Philadelphia Zoo Wedding
From the Bride: Where to get married? My husband and I looked at a few traditional wedding venues (inns, vineyards, etc…) but found ourselves being uninspired. We wanted our wedding to be non-cookie cutter. My parents had been to many functions at the Philly Zoo around where I grew up and my mom suggested that we look there as an alternative wedding venue when she heard my frustration. At first, I thought she was kidding, but we made the trek home and instantly fell in love with the idea of a zoo wedding. The grounds were beautiful without being overdone, the venue spaces were so fun and unique, but still could be made formal enough for a wedding, and the party tent option fell right in line with what we wanted to design (or have our awesome wedding planner Kelsey design!), a setting for our reception that was beautiful and one-of-a kind. We also had the option to incorporate as much of the “zoo” (i.e., the animals) as we wanted or not at all. Being at the zoo though we opted for our ceremony outside the Avian Center at Bird Lake where we had a surprise peacock walk by! Our cocktail hour was in the primate house, which is an awesome industrial space with the added bonus of cute monkeys to watch, and our reception was in the Peacock Pavilion tent. Deciding to have our wedding at the Philly Zoo was one of the best choices we could have made. We are still getting compliments a year later and having our friends tell us they want their weddings to be as fun and beautiful as ours.
Credits & Resources
Florals: Cottage Flowers | Photography: Brie Castell Photography | Reception Music: DJ Gaetano Bosco | Ceremony Music: Ross Mann | Restroom Trailer: Restrooms Remembered | Lighting: Eventions | Rentals: AFR | Cake: Classic Cake | Event Planning: A Little Soiree
I love all the peacock detail on the invitations and accessories – what a great way to tie together the zoo theme! So cute!
Hey,
I absolutely LOVE this idea, and would love for my wedding to be there as well! Are there any details you can share with me about you wedding, approximate costs, hours included in the rental, how the food was and where you got it from?
Thanks!
Hi April,
This wedding was submitted to me from the photographer. I would suggest calling the venue to find out pricing information.
Hi April,
I agree with Cristy, and suggest reaching out to the Zoo directly. It has been over a year since we were married there and I am not sure if anything has changed since then. At the time the catering was done by the zoo caterer Aramark (we had to use them), and the food was really good. As far as details go on costs, rentals, and the wedding design etc… our wedding planner really handled everything. Her name is Kelsey Gilland of A Little Soriee right outside Philly. She was wonderful.
-Deb
I love the dress for the zoo wedding! It is exactly what I have been searching for my wedding. Do you know where it is from or the designer?
I am looking to have my wedding here but am hesitant because of the caterer. They are the same caterer that does the food at the stadiums in Philadelphia. Can you provide any insight other than it was good.. highs & lows, value for the money, things you would change, etc.
Christine,
We just featured the wedding, so we don’t have any reviews on the venue. Maybe contact the photographer in this post.