ZooTampa at Lowry Park Reviews

My fiancé proposed me at Zoo Tampa on December 4, 2020, and it was an unforgettable moment! They pretended to be just a regular Koala encounter but actually it was a surprise and a very well planned proposal. My fiancé told me that the personnel at Zoo Tampa was extremely helpful, nice and kind. We are highly recommend this facility!

Planning a wedding is by far the worst thing I’ve ever done with my life. It’s so stressful and annoying, and it just gets worse and worse the closer the day gets. But everyone at Lowry Park Zoo was beyond incredible. I’m such a procrastinator, but they managed to get everything together. I was so worried the wedding day was going to be hectic and annoying, but the events team and staff made everything PERFECT. Everything ran so smoothly. Better than I expected, actually. I didn’t have to worry about anything. I am forever grateful to everyone at the zoo for making my wedding the absolute best it could have possibly been. Definitely choose them for your venue. It’s SO worth it, I swear!

When looking for a wedding venue, me and my now wife wanted a location that would be a fun and unique experience, and ZooTampa more than delivered. From the first meeting with their event staff, they were able to walk us around the venue and paint a picture of all the possible ways ZooTampa can host a wedding.

We were very impressed with all of the amenities provided by the venue. The outdoor and indoor areas ZooTampa offered were perfect for the ceremony and reception. One of the highlights was the cocktail hour, which was located next to the Giraffe habitat. Our guests were delighted to see one of the Zoo's Giraffe's out during this part of the wedding. The food that was provided by the Zoo catering team was fantastic. We had Ribeye, Chicken parmesan, and Mushroom ravioli on our menu and the staff was able to accommodate to any dietary requests.

Lastly, the ZooTampa staff went above and beyond to make sure everything went smoothly every step of the planning process and on our wedding day they were all there to help with everything.

Was a nice wedding and the food was amazing. Totally recommend

It was easy to set up! Every one at the zoo was prompt, professional, and available for every question I had. The experience was amazing and my fiancé loved it.

My now husband and I decided to reach out to the Tampa Zoo to see if we could take some wedding photos there. They were extremely welcoming and more than glad to have us and our small wedding group (4 people), and the photographers there.
They gave me many options for what I wanted to do when I emailed them. They were very quick in emailing and calling me to plan my special day. I paid for a private encounter with the giraffes, where one of the sales associates was there waiting for me. They lead us up the ramp where I was able to have unique wedding photos with giraffes behind us. They were fine with us bringing our photographers in, taking photos around the zoo, and using them for the giraffe encounter (instead of their own).
About 30 minutes later Courtney went looking for us and found us wondering around the zoo taking photos. She wanted to make sure everything was going well and that we were enjoying our day. I appreciate that they took the time out of their day to be waiting for us and check in with us personally.
I would highly recommend the Tampa Zoo for future events.

Our wedding at ZooTampa was amazing and everything we could have asked for! Karlin was the best and communicated with me all throughout our engagement. She was super helpful and made sure all of our requests were met. I highly recommend the Zoo as such a great venue to have a wedding. All of our guests were super excited to be at the Zoo and loved being able to see the Giraffes during our ceremony and then being able to feed them. We had the best time and I would go back a thousand times to relive that night.

Our journey with Lowry Park (now known as ZooTampa at Lowry Park) began rocky but turned out Beautifully. It will be a day we will forever cherish. We started our planning 2 years in advance and everyone that we met with was extremely helpful in allowing us to come look at the venue and quickly returned our emails/questions. Since we planned for 2 years our coordinator through the zoo changed 3-4 times which at the time was nerve wrecking but thankfully each coordinator was diligently in writing down all our requests so the next one was able to pick up with no issue. Nicole was the coordinator who we had the longest and actually handled our wedding day and she was phenomenal! The day of the ceremony was perfect with no issues relating to the zoo. Our guests loved getting to see and take pictures with the animals during are animal mingle. I loved having the giraffes and zebras as our background! Our guests are still talking about how good our food was! (One of my biggest regrets is that I wish I had gotten more or asked to take some with me at the end of the night because it was so good!)

I couldn't possibly say enough positive things about the venue and staff!! We had a fantastic wedding and the food far exceeded any expectations! I would recommend including the giraffe feeding and the exotic animal encounter to your event! If you're looking for a venue out of the norm ,THIS IS IT!

Getting married at the Lowry Park Zoo was the best decision we made! Our wedding guests are still raving about the venue! We worked with Nicole Morrison who was incredibly reliable and accommodating. The food was wonderful and having Nicole there to coordinate everything was invaluable. The giraffe feedings and exotic animal mingle was everything we could have wished for. Thank you!!

My now husband and I didn’t have a dream vision for our wedding during our engagement. We didn’t want to spend a huge amount of money on the wedding because we were paying for it ourselves. We had toured 2 venues and looked at dozens of websites for local places (we live in Pinellas County) such as beach hotels, museums, etc. by the time we toured ZooTampa at Lowry Park.
We had the pleasure of meeting Courtney for our tour of the zoo to see where weddings, cocktail hour, and reception could take place. We were informed of the additional packages to add that would allow for giraffes and elephants to be out on the savannah for the event. I am an animal lover – so naturally the possibility of having animals at our wedding sold me. We met about the contract and the choices we made were very reasonable for our budget. We were set and ready with our venue around August of 2019 for a November 2020 wedding in Africa Circle with a reception in Reilly Reserve.
And then Covid happened. While we began our wedding planning adventure with Karlin, we completed the process with Courtney (our tour guide). I cannot stress enough how AMAZING these two women were during everything. Courtney was super attentive. Communication was never an issue for us. She always replied as quickly as possible to all of my questions, concerns, and anxieties about the wedding relating to normal planning, Covid precautions, and weather plans. Just prior to our big day, Karlin was back and she really knew how to make a wedding flow without any hiccups. Courtney and Karlin were a dream team for us.
Now for the main event – THE WEDDING! It was more than I could ever have imagined! November 7, 2020 was just after the time change, and our ceremony began at 6pm (when zoo is closed and only your wedding guests remain). It was dark, but the market lighting in Africa Circle was beautiful. Just as I was about to walk down the aisle with my dad, Courtney tells me the lanterns in the trees are on. Looked like it was straight out of Tangled! As a Disney fanatic, it was icing on my ceremony cake. Heck yes! The patio alongside Reilly’s Reserve was a great cocktail hour space with delicious food and drinks. The giraffes were out (we paid for that) and one laid down right behind the bar. Our guests loved the uniqueness of our zoo wedding and being so close to the animals. Reilly’s Reserve was the perfect space for our intimate wedding and the food was beyond delicious – everyone raved about the mashed potatoes!

In all, ZooTampa was the perfect wedding venue for our wedding. Great communication, delicious food, and our dream wedding brought to life.

If we could give the Lowry Park Zoo a higher rating than 5, we would! Raegan Clements, Steve Riddle, Dawn Merritt and the rest of the staff were absolutely incredible and our Bat Mitzvah party was better than we could have ever imagined. Compliments to Chef and the entire food service staff for delivering AMAZING food that our guests were still raving about long after the party ended. We had dietary restrictions which limited us, but the quality, taste and presentation of the food and desserts was simply outstanding. The zoo staff really helped develop every one of our ideas and we could not have asked for a more professional, responsive team to work with. Our guests were truly blown away from the start with a cocktail hour outside Reilly's Reserve overlooking the savanna with giraffes, elephants and birds watching us as we watched them. The atmosphere of both Reilly's Reserve (smaller parties) and the Safari Lodge (larger parties) was fantastic. With 107 guests, we held our event in Reilly's with international food stations and had plenty of room to dance and celebrate without feeling crowded. There were absolutely no glitches or problems whatsoever and the zoo worked with our florist and DJ to ensure a seamless event. If you want to host your event at a unique venue with an exceptionally talented culinary team, you simply cannot go wrong with the Lowry Park Zoo!

The one word that comes to mind: FABULOUS!!!!
The staff at the Zoo is wonderful, respectful, helpful, AWESOME!!!!
The experience for the entire family, wedding party as well as the guest was WONDERFUL!!!!
We were pleased with every aspect of the planning process: WOW!!!!
The Zoo is a SPECTACULAR backdrop for a UNIQUE wedding: A truly MAGICAL DAY!!!!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!! :-) :-)

I had my March 29th wedding ceremony and reception at Lowry Park Zoo. It was a gorgeous venue and very unique which is what drew us to this venue. This venue is also very affordable. We worked with a few people along the way that I have to mention as they each did a wonderful job- Dawn, Steve, and Mianne. All these people made the planning process flawless and an easy process. I had planned to have my wedding ceremony in the Ituri Forest but due to rain this needed to be moved into the Safari Lodge which the Lowry Park Zoo team made this adjustment very simple and eased my fears over this process. Our reception was in Reilly's Reserve which was the perfect size for our wedding of about 60 guests. The Lowry Park staff were very helpful of trying to get the bride and groom the best involvement in the giraffe feeding and animal encounters we had purchased. They even brought the animals around to us as we were taking pictures throughout different areas of the zoo. Steve even helped us get over to the carousel for pictures at night in a golf cart so we wouldn't have to be away from our guests and the reception for too long. This was very helpful as the ground was very wet from the rain. We also had the extended safari which made for a gorgeous backdrop for the reception. Our guests have raved to us about the wedding saying it was the best wedding they have ever been to. I would recommend Lowry Park Zoo to anyone who wants a wedding in the Tampa area and is on a budget.

I can't say enough good things about the zoo and their staff. We had our ceremony in the Ituri Forest under the gazebo. We set up twinkling lights inside and had our ceremony in the evening. It couldn't have been more perfect! The cocktail hour was on the patio in front of Reilly's with the animals on the safari, a giraffe feeding and animal mingle. Everyone absolutely loved it all!! It made the downtime with pictures go fast and fun for all of our guests. Our reception was in Reilly's and it was gorgeous! The staff at the zoo was so helpful thru all of it. Between Dawn, Mianne and Michele with planning the wedding (as well as being there) to all the wait staff and bartenders. Everyone was friendly and made sure our guests had a wonderful time. And the food!!! I am still getting rave reviews about the food and it's been a couple of weeks since we got married. It was delicious!!! We did a buffet of a more "Thanksgiving Day" menu and everyone absolutely loved it all. I can honestly say that there is not one thing I would have changed about our night and not one single complaint about the zoo. I would recommend them to anyone looking to have a fun and different wedding!!! Perfect!!!!

I would recommend Lowry Park Zoo to anyone! The administrative and work staff have customer service down to a science. They were EXTREMELY responsive to all of my questions quickly, which allowed me to finalized wedding tasks effectively. They accommodate to every request.
Dawn, the Sales Manager was my first point of contact. She was excellent in listening to what we wanted, put everything in the contract and even came to the wedding to assist in any way she could.
Mianne, the catering manager. She was also very helpful and work hard and diligent to ensure the wedding was a success. I could never thank her enough.
Michele, the event coordinator pitched in to to do what she could to make things easier for me.
The Safari Lodge 5,000 sq.ft. room, provides the perfect inside atmosphere for a HOT summer wedding.
The food was top notch and probably the best price in town. We had a dual plated meal chicken/petit filet that was so tender you could cut it with your fork. The presentation of the meal was top notch. CJ, the chef in my opinion is the BEST. All the guests raved about the food. Service staff were very polite and engaged with wedding guests.

I recommend Lowry Park Zoo without reservation.

Jana Bearry

I couldn't be happier with my decision to have my wedding reception at the Zoo, and would highly recommended to anyone.
From the beginning I felt in good hands with the zoo's staff. Mianne was great in helping us find fun ways to customize our wedding to really make it our own. We had signature cocktails, which were a huge hit with our guests, and our appetizers during the cocktails hour were AMAZING! It was a perfect time for us to incorporate some of our favorite foods. I loved that they didn't make us choose our meal and appetizer choices from a predetermined menu, but really got a feel for what we wanted. Chef CJ actually created custom menu options. Our tasting was definitely my favorite part of wedding planning, although it was tough to make decisions because everything was so delicious!
On the wedding day, I felt completely at ease and new everything was being taken care of with great attention to detail. The day went so smoothly and people can't stop telling me how amazing of a time they had at our wedding. From the food, the beautiful backdrop, and the fun animal mingles, it definitely left a lasting great memory with me, my now husband and all our guest!

I had no complaints or anything I would change for my wedding day. The staff went above and beyond to make this a wonderful and fun experience. My guests loved being able to enjoy the zoo and our gorgeous view over looking the safari for our reception. The food was delicious and I have heard tons of compliments from my guests. The decor was perfect and I hardly had to do anything. They even assisted with my centerpieces I brought in to put together. So many places for photos that are beautiful also. All I can say is this was a unique and perfect wedding and anyone who likes animals should consider ( :
The staff really is amazing , all of them!!! They even coordinated my ceremony which was never rehearsed and went amazing!

I love telling people I got married at the zoo :)
Candace, Dawn and Mianne were great. I felt like everything was in control and was able to enjoy my evening. Guests raved about the food.
We included an animal mingle and giraffe feeding (though our giraffe feeding got rained out). The animals were a huge hit and the zookeeper who brought them in was happy to answer all kinds of questions from guests. The ceremony itself was held in a gazebo outside, in front of the Okapi area. Guests were able to see the animals and get that "zoo feel" throughout the whole ceremony and reception.
We had a wonderful time, got some amazing pictures, and had a very unique wedding. I highly recommend getting married at the Lowry Park zoo.

Zoo staff members worked diligently throughout the evening to assure the guests were well cared for. The little things that meant so much from directing the wedding guests to the ceremony location, providing food and beverage service, and at the end of the evening, assisting guests as they departed the zoo by providing security to their vehicles and directions to find their way home. Everyone was incredible and the venue was awesome!!!

Our coordinator Karlin was so helpful in making sure all our questions were answered and that we were thinking about aspects of the wedding and reception in a timely manner.
The day of was great, the zoo was so flexible in making sure we were comfortable and had what we needed. All the staff was friendly and available when we needed them.
It all went by in such a blur, but it was fun and memorable and we are so glad we chose Zoo Tampa at Lowry Park for our wedding.

I wanted two separate spaces for the ceremony and reception and the zoo offered this to us. We wanted something fun and all inclusive. The food was delicious and the vendors recommended to us by the zoo for D.J. and decor were perfect.

The Garden of Love was a green area where we chose to hold our ceremony. We wanted a park-like setting with the capability of a small seating area. Due to the number of parks in the area and hours, Lowry Park fit our schedule. We had the zoo from 9am in the morning until 1pm (4 hours). We took photographs before the ceremony and walked all around the zoo to capture some memorable pictures with great backdrops - even an Alpaca standing between us!