thank them enough for helping my vision come to life. Emma and the rest of the staff exceeded all our expectations the day of the wedding. They didn’t let the thunderstorms or rain interfere to the slightest and made sure everything we wanted still happened. Jersey was our primary server at the reception, she made sure me, my husband and our families were never empty handed and had everything we needed. I couldn’t recommended the Cleveland Zoo and Stillwater place more for your wedding venue. We miss it already and can’t wait to go back and visit!

From the beginning of the planning process to the date of, everybody was extremely professional, accommodating, kind, and more than helpful! Everybody that helped us make this day possible literally gave us the absolute wedding of our dreams, and we could not have asked for a more perfect day!!

Everything was beyond amazing for our wedding. Our guests were blown away by the venue and how seamlessly everything came together! Aramark was simple to work with, and our day of coordinator from the zoo, Emma, took care of absolutely everything. We couldn't have had a better day and event staff for our wedding. Thank you so much for helping us create the beginning of our adventure!

My husband and I were so happy to be able to have our wedding reception at Stillwater Place. It such a beautiful venue. The venue coordinators are super helpful and are very supportive. They worked with our other vendors to really pull off a great night. I was also very happy with my animals that I go to encounter with and some more personal pictures of some animals that were a bit more active at later times for professional photos. The lanterns were also beautiful and guests that didn't like dancing could go after the dinner to explore it was great! All over 10/10 would highly recommend if you love animals, nature, or just a beautiful venue in general.

We picked the zoo for our wedding because the venue is absolutely stunning, but the service is even better. We were not able to have our wedding as planned due to COVID, but the events staff (Sam and Alascia) at the zoo was incredibly kind and understanding as everything unfolded. Although we ended up having to do a smaller wedding and couldn’t use the venue at the zoo, I would HIGHLY recommend this venue. You will be taken care of no matter what happens!!

We're so glad we picked Stillwater Place as our reception venue. Our guests absolutely loved the carousel and animals at cocktail hour and enjoyed being able to spend time outside on the patio during the reception. Alascia really made our wedding experience with Cleveland Metroparks Zoo phenomenal. She was easy to get in touch with and provided quick and detailed responses to our seemingly neverending questions. Alascia went above and beyond in helping my maid of honor set up a surprise for us as part of her wedding speech which really meant a lot to us. It was such a relief knowing Alascia and her team were taking such good care of our guests and event! Our day would not have gone so smoothly without them! We are so happy we chose to have our reception at Stillwater Place. We all had an amazingly fun time!

Our wedding is next year but the team at the Zoo has already gone above and beyond to make everything perfect for our special day.

Our wedding venue was like no other! Total perfection and so unique! Alascia Jones was our consultant. She was always there for us to answer all our our questions. Nicole King our sales manager and Matt Piquet the general manager were professional and always available throughout the planning process! The venue itself is gorgeous ! We utilized the beautiful merry-go-round during our hors'de'vor hour. Everyone loved riding! It was perfect for pictures. It was like a step back in time! Bartenders, and waiters and waitresses were great! Food (we did a sit down for 260 people) was fabulous! The compliments came in via text and phone for days! We also brought in corn hole, giant Jenga and giant yahtzee for the back veranda. The fireplace outside next to the pond burned all evening! There was something for everyone! Dancers on the inside, gamers on the outside! We did an evening pizza bar as well. We also used Seballos bakery recommended by the zoo. The cake was beautiful as well as delicious! The hall is clean. Alascia stayed with us all night. Nicole stayed until the dinner was served. The attention given to us was perfect! I can't express in words truly how wonderful this night was. Thank you to everyone who made our wedding so perfect!

Alascia was amazing; our wedding went without a hitch. The food was fantastic, the venue perfect. I couldn’t be happier with how our wedding turned out. The servers were pleasant and friendly.

We were in the Primates, Cats, and Aquatics building for our reception. It was such a fun venue with all of the animals and they even brought some during cocktail hour you could interact with. Leah was fantastic in helping to coordinate everything and making sure all of the details were exactly what we wanted. She was incredibly friendly and helpful throughout the process. Nicole and the rest of the catering team were great as well. Also, very friendly and made sure the menu was exactly what we wanted. The food was great! Everything went smoothly and they were a great group of people to work with.

My daughter just had her wedding and reception at Stillwater Place at the Cleveland Metro Parks Zoo. It was an awesome experience. The Event Planning Staff and Caterer exceeded our expectations. Every detail was taken care of - giving myself and my wife time to enjoy

Excellent! Alascia Jones was our coordinator . She was awesome. Very good communication. AA++ 5 star. An asset to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo organization. Aramark was the catering company EXCELLENT food. All guests had high reviews! As parents of the bride we rate this 5 star and A+

We got married on September 8, 2018. The zoo and all the staff we interacted with were amazing! Alascia was our coordinator, and I could not have asked for a better person to work with! She was detail oriented, she thought of things that we forgot, and I could tell that she took the time to read all the long emails I sent her over our engagement. The zoo staff was very concerned with making our event what we wanted.

We ended up having our ceremony on Wade Deck. It looked beautiful. The reception was at Stillwater Place, which is a stunning building. Stillwater Place is building, but it has an outdoor patio with a fireplace. This was a bit hit among our guests; we received a lot of compliments on how beautiful the venue was. It allowed our guests to either stay in and dance or go outside and chat, where it was quieter. We also opted for a carousel rental during our cocktail hour, and a zoo volunteer came with an owl and an armadillo!

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and the staff we worked with (especially our coordinator Alascia) helped us get the unique, creative, and fun wedding we wanted. I recommend them to anyone.

I heard from many of our guests that this was the most unique fun reception ever! The planner Cindy was super friendly and helped make sure everything ran smoothly. The Aramark catering team provided great service and the food was delicious.

There are not enough words to express how amazingly friendly, accommodating, thorough, patient, creative and kind the Stillwater venue team were and are. They cared deeply and worked effortlessly to make my daughter's wedding absolutely perfect. The zoo was awarded to host the Asian Fesitval of Lights and Cindy offered our photographer a personal escort to take the bride and groom to photograph the amazingly beautiful lights. I highly recommend Stillwater not only for the beauty of the venue but how courteous and accommodating Cindy and her team are! Beyond happy!

We got married at the Stillwater Place and it was the most perfect venue I could have ever asked for. We worked with Cindy all throughout planning and she was wonderful. She was always prompt and professional and answered every little question I had and let me come tour the place MANY times because I wanted to make decisions in person. The wedding was perfect. The staff were so friendly and everything went so smoothly! We used Aramark Catering and worked with Danielle. She was AMAZING! The food was perfect and delicious. I would highly recommend the zoo to any couple getting married!

Working with the zoo, specifically Aulbrie, was so fun and easy and exciting! From the first inquiry to the day of, they were very easy to work with. They provided so much help during the planning process and even reached out to contact our vendors to make sure the day went as smooth as possible! Aulbrie and few others went above and beyond to help in any way they could and were even around the night of the event. The catering staff was awesome too! I couldn't be happier with the Zoo and I will recommend it to anyone looking for a venue! All our guests loved the ceremony, cocktail hour, the reception, and the food!

Everybody that we worked with went above and beyond from the moment we decided to even think about holding our event at Stillwater Place. It has been a long planning process but everything came together exactly as anticipated and a month later we are still getting compliments on the venue!!

We just had our wedding and reception at the Primate, Cat, and Aquatics Building at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo on July 7th. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the coordinators, and catering department at this location! When we were looking for the venue, and we met with Aulbrie, we absolutely fell in love with the ceremony location, and the reception location. They have so many options at the zoo too depending on budget. Aulbrie and Leah were the best coordinators I could have asked for! They were so helpful, and eased my stress with trying to plan out the wedding and keep everything on track. Aramark is the catering, and the food was AMAZING!! Kristin was great to work with, and was always quick to respond to any of my questions I had throughout the planning process. Depending on the amount of people and location you choose within the zoo, I can see it might get a little expensive, but it is worth every penny! The food choices were fantastic, and very reasonably priced in comparison to other locations available. And you won't get a more unique wedding than here!

Our daughter has always loved the Zoo and we recently held her rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony and reception at three different locations there. Cindy Roebuck, the Zoo's coordinator, and Kristin St. John of Aramark Catering and their entire staff exceeded our expectations of great customer service! They were professional, friendly and very easy to work with! They were able to handle a few last minute changes without any difficulty. Our guests just loved the venues: Wolf Lodge for the rehearsal dinner, Wade Hall for the ceremony and Stillwater Place for the wedding reception! We received many compliments regarding the food for both events - our guests were impressed! I would highly recommend the Zoo as a venue not just for a wedding, but for any important event. They made our daughter's wedding just about as perfect as possible!

We could not have asked for a better venue to hold our daughter's wedding reception. Cindy was fantastic to work with and was very responsive in getting all of our questions answered. I highly recommend this venue for a gorgeous backdrop to such a special occassion.

Very unique venue. Loved it!

Exceeded my expectations! The team at the zoo did an absolutely amazing job!

My husband and I instantly fell in love with Stillwater Place at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Our consultant was Aulbrie and she was an absolute dream. She met with us multiple times and answered every single one of our questions. We were able to contact her on evenings and weekends and she was always very prompt. With Aulbrie on our side, we didn't have a need to hire a wedding planner. She did that and so much more!

We started looking at Stillwater Place in October for a summer wedding. By October, every Saturday for the entire summer was already booked! We ended up choosing a Friday and couldn't have been happier. We had our ceremony at noon on Wade Deck. Our guests were allowed to enjoy the zoo while we went to go take pictures downtown. We had a cocktail hour outside and rented the Circle of Wildlife Carousel for our guests. They loved it! (The zoo even surprised us and brought an owl to our reception!)

The reception was inside at Stillwater Place and it was beyond magical. The venue was perfect for us. We wanted an outdoors feel, but were trying to avoid anything too rustic. We fell in love with the natural elements of the building from the ceiling to floor stone fireplaces, the large wooden deck on the lake, and the beautiful wooden beams in the ceiling. The only complaint I have is that we were so busy attending to our guests that we didn't have enough time that night to really soak in how beautiful it looked.

The exclusive caterer to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is Aramark. When my husband and I learned that, we were very hesitant because Aramark catered our college and work cafeterias. But boy, were we surprised! The food was the hit of the reception. We had two separate tastings with Aramark (a group and a private) to finalize our menu selections. We ended up having to make changes after submitting the final menu and they were so flexible. Our favorites were the rolled pork loin and the prime rib.

Easily the most unique venue to use for a wedding....which is why our family chose it. Very friendly staff and animals lol.

Beautiful setting, extremely helpful staff, couldn't have asked for a better day!

We had our reception in the rainforest and loved, loved, loved it! Our out of town guests were blown away by the waterfall as they entered and all the wildlife and vegetation made for beautiful pictures. A tropical get away, you completely forgot it was snowing until you walked back to the parking lot.

The staff was fabulous during our planning and on our wedding day. Very accomodating and went above and beyond what we expected. A great venue for a wedding!!

TLDR: Beautiful venue, helpful staff, had a dream wedding.

We got married in September at Wade Deck, with our reception at Stillwater Place, and it was like a dream wedding I didn't know I had. The facility is absolutely beautiful, and it was wonderful to have a back-up indoor location for the wedding in case of bad weather. I worked with Cindy Roebuck and she was great! She ensured the set-up of the name cards, table cards, and our table names and photos went smoothly. She and her team also coordinated the ceremony entrances so that we knew when to leave Stillwater Place to head over to Wade Deck. We paid extra for the guaranteed animal experience during the cocktail hour, with someone from the Education Department because we figured we might as well get the most of the zoo location. Our guests LOVED this part. We had a fennic fox and a barn owl that folks got to take pictures with and hear interesting facts about.
We limited our costs at this venue by not having a beef menu option, having donuts rather than cake (to eliminate the cake-cutting fee), cutting out the dessert that comes with the meal (saves $2 per meal), and having a consumption bar. The consumption bar was CLUTCH. If you have a crowd of moderate drinkers, this is the way to go, as opposed to an open bar. Guests don't know the difference, but you save huge amounts if your guests aren't averaging >5 drinks each.
Overall, I had the best wedding I could have possibly imagined for myself. I never thought I could afford to get married in such a beautiful place, and the staff helped make up for our DIY/cheap approach to the rest of the wedding. If you don't have a dj, the sound system is excellent to hook-up a laptop and use spotify playlists. You can control where it plays the music- the reception hall, the patio, or the foyer, or all at once. Really cool technology and really helpful if you are trying to cut costs by not having a dj/band.

Stillwater Place at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was the absolute best venue for our wedding! We were well taken care of there by the staff and everything turned out beautifully! We rented the carousel and had the small animal encounters during our cocktail hour which made it so much fun for our guests. Our ceremony was by the pond and our reception in the stunning Stillwater Place building which fit our large group comfortably of 250 guests. Catering was tasty! We enjoyed every minute of our day there and highly recommend!!!

Got married in the rain forest. Ceremony was inside with reception inside. Beautiful evening.

They offered the best value in Cleveland. You get two onsite staff for your reception who worked behind the scenes effortlessly. Very professional and our guests loved the location.

We held our ceremony and reception at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo this past May. My coordinator was Anne; she walked me through every step of the way, and was more than flexible with all of my requests for the ceremony at Wade Pond and our Primates and Aquatics reception. Mary took care of all of our catering needs for the wedding, of which we heard no complaints. The staff was wonderful and there for us during our day, we even had our own server as the married couple! We are excited that the Zoo is getting their own banquet center now, and will gain more business because they do such a great job! The total cost for everything was $16000 for about 160 people.

If you are interested in using a portion of the Cleveland Metroparks as a venue -- a VERY SCENIC venue -- for your wedding ceremony, it is best to request your site early.

We did. We got our site, and we had a perfect day.

The Cleveland Metroparks worked with us to make sure we had the right site and we did our best to communicate with them what our needs were. We had, again, the most perfect day imaginable.

All we needed our site for was the ceremony. We were in and out in less than 2 hours. There was no need for security or catering; we had no mess to clean up. When my husband and I left for the reception site, we had one person pre-determined as the stay-behind person to make sure there was nothing left behind at the site once all our guests moved on to the reception. There were no problems of any sort!! We didn't bring flowers -- I didn't even carry flowers!!

Instead of a bouquet, I carried a recycled brass bird's nest with 2 recycled glass eggs in it. It seemed to me a silly thing to take flowers to the forest. We also felt that the grandness of the existing forest beauty was decoration enough. It saved us plenty of $$, and our guests were awed by the location. It really was gorgeous.

But this is where you need to know about the "Flexibility" rating. Of necessity and to keep things from getting left behind (accidentally or deliberately), The Cleveland Metroparks has to have policies in place that limit the decorations you can use. We didn't have a problem with that. It worked with our philosophy, so as far as *I'm* concerned, they get the full rank of stars. But I think to reflect them accurately against other venues, 2 1/2 is a bit more accurate.

The pictures turned out great. It was such a fun ceremony!! I think this might not be the right venue for a person who has to be in control of everything, though, as we were (and we knew this going into the event; we actually expected it and looked forward to what kinds of things would happen) regaled by passing hikers and families with good wishes. No suggestions of "Run!!", which surprised both of us! ;-) We also heard a lot of loud conversations that hushed quickly when they came around the bend to see our group. It made the ceremony more interesting! But we would not have chosen this site if it hadn't had such a strong personal meaning for us and if we weren't the sort to have a sense of humor about it.

If you want a little more adventure in your ceremony, I really recommend having your ceremony in the Metroparks. It was gorgeous. Just have an indoor alternative, just in case Cleveland weather plays a trick on you!!

The Big Met is a wonderful location to get married and have your reception. We were married on one of the tees, and the background of trees and lawn for photos is just gorgeous. The terrace that adjoins the Big Met Clubhouse is an intimate location, with and outdoor flair. Our day was hot, so the kept the fans running and it was nice to have the covered area for shade. The staff was VERY nice and attentive.

Sam was awesome to work with! I wish we would have been able to do our event there. We had a problem in the beginning trying to book and we needed to change our venue site. My fiancé and I are paying for our wedding ourselves, so we had to go with something a little cheaper in our price range. The zoo is a beautiful place for an adventurous wedding.

The zoo was gorgeous. We held our reception in the primate, cat and aquatic building and loved it. It was so fun to eat and dance all night in a zoo. Our guests loved it. The zoo even brought small animals for guests to pet as they came in. However, the frustration that the staff put me through made the venue almost not worth it. The catering staff was a mess. My menu had to be redone at least once and the man I was working with went on vacation the week of my wedding without letting me know and giving me an alternative contact. The event coordinator was also frustrating. She emailed me the day of the wedding to let me know that someone needed to decorate the banister because she does not do that. She knew I was planning to decorate the bannister for a couple weeks in advance. I say I would recommend the vendor to a friend because I loved the venue, but the zoo staff definitely needs to be improved.

We went over there for tasty food a few weeks before our wedding night. We chosed a curried airline chicken and champagne chicken. We loved the way tasty and so delicious till our wedding night... both chicken was not tasty same as last time we tried it. It was kind of dry. We choiced their menu was green beans and marsh potatoes for our wedding night. They deliver incorrect food and it was not what we ordered. We hated that kind vegetable and we didn’t eat it. I was very disappointed because it’s OUR WEDDING! Why would we choice that food we don’t like it. Once a time in our lives. We will never forget this. It’s shame. Few staff who worked there at bar was rude to our guests. They don’t cares about us. They were not friendly. Especially Leah - she’s wonderful and best. It just her team staff not that great. I wish I have best experience like others did in the past. I will not recommend this to others. Wish you the best luck of choice! Everyone experiences may be different from my experience.