Holbrook-Palmer Park Reviews

Holbrook Palmer Park was a great location for our wedding! Beautiful, well groomed park with great amounts of outdoor space. Our wedding was kid friendly and the park had a playground, open grassy areas, etc. Coudn't be happier with this choice of venue!

I had my wedding at Holbrook Palmer Park (Jennings Pavillon) and thought it was great. It was a great balance of what my husband and I wanted for our wedding. The park is pretty flexible in terms of alcohol policies (top shelf liquor is allowed with permits) and they are flexible with your choice of vendors (caterer, band, florist, rentals, etc). No preferred vendor list or extra fees for bringing in your own vendors. We had to nix a lot of venues because of these issues. Price was reasonable, but even better if you were an Atherton resident. Julie, the Venue Manager, was great to work with and quick to respond to phone calls and emails. She knows the venue well and can give you good planning tips. The best thing about the venue is that you can make it however you wish (I chose to have my reception outside the patio under string lights). Since you have the freedom to work with any magnitude of vendors, i would suggest a day-of coordinator for this venue to help you execute your big day.

My husband and I married at Holbrook-Palmer Park in August '09. We chose it for several reasons: 1. We and nearly all attendees live in the Bay Area, so this was a great, centralized location, 2. We loved that we could do a ceremony and reception in the same place without it being a stuffy mansion or hotel (not our style), 3. The price was right!
Jean, the contact at the park was very helpful and is obviously very experienced in setting up weddings and events at the park. She knows what layout and positioning of various tables, seating, etc. work best, but is willing to change it up if you have something else in mind. As someone else mentioned, I would have preferred to be able to contact her by email. I was rarely available to call during regular business hours, but she was always quick to respond to my phone messages. There were no lapses in communication whatsoever, I was just so used to getting email addresses and cell phone numbers from other vendors, that it seemed strange that this park still seems stuck in the '80s.
The park itself is gorgeous. It required very little decor, as the flowers and trees are so well-maintained, it would have been a waste to cover them up with something else.
We loved that we could do the ceremony and dinner outside and as it cooled off in the evening, people moved inside for dancing (but the doors were still open for people to sit outdoors if they preferred). Everything was set up as promised so that when the caterers and rentals arrived, they could get started immediately. Overall, it was as close to perfect a venue as we hoped for and I would definitely recommend it to anyone considering it.

Holbrook-Palmer Park was a fantastic wedding ceremony and reception venue. There are a few different areas in the park, so your guests won't feel like they're "stuck" in the same place the whole time, even though everything is right there (which is so convenient). It's a very simple park and you basically work with just one contact there (Jean Cardona) who is great and responds quickly. I note the park as "simple" because they do things pretty old-fashioned---everything's hand-written and either mailed or faxed (even the floor plan diagrams were hand-drawn!). I prefer to do things online/over email, but generally it worked out fine.

The park is beautiful, and the staff set everything up just the way we diagrammed it to be. The park now also has two large storage PODS so you can actually bring some of your things early to store at the park 1-2 days before your wedding, which was really convenient (we brought our bottled water, etc.). The other great thing about HP Park is that they provide tables and chairs so you don't have to pay extra for a rental company to bring those things (you do still need to order linens and stuff). There are also nice little rooms for both the groomsmen and the bridesmaids to get ready/hang out in, which is nice.

This was definitely a great price and value, especially considering wedding venues in the Bay Area are pretty costly! (P.S. We also held our casual rehearsal dinner at the park---and it was in still yet a separate room/area!).

The park was gorgeous and I loved having my wedding there. For the size and the location, it's hard to find anything cheaper. If you live in Atherton or know someone who does, it's even more affordable. A few caveats: it's a public park, so you might have strangers watching your wedding, if that bothers you. I had my wedding in late June and didn't find this a problem, but I hear that there can sometimes be yellowjackets/bees. Also, I had some issues with the coordinator, who for the most part was very sweet--she initially promised me there'd be a piano, but a few weeks before the wedding told me it was unusable.

Still, it was a gorgeous place to get married and I'm happy I chose to have my wedding there.

Holbrook-Palmer Park is a lovely venue for a wedding. The central house has groom's room and bride's room for dressing, and a small ceremony could be held indoors in the main room in case of rain. Our ceremony was on the patio under the spreading oak tree. The reception was in the reception hall just steps away. So convenient, beautiful and relaxed.