Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

Truly Unique

Holds ceremonies and receptions

4.0

Praised by couples for:

Helpful staff

Amenities

Guests comfort

My husband and I had our wedding ceremony and reception in the aquarium on April 1, 2017. It was absolutely perfect. The venue was beautiful and Lancer Catering did an amazing job. Chip and Michael were fantastic in the planning process. We were able to tour the facility more than once to bring in outside vendors to see the site, questions were answered almost immediately throughout the entire planning stages and they were so flexible with our requests. The day of the event was absolutely perfect. The staff was amazing, the food phenomenal and overall, it could not have gone better. Our friends and family have raved about everything and I owe a lot of how well it all went to Chip, Michael and their staff at Lancer Catering.

Gloria C.

5.0

We had our wedding in the pagoda room. It was marvelous, the staff was amazing and helped set up and take down. We dealt with the same 2 ladies the whole time, so it was nice because they knew what was going on.

Courtney R.

5.0

With sweeping views of Puget Sound and Mount Rainier, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium offers a romantic, picturesque setting for your wedding day. Our distinctive venues set the scene for memorable events from intimate ceremonies to large receptions. Book by June 30th,2013 to Receive a 10% Discount.

90+ years in business

Speaks English

Just me

Amenities + details

Amenities

Ceremony Area

Handicap Accessible

Indoor Event Space

Reception Area

Settings

Ballroom

Mountain

Park

Tented

Venue Service Offerings

Food & Catering

Planning

Any questions?

4.0

out of 5.0

8 reviews

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Brittani S

4/09/2026

We had our 2026 wedding at the Tropical Reef Aquarium. The food was wonderful! I read reviews with people saying it wasn't good but many of our guests and us really enjoyed the foo...

d. The staff working was kind and helpful. Our main complaint was that the wedding ended at 8 pm and it was extremely dark in the zoo and exiting was difficult. Our guests and us had to us our phone flight lights to get out safely. I had elderly guests and I know they had issues leaving safely. I wish there were some kind of lighting during these late events. Other then this, this was a wonderful venue and I was glad I had my wedding here!

Gloria C

5/07/2017

My husband and I had our wedding ceremony and reception in the aquarium on April 1, 2017. It was absolutely perfect. The venue was beautiful and Lancer Catering did an amazing job....

Chip and Michael were fantastic in the planning process. We were able to tour the facility more than once to bring in outside vendors to see the site, questions were answered almost immediately throughout the entire planning stages and they were so flexible with our requests. The day of the event was absolutely perfect. The staff was amazing, the food phenomenal and overall, it could not have gone better. Our friends and family have raved about everything and I owe a lot of how well it all went to Chip, Michael and their staff at Lancer Catering.

Any questions?

Amber S

1/12/2017

The Point Defiance Zoo is awesome but the caterer they use, Lancer Catering, is the worst! Even if its your dream wedding location, RUN from Lancer Catering. Our event went horri...

bly and it was 100% Lancer Catering's fault. Our main contact whom we'd been planning with for months left our wedding without telling us and after he left our event fell apart. Food was taken before people were done eating. the catering staff was extremely rude to our guests, the catering staff was overheard saying inappropriate things about shutting the event down, the catering staff was seen drinking wine we provided in their back room while the event was still going on, the power to the DJ got shut off at 10pm and we paid for the space until midnight, the catering staff did nothing to help get the power back on until one of our guests offered them money, the catering staff cussed at and called security on our DJ while he was trying to get the power back on, security came storming in with a DOG, the catering staff closed the bar at 10pm and blamed it on everyone being "wasted" when it was only a handful of people that they could have cut off if they were truly behaving so badly. Since our contact who should have been handling these issues left the event, the groom spent his evening trying to handle all of these situations instead of being with me, his bride and all of his guests. Basically it seems like once you give Lancer Catering your money they stop caring. My husband and I have been trying for 3 months to rectify our issues and they are non responsive and unprofessional. We will go up to a month at a time (or more) with no response to multiple emails. We will have planned phone calls and they will not call. Their mission claims they "conduct their business with the highest level of integrity" and "strive for excellence in every area of our business" but I have yet to experience any of that from the staff on the day of the event to the management we have been dealing with since. I will definitely never use Lancer Catering or any facilities they cater again and recommend anyone reading this save themselves the disappointment and find a location that does not use Lancer Catering.

Response from Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium on 01/31/2017

We hope that readers of this review will understand that there are two sides to every sto...

ry. Here is ours. The most troublesome circumstance of the evening was the overconsumption of alcohol. Multiple individuals were intoxicated and our staff found two bottles of a type of liquor we don’t carry in the event space and presumably consumed by the event guests. In her own words, the bride has stated that “only a handful” of people were “wasted”. When our bartender cut off the intoxicated individuals, guests became aggressive and threatening toward the staff. The bartender closed the bar because she was concerned for her own safety and the safety of others and we fully support her decision. With regard to the DJ, this 3rd party vendor arrived without proper extension cords and failed to follow the instructions of our staff regarding which outlet to use for his system. He instead plugged his system into an outlet that was timed to limit light exposure to the jellyfish exhibit. When the outlet timed out as it was programmed to do, he lost power. In search of power he entered a jellyfish life support area. Our staff sharply told him to stop, and called the Zoo’s maintenance staff for immediate assistance in restoring power. The maintenance person was walking the Zoo’s service dog responded immediately. This was not an intimidating law enforcement canine unit but an adorable small beagle named Herald. Power was restored within 15 minutes. With regard to dinner service, the bride and groom contracted us to begin dinner service at 6:45. Unfortunately the bridal party disappeared after their ceremony and didn’t return until 7:30. Dinner was ready at 6:45 but not served until 7:30 - due to the wedding party not being present. The buffet was removed at 9:30. We feel this was reasonable and guests had ample time to eat. We would not be in this business if we weren’t passionate about helping our clients celebrate defining life events. If anyone reading this review has reservations about Lancer’s services, I would be happy to discuss any aspect of our policies or performance. Jamie Quickert

Courtney R

7/27/2013

We had our wedding in the pagoda room. It was marvelous, the staff was amazing and helped set up and take down. We dealt with the same 2 ladies the whole time, so it was nice becau...

se they knew what was going on.

Cheryl F

9/05/2012

We loved having our wedding in the plaza at the zoo. We both worked there years ago so it meant something to us. Heidi was helpful and so was Kelsey. I did not like that we were fo...

rced to go with their choice of caterer though.

Leah C

8/17/2011

Beautiful location for a reception. We had the plaza and the South Aquarium with the small shark tank, which provided a lot of entertainment later on in the night when it got chill...

y outside. The peacocks also made an appearance during dinner. Biggest negative is having to wait until the zoo is closed, as we had a lot of down time between ceremony up in Seattle and the reception.

Ruth M

8/02/2011

We used the education center located inside the zoo. The room was simple, and easily decorated. Our guests loved being able to walk out into the zoo. The staff were very attenti...

ve to our needs while we were planning.

Alyssa H

8/29/2007

The reception in the aquarium was different and fun for our guests. They said they really enjoyed looking at the sharks and different fish and enjoyed being in a public zoo after ...

hours.;You have to use an onsite caterer. The catering manager changed 3 times after we booked and we were always the last to know. Everyone was slow to return calls. At the reception we received some food that we didn't order and didn't receive food we had requested (and pre-paid for). Guests complained that the staff was rude. The bar opened late and ran out of drinks. They also served boxed wine (Franzia) after we had been promised good, local wine.

Service area & Contact info

5400 North Pearl Street, Puget Sound, WA

Open map

(253) 404-3823

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Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

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