The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens Reviews

We had THE BEST experience working with The Living Desert as our wedding venue! Nicole and the entire staff were professional and communicative, accommodating and flexible to our vision as well as our budget, and overall just a joy to be around throughout the planning process as well as the day of. We were floored how they were able to transform our reception space to look as magical as it did! Our guests had a blast from start to finish! And of course, the giraffes were the star of the show!

Wow! This venue exceeded our expectations! Jared and the events team went above and beyond to make our wedding perfect. Our guests can not stop talking about our wedding. Every step was thoughtful,professional, and they made the entire wedding planning process enjoyable. Paul the catering manager was also a true professional and delight to work with. The food was delicious and beautiful. Setup was easy for the guests to navigate and his team made the experience so special. All the staff were top notch, and the animal keepers were over the top amazing! They spent so much time talking with the guests about the giraffes and making sure the feeding experience was awesome for both the animals and the guests. I can’t say enough about this group! I consider them all family and I look forward to using this venue again in the future and recommending them highly for any event, but if you want the most memorable wedding this venue has it ALL!
Thank you Jared!!

We loved every minute of planning and hosting our wedding here! The staff were amazing. They care so much about the amnimals, the venue, and about our event! They had many many reccomendations, which we greatly appriciated. The prices was reasonable and lower than almost any venue we found in the area, but no a thing about the evening felt cheap. I read in someone else's review 'the venue was so beautiful, all we had to do was bring chairs'. That was SO TRUE. Don't waste your time, energy, and money trying to beautify the venue, it's already AMAZING!!
We used Savannah's landing for the ceremony, the cactus garden for the happy hour, and the Palm Garden for the reception. Our guests had so much fun traveling around the zoo for different events all night.
Recommendations:
1) Do the animal encounter. We almost cut it because we didn't think our guests would care or like it, but they LOVED it!!
2) Give yourself more time than you think to do photos, there are photo opts EVERYWHERE!!!
3) The house caterer was great and really easy to coordinate with - no need to pay to bring someone else in.
4) We rented a bus to get guests to and from Palm Springs. The drive is further than it seems.
5) Really, don't worry too much about the decorations, they will get lost in the beauty of the zoo & desert.

I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS VENUE TO ANYONE LOOKING FOR A FUN FILLED, BEAUTIFUL, OUTDOOR WEDDING!!

Honestly, can't say enough good things about The Living Desert. The staff was great (and when you book here, there end up being A LOT of people involved) and the atmosphere was unbeatable. We got to feed giraffes and high five porcupines on our wedding day...WHAT! Such an unforgettable day and we feel so lucky to have had it at a unique venue.

Sheree at The Living Desert was so incredibly great to work with. From the very first tour of the grounds to the night of the wedding, she made us feel like kings of the zoo. This venue has it all. You wouldn't think it, but if you're getting married in the desert, please do not skip touring this venue. They have a beautiful patio for ceremonies, an amazing 'cocktail hour' area near an elaborate train set, animal encounters, and a gorgeous open-sky Palm Garden dinner and reception area with stage. Not to mention the incredible views you get for your wedding photos. This venue is stunning, everyone was so great to work this... the photos speak for itself. Def recommend!

A friend alerted me that one of our photos was on the venue site, which was a great reminder to write a long-overdue review. The Living Desert gave us the most beautiful, fun and memorable day of our lives! We set out to strike a certain balance—we wanted low-maintenance planning, while ensuring our guests had the time of their lives. The Living Desert delivered in a huge way. Everything went off without a hitch, and they blew our expectations out of the water in every single way. From the critical elements like the food down to the smallest logistical detail, the staff showed extraordinary creativity and professionalism. We have heard from more than a few guests that it was their all-time favorite wedding. Obviously we're biased, but we 100% agree!

Five years later, a loved one will call me and lead with "I was thinking about your wedding when..." followed by one of the many priceless memories that were made that day. I cannot thank the Living Desert enough for getting our marriage off to the most wonderful start imaginable!

i wouldn't change a thing, especially stacey watson and heather merryman (and okay, Zoya and the giraffes. and the warthogs. and the zebras. and hyenas. and Gulliver!!!!!!) i could go on. it's an exceptional place with an exceptional staff that shows what loving and living with nature should be about. thank you...

Tom did a fabulous job of making sure our event was spectacular. The Living Desert was the perfect setting for our clients beautiful wedding!

I recently had my wedding at the Living Desert Zoo and I cannot say enough how much I loved the whole experience. Stacey Watson, the special event coordinator, worked with us every step of the way. Though she was often hard to get a hold of, she really delivered during all aspects of the wedding. You can really customize your day, be it by the areas you choose or the animal encounters you have! We had our wedding ceremony in the Chase area off the Chase Administration Building and our wedding reception in the Irvine Patio area just a short walk away. The price was very very reasonable and many things come with the reserving the space, like the chairs and tables.

I'll post plenty of pictures, but really I can't express how amazing it was to have our wedding here! Thank you all!

We absolutely loved Stacey and TLD for helping us with our wedding/reception in April. She was always readily available to answer any questions, show us around (we went back a few times to see the spot), and to accommodate our needs (it was supposed to rain that day, so we were trying to come up with plan B on the day-of just in case).

She was fantastic, but there were some miscommunication/misunderstandings when it came to the other teams involved (catering staff, set-up, etc), so just make sure you double/triple check numbers and costs with all parties before you approve anything!

Venue couldn't have been better or come together more smoothly. Ran into some pre-event insurance issues, but Summer was able to sort everything out. It would not have happened without her help.

After confirming our wedding date with their wedding planner Nicole, and 3 months of planning which included multiple trips to Palm Desert to see the location and plan events, Nicole gave our date away. When I confronted her and asked how this could possibly have happened, she stopped responding to my emails. I strongly recommend looking elsewhere for a venue, Nicole and her team are completely incompetent.