Riverbanks Zoo & Garden
About This Vendor
Riverbanks Zoo & Garden is a unique zoo wedding venue located in Columbia, SC. Boasting over 2,000 animals and breathtaking gardens, this is sure to deliver a showstopping location for your special day. You might even make friends with some local wildlife, elevating your wedding portraits to a truly one-of-a-kind level. You can choose to have all or just some of your wedding day at the Riverbanks Zoo & Garden. The ceremony can take place after the zoo closes, prefacing a joyful reception on its grounds, perhaps including portraits of you and your wedding party. You'll be spoiled for choice when selecting your ideal locations to exchange vows and enjoy your meal, with five different areas on-site. Ndoki Lodge, Tuskers, Magnolia Room, The Birdhouse, and The Aquarium Reptile Complex all offer different natural backdrops as well as mouth-watering menu options. The ARC would be ideal for an intimate gathering with its picturesque coral reef tank, while safari-themed Ndoki Lodge can host up to 500 guests. SSA Group, LLC is the zoo's preferred on-site catering team. Executive head chef Andrew Humphreys is passionate about personalizing your wedding menu to deliver incredible dishes that are also sustainable. You and your partner can select from a variety of meal styles, including hors-d'oeuvres, a buffet, stations, a plated dinner, or family-style. Bar services can ensure every guest is ready to raise a toast of beer, wine, or cocktails. You can opt for the bar to be consumption, full, or cash, as fits your vision and your budget for the day. Guests can also enjoy beers on tap at the Watering Hole on Ndoki Patio: this beer garden would be ideal for a summertime celebration. Moreover, the team can provide your sound system, lighting, setup, and cleanup for the event. If you want a gorgeous natural adventure on your wedding day, consider reaching out to the fabulous team at the Riverbanks Zoo & Garden.
Amenities + Details
Ceremony Area
Dressing Room
Handicap Accessible
Indoor Event Space
Liability Insurance
Outdoor Event Space
Reception Area
Wireless Internet
Covered Outdoors Space
On-Site Accommodations
Guest Capacity
Up to 300
Settings
Garden, Park
Venue Service Offerings
Bar & Drinks, Food & Catering, Rentals & Equipment, Service Staff
Pricing for Riverbanks Zoo & Garden
Browse Riverbanks Zoo & Garden's pricing PDF for sample services and estimates.
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Riverbanks Zoo & Garden Reviews
5 out of 5.0
14 reviews
5 Star
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Kayleen Edmonds and the team at Riverbanks were awesome. I had my wedding on June 3rd, 2023 at the Ndoki Lodge. It was amazing - service was awesome and the setup was painless. Fully recommend this venue!
Response from the Vendor on 06/08/2023
Nicholas, it was an absolute pleasure working with you and Madeline! Thank you so much for choosing our beautiful venue for the backdrop for your reception! I enjoyed watching your big day unfold. We are wishing you a lifetime of love and ha...
ppiness as you take on the world of marriage together. Thank you for your kind words; I enjoyed working with you two!
My experience at the botanical gardens was so amazing! The gardens were so gorgeous. Kayleen was on point! Anything I needed she was right there for me. The food was excellent and the staff was very respectful. I highly recommend having your we...
dding at the Riverbanks Botanical Gardens! ❤️
Response from the Vendor on 05/26/2023
Congratulations to you and Brandon! I'm so grateful that you selected us in creating your dream day. It was a pleasure working with you and getting to watch your big day come to life! We are wishing you two a lifetime of love and happiness!
Kayleen Edmonds went above and beyond for my wife and I at every step of this process for our wedding. It was an absolutely seamless process, and we felt like we were a priority to Kayleen and her team. The day-of wedding was seamless, and Kayl...
een and her team were professional and gave us incredible service. In a world where weddings are incredibly overpriced, we felt we got an immense value at Riverbanks Zoo & Botanical Gardens. We would recommend this venue and Kayleen as the venue manager to anyone!!!
Response from the Vendor on 05/26/2023
Jon, congratulations to you and Christine! It was an absolute pleasure working with you two in making your dream day a reality! Thank you so much for sharing the photos; you both looked incredible. I'm so glad you chose to host your wedding ...
with us in the Magnolia Room. It was truly a beautiful day!
Any questions?
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden had great communication with me throughout the wedding planning process and the day of! It was very easy to work with them on wedding details and it was an affordable option. The venue for the ceremony and the receptio...
n were both beautiful and unique and our guests loved everything, especially the food. I would absolutely recommend this venue and loved every part of our wedding at the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden.
Response from the Vendor on 12/22/2021
Hello Rae! We loved working with you to create a magical day for you two! We are so glad that you chose us and Ndoki Lodge to bring your perfect day to life. Thank you for the lovely feedback!
We got married at the Botanical Gardens and it was more beautiful than we thought it could be! Amanda was so pleasant and professional to work with through the entire process. The catering staff gracefully put together our plated menu and worke...
d with ease throughout the night. The prices were very reasonable with catering and the venue included- and I couldn't have imagined our day differently. The space is perfect and the staff is even better!
We worked closely with their catering and special events department and I have to say I could not have been happier! They had great communication leading up to the event, and day of was even better. Whenever we encountered a problem they were q...
uick to work with us to find a solution in a fast and professional manner!
If you are looking for a beautiful event space with a phenomenal staff I could not recommend the Riverbanks Botanical Garden catering and special events staff more!
Absolutely loved having my wedding here! McKenzie was fantastic to work with. He made sure that we were well informed of everything that was happening and what all of our options were for last minute details.
Our venue Day Of Coordinator Sara...
h was superb - we could not have asked for anyone better to make sure we were well taken care of! Her positive attitude and quick thinking for hiccups made sure that everything ran smoothly.
One suggestion for future brides - request more food than anticipated. Our biggest challenge was that guests were on the hungry side and took more food than the suggested serving size.
Response from the Vendor on 05/03/2019
Thank you so much for that awesome feedback, Erin. We truly enjoyed getting to work with you to help celebrate your big day! It was great getting to know you and your family. As always, stay in contact and if you ever would like to stop by, ...
please do!
Everything was perfect! We had our reception at the Ndoki lodge and it was BEAUTIFUL! McKenzie went above and beyond with all of our requests. The food was amazing too!!
Response from the Vendor on 01/17/2019
Thank you for those kind words. We loved being able to host such a special day for you and your family! We wish you many years of happiness. Congratulations again!
They are very helpful and know their stuff. The wedding went off so smoothly because of their help. Mckenzie Roland helped us and he was always quick to respond and always helped us get anything done.
We chose to have both our ceremony and reception at Riverbanks Ndoki Lodge, and we loved every minute of it! Our coordinator, McKenzie was absolutely amazing. Because we were planning our wedding from overseas, it was so important to have every...
thing taken care of at one place- and we got exactly that. I would highly recommend having your wedding at Riverbanks Zoo!
Response from the Vendor on 03/07/2018
Hey there! Thank you for choosing Riverbanks to host your very special day. It was a honor working with you and your family to make your big day a success! We wish you many years of happiness!
After looking at many beautiful venues we stumbled upon the Ndoki Lodge at Riverbanks Zoo and fell in love. At first, it might look a little rustic but I believe this venue is a hidden gem. The lodge looked absolutely stunning on the night of ...
our wedding reception. The wrap around windows gave us an outdoor feel but with air conditioning! Our guests enjoyed exploring the zoo on their way in to the lodge. You can also use the outdoor area near the lodge to have an outdoor/indoor feel. The lighting is beautiful with tiki torches, lanterns in the trees, and cafe lights throughout the lodge, which are all included in the rental. They have a built in sound system that we used during our cocktail hour before our band started playing. Tables, chairs, and table linen were included also. This saved so much money not having to rent lighting, table linen, and decor for catering tables. The zoo does their own catering and it is SO YUMMY with lots of options. The planning process was smooth and easy with McKenzie Roland. The only issue we had was not knowing where the event coordinator was on the night of the reception but luckily the other staff stepped in and helped us out. I have been to many weddings in Columbia, and I may be partial but the Ndoki Lodge is by far my favorite :-)
Response from the Vendor on 07/24/2017
Thank you so much for your review! It was a pleasure working with you and creating such a special evening for everyone to enjoy.
Excellent venue, Excellent value! The events staff were great to work with, very helpful with organizing our other vendors and family friends helping with setup. They even coordinated a last minute change to our ceremony set up. We were so tha...
nkful when a storm set in right before our ceremony- they assisted our guests to shelter, kindly waited for our decision to move the ceremony under cover or wait out the rain and proceed. The guests were all happily surprised to find their outdoor ceremony seats towel dried when they returned for the ceremony. We had the ceremony beside the flamingos near the entrance, the bridal party was able to use the indoor space at the seal lion exhibit while waiting for guests to arrive and during the rain. We utilized the option for giraffe feeding before the reception held in a beautiful African safari-themed lodge! Food was delicious with many options available and we actually got to eat some and had to-go boxes made for later! I cannot say enough about the great service we received and McKenzie and Olivia were excellent to work with.
Response from the Vendor on 08/11/2017
Hey there! Thank you so much for your kind words. We loved being able to host you and your guests for such a special evening!
I cannot praise Riverbanks or my planner, Olivia Cotton, for all their work in making our wedding day perfect and beautiful! Olivia laid out all our options and answered all of our questions. Simply the best staff and venue ever!
The Riverbanks Botanical Garden was a wonderful venue for a wedding. You can have your ceremony and reception there. I had my ceremony outside in the garden with the reception indoor/outdoor. I had about 165 guests (including bridal party) and...
we were very comfortable in the space. You and your guests have access to the entire garden for the night. There is an attendant at the front to help direct people to the ceremony, and a tram available for a very low fee to run back and forth from the parking lot to the ceremony/reception site for the duration of your event. The board room (with lots of mirrors) and a bathroom are available for the bride and bridesmaids to get dressed. The staff is wonderful and extremely helpful throughout the planning process. Catering is on site - you are not allowed to use any other catering service. You have many bar options from a corkage fee to them providing the full bar. We chose to bring our own alcohol and pay the corkage fee and it worked out really well! They have a preferred vendor list, but are very open to you bringing other vendors in. I did have a little bit of an issue with a photo booth company that was not on their list, and the event staff at Riverbanks helped me out tremendously by dealing with and solving the issue for me! Compared to other venues, I felt that the fees were reasonable and had lots of inclusions (tables, chairs, basic table linens, etc.). The only drawback is that your wedding ceremony cannot start until about 7:30 in the evening because the garden has to be closed and then there has to be a little time for setup, but this was not an issue for us! One thing to know - they do have a minimum amount for you to spend on catering, so it may not work for you if you're planning to have a very small wedding.
Contact Info for Riverbanks Zoo & Garden
500 Wildlife Parkway, Columbia, SC
Meet the Team
Kayleen Edmonds
Coordinator
Hey there! I'm Kayleen, Social Events & Catering Sales Manager here at Riverbanks Zoo & Garden. Since joining Riverbanks Zoo & Garden, I have planned and detailed over 100 weddings and have enjoyed every second of making couple's big days a reality! I would be your point of contact for your facility, catering, bar, and rental needs for your wedding at Riverbanks Zoo & Garden. I hope to hear from you soon and can't wait to see your special day come to life!
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Riverbanks Zoo & Garden