There are memorable weddings and then there are epically-memorable weddings. Feature the Woodland Park Zoo as your venue, add in a ceremony in a breathtaking rose garden, mix in encounters with ball pythons, tigers and tapirs, then cap the night off with karaoke and you’ve got yourself an epically-memorable wedding for sure! When Melanie & Nate shared their vision with me over Zoom I felt like I was going to fall out of my chair I was so excited for this wedding. My husband and I had karaoke at our own wedding but since then I’ve only gotten to photograph karaoke at weddings a couple times, so this was right up my alley. Plus, the zoo!! The Rose Garden at Woodland Park Zoo is such a beautiful place for a wedding ceremony! I love all the color and variety you can find. Check out the cocktail hour nestled into a little clearing amongst the rose bushes!
Melanie & Nate’s entire wedding day was absolutely unforgettable thanks to all of their very personalized decisions. Melanie’s dress by Wai-ching Studios is quite literally one-of-a-kind and that red ombre color fit her personality so well. I love how the layers flowed! Once the ceremony and cocktail hour were over, the couple and I got private access to the zoo after-hours for portraits! This is such a great aspect to weddings at the zoo – after hours access means the zoo is quiet and animals were out everywhere.
Easily the most incredible experience I’ve ever had at Woodland Park Zoo came while I was exploring with Melanie & Nate after the zoo closed at 6pm. We happened to pass a keeper on our walk through the grounds who mentioned the tiger was making a ton of noise, so we wandered over there to see if we could spot the tiger. Sure enough, we found it, pacing back and forth in the front of its enclosure. Melanie clearly has a connection with animals because she talked so sweetly to this big cat and it’s entire demeanor changed. We had to get moving to the reception so we bid farewell to our tiger friend but to our surprise when Melanie turned the corner out of view the tiger moved to the other side of the enclosure trying to find her again. Woodland Park Zoo has a viewing area of windows near the tigers so we walked to that side of the enclosure to see what would happen and, well, you will have to scroll down to see the photos. There’s just something about Melanie. Animals are clearly drawn to her and in this case it made for some incredible portraits of the couple in the zoo.
This wedding was an incredible day and was assisted by some truly awesome vendors – listed below. I’m so happy to have been a part of this team and would LOVE LOVE LOVE to photograph weddings at the zoo as often as possible.
The incredible vendor team:
Dress: Wai-ching Studio
Venue: Woodland Park Zoo Rose Garden
Catering: Bramble and Wood Events at Woodland Park Zoo
Coordination: Town and Country Weddings
Photography: Alexandra Knight Photography
If you’re thinking of having your wedding at Woodland Park Zoo I can’t recommend it enough! There are dozens of options for indoor and outdoor spaces on zoo grounds and packages often include animal encounters at cocktail hour! Melanie & Nate’s guest of honor was a ball python. The zoo has a long list of animal ambassadors, sure to make your cocktail hour extra enjoyable! Not to mention, it’s the zoo! Beautiful every where you look. I would be thrilled to photograph as many weddings at the zoo as possible!
