Brookfield Zoo

Our day was truly amazing, the zoo was a perfect place to host our special day ceremony and reception-despite the hurricane like weather. Terry is amazingly helpful, organized and gets the job done! We enjoyed every second of our day, no worries on our end-Terry took care of everything! Our only criticism was that a few guests were not directed to the right parking lot (making the guests walk a further distance), however this was no big deal and can be easily fixed!

If you are looking for a truly unique, beautiful venue-the zoo...

We had our wedding at Brookfield Zoo and had the most perfect day! From the outdoor ceremony, to the cocktails with giraffes, and the Discovery Center reception, everything went off without a hitch. The bridal party even got our own private carousel ride after the ceremony which was SO MUCH FUN! All of the details and the perfect weather made for a very memorable event...I can't wait to see all of the pictures!

We recently had our wedding at the Zoo and it was wonderful! I loved every minute of it! Guests still comment on how great the wedding was. It was over 90 degrees the day we got married and they had bottled water available to guests. The guests all reported how much that helped with the heat! The staff was very nice and kept asking if we needed anything throughout the night. Kathy did a great of coordinating everything. She responded quickly to emails and answered all my questions no matter how many I asked! I would highly recommend the zoo to anyone for a wedding.

OMG! What can I say! The zoo was awesome and we were treated like royalty from the moment we booked up until the reception ended. The food was terrific, Terry, our event planner, went above and beyond the call of duty. He helped me so much with many of the details of my day and gave me some great advice. The staff was great and everyone was pleasant and super friendly. The reception was more than I even imagined. From the cocktails in The Living Coast to the dinner and dancing at the Discovery Center, never once did I feel that my wishes were ignored. It was worth every penny. Do not let anyone tell you the zoo is too expensive. If you add up everything you would pay extra for at other venues, it is the same price, if not less. The service is impeccable. Everyone will remember this event for a very long time!

I am so glad we chose Brookfield Zoo for our reception! Every single staff member was helpful and friendly when making our decision. Our Wedding isn't until next year, but we are very happy with the surroundings, and are confident in our choice. The Giraffe enclosure is so cool, and all of the locations are such a good mix of nature and elegance. I will update this review after the Wedding!

I love this location because the ceremony, cocktail hour, and the reception can all be in the same location. The cocktail hour is included in the price of the reception and it makes for really easy budgeting because the cost is provided as a per guest cost including the drinks. Contrary to the website, the ceremony can be held on site as well, and they charge for location and chair rentals. The cocktail hour is in one of the exhibits and that's what sold us on the location because of it's orginality.

Highly recommend. Prices were comparable to other locations we looked at, and includes that unique factor not found at other locations. Ceremony was held along the Roosevelt Fountain at sunset. Cocktail hour was with the giraffes (not with my original choice of the dolphins b/c the zoo decided to send them on "vacation" after my booking) and was amazing--very personal and very cool. Reception was in the Discover Center room. Food was amazing. Terry Rothamer was our coordinator thru the entire process. His personal attention helped keep me at piece and ensured all day of items were attended to. He even made sure I was staying warm for the photos (50 degress). Could not have asked for a more perfect venue to hold my wedding. I got nothing but great comments about getting married at the zoo. Highly recommend, especially since the zoo was willing to work within our budget

OUTSTANDING!!!!! ACCOMMODATING is an understatement! CUSTOMER SERVICE unbeatable! next to Disney World, i cannot think of a place i have been treated more kindly! One of our guests said "This is like a hollywood production!" The walkie talkies i think sealed that vision! From the first visit to the last moments of our wedding reception, ALL zoo staff members made it a point to ensure our wedding day was picture perfect..and it was! The food is delicious: made with insight, design and talent! The venue is unique and beautiful with many great photo ops! Many of our guests were completely impressed with our wedding and were so excited to say they went to a wedding at the zoo!! Many had no idea what to expect and they were pleasantly surprised! I would recommend this venue to anyone who wants to create a memorable day for themselves and guests alike! and i cannot say enough about the exceptional service we received from EVERY STAFF PERSON we came in contact with while planning this special day! From the wedding coordinators, to the catering staff adn special events staff, and zookeepers and shuttle drivers and bartenders....my hat is off to you all!! You are such wonderful people to work with on such a special ocassion and we cannot thank you all enough for helping us create this day! If you want to be relaxed and have every detail thought of for you on the day of your wedding, the Brookfield Zoo is the place to be ladies and gents!!! No joke, we were amazed, our guests were thrilled, and my parents felt it was worth every penny!!! From a black tie event to a small casual outdoor or indoor wedding, the zoo will work diligently with you to create the day you want! THANK YOU KATHY S, ANDRES and many other zoo staff member i cannot even remember your names but you all were so wonderful and made this day so enjoyable!! And a special thank you to the funny and always amazing Great Apes and animals in tropic world, the hippo was a hit! We love all you creatures!

The Brookfield Zoo is the most amazing venue in the Chicago-land area.
We had our ceremony in front of the Roosevelt Fountain, it was a beautiful day. With the flowers, fountain and sunset as your backdrop I can't imagine anything more perfect. Even their temporary Dinosaurs Alive exhibit with the T-rex behind us was embraced by all. Our only issue is that our aisle runner was forgotten, but the aisle is so short anyhow, and truly no one noticed.

Our guests were then escorted by Zoo motor safari to our cocktail location, while getting a personalized tour of the Zoo. Our cocktails were in with the giraffes, which was spectacular. The giraffes are amazing and were trying to get up close and personal with some of the guests.

Our reception was in the Discovery Center, which is a very unassuming building from the outside but has a gorgeous room in the back. They had set up one of the ajoining classrooms as the bar area with little tables so people could get away from the music if they wanted.

I think as we spoke to our guests every single person told us how wonderful the food was, the chef is a 4 star chef and did not diappoint even while cooking en masse! The waitstaff was great as well, and even our vendors were treated like superstars and commented to me about the wonderful food and how they were consistantly asked if they needed anything. Which I appreciate, because you want your vendors to be happy as well!

One thing I had been worried about having the ceremony while the regular zoo guests were still there, but I was totally in the zone and didn't even notice the strangers watching the proceedings.

We did also have a first look, which I think is a must there, because your ceremony/cocktails/dinner starts early evening, it does not give you much time for pictures and such. They have several locations that are pretty secluded and not as well traveled by guests where they suggest doing a first look, and it really did give us a sense of relief and release of anxiety to see each other. Then we were carted around the Zoo and so many wonderful people shouted out congratulations to you, it made you feel like a superstar!

I also DIY'd everything myself, from the ceremony decorations, programs, reception centerpieces, table numbers, candy buffet, etc. I was able to drop off a truckload of our stuff a few days prior to the wedding and explain how I wanted everything. There were a few things that didn't get set out quite as planned, but again none of your guests will notice and everything is not going to be perfect. They were very good about packing up everything for us to pick up the next day.

Our coordinator was Terry, and he is a wonderful human being. He has been in the business for 17 years or so and he truly does know what he is doing. I told the whole bridal party, to just do whatever he tells us to do and it all worked out ok.

The Zoo package includes cake from Rolfs Patisserie which I will review in a separate review.

The Brookfield Zoo was a truly memorable venue for our wedding reception. Terry was easy to work with and was able to make everything we asked for a reality on our wedding day. The zoo is a unique venue and our guests really enjoyed the cocktails with the animals. The food is excellent and beautifully presented. The staff made sure that everything we needed was taken care of. The day of our wedding, Terry was there to make sure everything was the way we wanted it and he also ensured that we were able to make it around the zoo for numerous photo opportunities. I would highly recommend the Brookfield Zoo for a wedding venue. The value for the cost is great, especially because the "per plate" cost includes dinner, drinks, cocktails with the animals, guest parking and admission, wedding coordination, motor safari transportation, and more.

Terry and his staff were very accomodating to us. We had our ceremony and reception at the zoo. My husband and I along with our guests were very impressed and happy with all the wonderful services provide. Thank you Terry!!!

Let me begin with Cathy Seybold is my HERO. As far as I'm concerned, she has super powers that I am in awe of.

Our wedding experience was unbelievable from beginning to end. I had always wanted to get married at Brookfield but thought it out of our budget. My Mom insisted that we tour it anyways... and wow, am I glad she did. It turns out the Zoo is just affordable as the other venues we were looking at but had the added novelty of cocktail hour in an animal house. Also, the packages included things most places charged extra for... cake (FROM ROLF'S), appetizers, open bar, etc. We had an awesome tour of the zoo and saw all the venues we could choose from... and had our deposit down a few days later.

Cathy Seybold is so responsive it blew my mind. I could have an email in to her with questions and receive a response within 30 minutes. She was always helpful even when I was feeling like I was being obsessive.

The day of, EVERYTHING was taken care of. We came into the Zoo early for photographs and then had our ceremony at Roosevelt Fountain. It all looked perfect. We then had cocktail hour in The Swamp. Everything ran smoothly.

Tram ride to the reception. While the tram driver CERTAINLY could have been friendlier (he yelled at SouthPaw... yes we had the Sox mascott at our reception) he was such a minor part of the operation that it didn't matter much to us.

Our reception in Bocadidos (I'm sure I'm spelling that wrong) was BEAUTIFUL!!! We cut our guest list so we could do it in there instead of the Discovery Center... it just had more personality in our opinion. Our coordinator, Eman (I hope I'm spelling her name correctly) did a wonderful job making sure everything was running on schedule. She came up and introduced herself and did a great job managing everything.

I would highly recommend Brookfield Zoo and Cathy Seybold for your events!

Terry at Brookfield Zoo made the process fun and exciting. I felt like I had my personal wedding planner. He helped with all the arrangements for the zoo and gave me pointers on many day of issues. The service is out of this world. I felt like queen for a day. Anything I wanted they made happen. Not only is the Zoo full of beautiful spots to hold a wedding, the food is fantastic. The hors d' oeuvres were delicious. The chicken dinner we chose was absolutely mouthwatering. Everyone loved it! The night was fantastic! I had a great time and know that our family and friends did as well. If I ever have to do another wedding, I would do it here again in a heartbeat.

The zoo staff was so great! The treated us like royalty the whole day-- anything we needed, we got! Terry, our event planner was great- always very responsive and willing to make time for us to come out to visit the zoo or discuss ideas. Our banquet manager, Andreas, was awesome as well! The food was great, our guests all commented how the day could not have been better- all thanks to the zoo!

We recently had an amazing wedding reception at the Brookfield Zoo! The cost of the basic wedding package is comparable to other hotels or receptions sites in the area. It includes a cocktail hour in an animal exhibit and a very tasty 4-course dinner, as well as the cake and little details such as a sunset tram tour for the guests and a zoo keeper in your exhibit during cocktails. The service is exceptional, and the event planners help the you easily and efficiently choose the details of your evening with little worry or fuss. All in all, I HIGHLY recommend the Brookfield Zoo for anyone who loves animals or is looking for a unique wedding reception experience.

You cannot beat the venue for a wedding. The service was amazing, the venue is unique, and the food is first class. We had many of our guests write us notes after the wedding telling us how this was the best wedding they had ever been to. The staff at the Brookfield Zoo is wonderful and will work with you on every detail. The cost of a wedding at the Zoo is comparable to most hotels and reception halls in the Chicagoland area. The Zoo is an amazing place for a wedding and would highly recommend this venue to anyone.

The zoo is best for weddings very late in the day, as dinner cannot begin before 8:30pm due to the zoo's closing time. It's a very fun atmosphere to have your cocktail hour in an exhibit. The zoo tour is also fun and cute. Dinner feels a little casual because the Pavilion has stone floors and if the AC is on it makes a very loud background noise. Our head table was very poorly lighted and we felt like toasts were being made in the dark, and we weren't able to get someone to change it on the spot. MAKE SURE to clarify with coordinator about who runs the dinner schedule. We were under the impression that the banquet captain or some appropriate zoo personnel would make sure dinner, cake cutting, etc happened on time. That is not the case. Apparently you are required to have someone run the entire evening, and the banquet captain takes instructions.

Our dream reception was held at The Brookfield Zoo. The site was simply perfect and the dinner served was phenomenal. The special events coordinator at the zoo helped to plan many of the details of the day and coordinated with the other vendors involved in my reception. She did a beautiful job. There were a couple of bookkeeping and payment issues that we ended up having to deal with the day of the wedding, that we thought were taken care of well before. And the only other minor glitch in the evening was that the cake was served much later than we had hoped, and we were not given the top layer of our cake at the end of the evening. Otherwise, it was a delightful and unique reception site.