The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore

We are so very happy we picked the Zoo for our wedding. We had a lovely lakeside ceremony with Kwanzan Cherry trees in full bloom and the reception was kicked off by a penguin! What more could we ask for from a venue? The Mansion House is unique and its' large windows make for a very open space. We have great pictures to prove everyone had a wonderful time. It's so nice to be able to have the ceremony and reception on the same property. There are a lot of rules that go along with a historic venue as you would expect. However, I felt the staff had our best interest at heart and was very responsive. The price is comparable to other sites in the city but here obviously your supporting the Zoo.

We would absolutely recommend this venue to anyone who is looking for a beautiful space and a little twist that will keep your guests talking! It has all of the traditional elements that is desirable about a wedding venue, but the option of getting "animal ambassadors" to make an appearance at your wedding is amazing. Our guests loved interacting with the penguin and the raven and we received so many compliments on how fun the wedding was. Many people said that they felt like they were no longer in the city with how green and beautiful everything was. Jane, the organizer is outstanding and helps ensure that every detail is correct and in place before the big day so you can just relax and go with the flow. We really can't thank her enough for her invaluable help and keeping us on track!

We had our wedding and reception at the Mansion House at the Zoo on 02.23.2013. Jane and her team were fantastic to work with--incredibly responsive and very knowledgeable and professional. We had a great event and all our guests raved about what a neat space it was and what fun they had. One of the perks of getting married at the Zoo is you can take pictures around the grounds--we have wedding pictures with the flamingos, in an old tiger cage, on the lions, etc.

Jane was AMAZING throughout our whole wedding process!!! She went above and beyond when the Zoo ran into some water damage that needed immediate repair which conflicted with our original date. She made sure we were entirely comfortable with the change and everything that was involved. Jane is so very helpful and very quick to respond to emails! I wish I could do it all over again!

Jane and her staff made the event so beautiful and memorable! The animal ambasadors added nicely to the evening.

I recently had my wedding at the Mansion house and could not have been happier. The zoo staff was incredibly helpful from everything from accommodating site visits to coordinating parking on the day of. Jane was so lovely to work with. She was professional and approachable and ever so sweet. The mansion house's beauty speaks for itself and I cannot imagine having my wedding anywhere else. The night was perfect.

I had the perfect wedding, and Jane from the Zoo had a lot to do with that. We had an outside ceremony at the Lakeside Pavilion and then our reception at the Mansion House. I can't even count how many compliments we received on originality, quality and beauty. We had to change our date and caterer mid stream, and Jane helped me tremendously, she kept me sane throughout the whole planning stage as well as event. We did not hire a separate coordinator so I was worried about my vision coming to fruition...you will have no worries if you use Jane and the Zoo. Some of the top reasons we chose the Zoo were because the price was reasonable, tables and chairs comes with your rental (unheard of), and they have a well orchestrated rain plan. I'm very picky and I wanted a beautiful and elegant affair, but I was on a budget, so I was concerned that a wedding at the Zoo would be cheesy...I could not have been more wrong. Our wedding was beautiful and elegant and exactly what I had envisioned. Many thanks to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and especially to Jane.

I would highly recommend this venue. The staff is amazing, particularly Jane. Jane was are initial contact at the Zoo and worked through all the planning process with us. I would say that Jane was a big reason we selected this venue. She is really professional and very accomodating. Although the Zoo has a list of approved caterers, we were able to select a different vendor by paying a slightly higher deposit. The venue is beautiful as well. The architecture is great and it sits in the middle of a beautiful park. We loved the fact that we were able to take photos in the Zoo as well as the surrounding park. The Zoo provided a staff member to take us and our photographer around various locations in the park for photographs. We opted for Animal Embassadors at our cocktail hour. The penguin and Flemish rabbit were hits with kids and adults alike. The costs are comparable to other venues in the Baltimore/Washington area, but you are helping to support the Zoo with this money!

The Mansion House Porch at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore provides a beautiful backdrop for a picture perfect wedding. Specifically, we utilized the Mansion House Porch for our reception. We worked with Jane during the whole process and she made it fun and easy to work with. She made it easy for our vendors to work with the Maryland Zoo.

We did hire two ambassador animals for the cocktail hour and the handlers of the animals were fun with our guests (well, of course the animals got a lot of attention too). We hired a penguin (Tails, who happened to be on the Martha Stewart show less than a month later), and Sam the Toucan.

We actually booked the Mansion House Porch first in the process of getting the wedding together. We have no regrets having our reception at the Zoo as it provided us with an opportunity to create a wedding day that really captured the essense of us as a couple.

This was the perfect place for us, and I have the highest regard for the Zoo staff. An absolutely fantastic location, and the penguins who came as our "animal ambassadors" were a huge hit.

The Zoo fit the bill for our outdoor, late summer ceremony. And the Mansion House porch was a delightful setting for our family friendly reception, especially with animal ambassadors. Jane went out of her way to answer questions, accomodate site visits, and assist with everything for our perfect big day. The only thing we didn't anticipate was other users in Druid Hill park on the day of our event - it all worked out, but we needed special signage to direct our guests past the supercross bike race.

I loved this venue. Of course we chose the Mansion House because we could have animals from the zoo at the reception. We chose 2 penguins. It was wonderful. Jane was an absolute delight to work with. The house itself is perfection! All in all, it was a day I will treasure always, and I'm sure our guests won't forget anytime soon!

I loved my zoo wedding! I had a beautiful outdoor ceremony at their Lakeside Pavilion followed by a reception in the Mansion House Porch. We had about 100 guests and plenty of space for eating and dancing (the facilities at the zoo can accommodate more, but we wanted a small wedding). It's a beautiful building in a beautiful setting. We even had some guests from the zoo come (two penguins with their handlers...yes, two penguins from the zoo came to our wedding! The Maryland Zoo lets you hire animal "ambassadors.") The staff at the zoo were great to work with. The only drawback was that it was a bit hot for a late summer wedding, even with two fans running. Other than that, I think it was perfect.

One of our favorite venues. It is beautiful and the staff make sure the whole day runs well. They are very photographer friendly, which helps us get stunning pictures every time we work there.

If you're looking for a unique and fun venue in Baltimore that your guests will NOT stop talking about, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is the place. In addition to having an amazing lakeside pavilion for your wedding ceremony, the elegance of the Mansion House porch is unequaled...not to mention, you can actually have "animal ambassadors" visit with your guests during the cocktail hour. Who doesn't want to spend time with a penquin?