Piper Palm House

Great site - everything was beautiful and they were very easy to work with (and really affordable!).

First of all, the Piper Palm House is a beautiful place to have a wedding. We knew right away that it would be perfect for what we had in mind. However, we were very disappointed with several things. The rental coordinator’s response rate to my emails prior to the wedding was hit and miss – sometimes she would respond right away, but there were some questions that she never responded to. I did not know who would be our contact person on the evening of the wedding until two days before, and I had to ask this question several times before I got an answer. Two days before the wedding, we happened to be in the neighborhood and decided to drive by the Palm House just to see how everything looked. As we drove up, we saw that there was caution tape and bright orange construction barrels around the fountain and the Ruins. I started freaking out, and we walked closer and saw that the area around the fountain had been torn up in places and that the fountain had been drained. There was also some construction machinery in the area. This would be highly visible during our ceremony (guests would be facing this direction in our outdoor wedding), and we had planned to do first look pictures at the Ruins. We attempted to talk to someone in the office right away, but it was after 5pm and everyone had gone for the day. First thing in the morning, DH called the office and asked what was going on and why we had not been notified. The coordinator’s assistant told him she would check with the rangers. She then called me and said that everything would be moved by 12pm on the day of our wedding. Later that day at our rehearsal, I again checked with her to make sure that no construction materials would be visible, and she assured me they would not. I told her we planned to do first look pictures at around 12:30 and she said everything would be moved by then. Of course, the next day the guys arrived with the second shooter and NOTHING had been moved. They had to go to the office and tell someone, and they finally got it taken care of, but it put us behind on photos by about 30 minutes. At the reception, the “coordinator” was not really all that helpful – thank goodness we had 2 friends that took charge of setting things up, and one of our friends said the Palm House staff were kind of rude to her. The evening coordinator also never even introduced herself to us and never really spoke to either of us. I kind of got the feeling that they were only there to make sure we didn’t break anything. They had no idea where to find candle lighters to light our centerpieces. Also, the Palm House requires a $500 refundable damage deposit to be paid a month before the wedding. It was supposed to be refunded within 14 days after the wedding. It took 19 days for the deposit to be refunded to our credit card, and they did not return my original phone call about that either – we had to call them again. Overall, I would say it’s a beautiful venue, and we got lots of compliments on our choice, but their customer service is definitely lacking.

I loved the Piper Palm House!! It was beautiful and the staff was so wonderful.

Piper Palm House was great to work with. Everything went just as I hoped and was exactly what I wanted. Sometimes it was bit difficult to get ahold of someone but I usually got responses to my emails within 24 hrs.

The Piper Palm House was absolutely beautiful and our coordinator was very helpful. The acoustics in the building are great, the place was clean, and the picture turned out beautifully. The girls were able to get ready in the kitchen, but unfortunately, there was no place for the guys. Also, make sure no major events are going on at the park on the day of your wedding. Otherwise, parking might become an issue. We paid $700 for two hours, but it was totally worth it!

The location is gorgeous but they were doing construction during my wedding and there was orange tape up everywhere! I felt like I should have been warned that this could be a possibility when I reserved my date. The staff was helpful but didn’t do much in terms of coordinating on the wedding day. Luckily I had hired a wedding coordinator. They did a great job setting up the chairs inside the Palm House though. Another bummer is that you have to “hide out” in a kitchen area before the ceremony begins… not the most luxurious waiting area for the bride!

The Piper Palm House was a very beautiful and reasonable priced location. But, I was disappointed with the service. We rented it a year out with the hopes of taking photos around the gorgeous ponds. Little did we know (and they didn't bother to tell us) that the ponds were going to be under construction. Luckily, we were able to find one spot without orange construction barricade or a bull dozer for photos. I didn't originally tour the facility because I live in the area and was familiar with the location. However, a month before my wedding, I called multiple times trying to meet with someone and go over layout and answer questions. They were very poor in getting back with me, and stood me up on one appointment. We ended up not seeing the layout of the facility until the rehearsal. In the end everything turned out fine, but the stress was too much.

The Piper Palm House is an unique venue in St. Louis that strays far from the typical "hotel ballroom". The setting is a green house in Tower Grove Park, it stands amidst a lily pond and perennial garden. We had tables inside and out, with a tent covering the outside tables. The staff were helpful with providing names of vendors. You can not go wrong with this venue.