Bronx Zoo Wedding

This couple hosted their wedding at a zoo. They wanted a safari theme, the mother of the bride designed the insert cards, I printed and made the custom pockets. Her invite and RSVP wording was one of my favorites:

Hoooo boy...

FH and I attended a wedding at the Bronx Zoo the year before last. The aroma of the elephant pen perfumed the ceremony, held in that sort of polluted humidity that only NYC in July can muster. After the ceremony, you'll be herded over to the sea lions (who are admittedly cute) to drink the finest Yellow Tail (somewhat fitting, I guess) the Wildlife Conservation Society has to offer. From there, just when you think you will feel the sweet, sweet breeze of A/C on your face, you'll be shepherded through the Madagascar exhibit, which beyond being kept humid to, well, mimic Madagascar; is dark and has a downward sloping incline, making for an extra thrill for wedge heel wearers.

The reception is held in a giant windowless shed that was once the lion's pen. The dinner, served cafeteria-style, consisted of:

One Weight Watchers portion of salmon;

A chicken leg;

A potato;

And four asparagus spears.

I believe Aramark is their foodservice. I'll let you look them up; I have strong feelings about them after having subsisted on their food for four years in my college dining hall. FSIL and I both left around 10 because...we didn't feel so well.

It wasn't the greatest wedding I've ever attended.

It's a great idea in theory. The area they pick for the ceremony , while being unfortunately downwind, is beautiful. The catering left more than a bit to be desired. Jokes about misbehaving lemurs abounded.

Not in NY but am getting married at our zoo here in Seattle! My sister got married at our zoo about 4 years ago and it was amazing. (We also had a peacock guest!) from what I have heard from others that get married at zoos they have all had wonderful experiences, and like Celia said with the Bronx zoo most have in house caterers and are very good, no to mention a very unique venue!!

I've never been there for a wedding, but that sounds absolutely amazing!

View Quoted Comment How was it?? We are looking at doing a wedding there for next year but concerned about the food and experience...input would be appreciated!

View Quoted Comment We are actually getting married in 11 days at a different venue. We sat down and ultimately didn’t think it was for us. We were concerned about the smell, especially outside the rhino house, where the ceremony would take place, and we weren’t satisfied with the catering selection, that we would have had to pay for upgrades or extra options, when there were other venues and caterers that had more bang for the buck. It is stunning though, and anyone who really wants a wedding there and are happy with the options should absolutely get married there.

View Quoted Comment

How did you end up liking it, the experience and food?

Any suggestions on other venues in tristate/nyc then? we are still narrowing down our list....my concerns are the same ones you just mentioned.

View Quoted Comment Depending on your budget and willingness to either have everything done for you in one place or rent a “raw space” and being in outside catering, etc, we looked at and liked the following places: NY Botanical Gardens and Brooklyn Botanical Gardens - expensive even for the smaller capacity venues, but VERY generous catering packages and service, both large and small spaces are beautiful. The Renaissance Event Venue was nice, the Van Cortlandt Golf Lake House was ok, we also loved the Brooklyn Winery and the Picnic House and Boathouse in Prospect Park. The raw spaces we looked at were Studio 450, 26 Bridge, Greenpoint Loft, and we ended up booking the Midtown Loft and Terrace. We looked into a lot more places, but there are tons of options in the area at various price points.