Marguerite Gardens Review

I showed up at Marguerite Gardens this past July with a rather specific mission. Having recently landed A JOB, I wanted to make a nice terrarium to keep on my desk.

I know VERY LITTLE about house plants. Luckily, there's the Internet.

So I get there, with my list of possible plant options and some hope. I walk up to the gal in the store and lay out my list of requirements: slow growing, low light, small size, high-humidity tolerant.

Without batting an eye, she shows me a couple plants that should do the trick.   (The names of the plants weren't on a tag in the pot, so I have no idea what I bought.)

Here's the thing. I just had my 90 day review last week and the plants in my terrarium are looking AMAZING!

Anyway, I was ready to buy the plants. I realized I had everything at home to make my terrarium, except potting soil. On a whim, I asked if I could buy a pound or so, and she said "Sure!"
So I did.

My experience at Marguerite Gardens was completely positive. There was no pressure, or making me feel bad for my botanical ignorance, just a great attitude about helping me find what I needed.
(Completely opposite end of the spectrum to my experience at Gethsemane, down the street!)

I can't speak as to the flowers, but they hooked me up with the plants I needed. I am very happy with this establishment.

5059 N Clark St
(between Winnemac Ave & Carmen Ave)
Chicago, IL 60640
Neighborhoods: Andersonville, Uptown

(773) 506-6295

Scarlet Petal Review

I used the Scarlet Petal for my wedding this past August and I couldn't be happier.
I can't say enough good things about them.

After meeting with several florists about my then-upcoming wedding, I felt like I was taking crazy pills or something.  One was was way too much --even after given my budget they quoted me at two times the price-- the other was well within my price range but it looked like the flowers might be DOA on my wedding day.  With The Scarlet Petal I found one that was just right.  The flowers are top-notch at reasonable prices.

I worked with Jenny and from the second I met her she made me feel comfortable.  She had flash cards with every kind of flower imaginable to aid in our discussion.  I had no idea what I wanted, but she was somehow able to find my taste.  When the price was a little too much for my comfort, she reworked the entire quote to make sure we were well within my range.

The day of the wedding the flowers were delivered right on time and the girls were super helpful in showing my mother and his mother how to wear the beautiful wrist corsages (attached with a ribbon) and pinned on all the boutonnieres for the groomsmen.

They even added touches to the venue such as flower arrangements in the bathroom and petals on the bar.  They did say that they would do this in the contract, but my expectations were far exceeded by the quality and quantity of the arrangements.

You can't go wrong with these gals. Bravo and thank you Scarlet Petal!

1637 W Ferdinand St
Unit E
(between Ashland Ave & Paulina St)
Chicago, IL 60622
Neighborhood: Near West Side

(773) 486-0904

Estera Events Review

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I met and ultimately decided to have Hilary on board to help plan my wedding. I had met with 3 wedding planners prior to contacting Estera Events, each one left me feeling more and more frustrated. I started yet another search and came across the Estera Events website, I called Hilary right then and there and cannot express how thankful I am that I did.

I am not the most stylish person, that I'm sure, many can attest to - haha. I know what I like, but was having such a hard time envisioning a theme or style for our wedding reception. I had so many random thoughts and was on wedding overload thinking about all the possibilities.

Insert Hilary. We met multiple times in the early stages. She understood my concerns, listened to my ramblings about what I liked and didn't like, looked at my random magazine clippings and really took the time to understand my style preferences. She took everything into account and helped mold this amazing day, from linens to the smallest details on the escort card table. She also coordinated every aspect of the day, start to finish. She dealt with all the vendors, organized drop offs, she was the go-to person for everyone. I didn't have to stress about anything - just took it all in! Everything flowed seamlessly and we really had such an amazing day all thanks to Hilary, she really went above and beyond our expectations. If you're looking for a professional, dependable, creative, get-it-done wedding planner / designer you really will not be disappointed with Hilary.          

There were so many moments throughout the planning process where I second guessed myself on something - all I had to do was look at Hilary or shoot her an email to reaffirm the choices we had made. She truely is such a gem. My husband (still getting used to this!), my parents, my husband's mom... everyone took notice of how much Hilary did that day. So thankful and couldn't be happier with Hilary and the fabulous wedding day she created for us - truely the best day of our lives!!

3717 N Ravenswood Ave
Ste 239A
Chicago, IL 60613
Neighborhood: Lakeview

(773) 209-5203

Asrai Garden Review

We worked with Elizabeth Cronin (the proprietor of Asrai) for our wedding flowers, and we couldn't be happier with the outcome. Our wedding took place in my parents' exquisite garden, so we wanted flowers that would accent that in an understated way, rather than be the center of attention.  Our budget for flowers was also very low for a wedding of our size. So we didn't give Elizabeth much to work with, yet she somehow concocted the most beautiful, unique and creative flower arrangements. Bottom line, Elizabeth is really an artist.

Equally important, she was so accommodating when it came to our budget. She didn't pressure us to spend more than we wanted to. At one point I think I asked whether she thought we should spend a little more to make the flower arrangements on the larger tables a bit bigger. Surprisingly, she said that wasn't necessary and suggested other, cheaper ways to add abundance to the larger tables. Anyone who's been working with wedding vendors will understand that this response does not happen. Like, ever.

She also offered incredible value above-and-beyond simply creating a beautiful flower plan. We had a lot of do-it-yourself decor ideas, and Elizabeth was a fantastic sounding board. She came back with lots of other ideas to elaborate and had lots of website and store suggestions up her sleeve for the cheapest supplies, etc.

We'll be going here for our next project: a nice container garden for our terrace!

1935 W N Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
Neighborhood: Wicker Park

(773) 782-0680

Flor Del Monte Review

During our first meeting with Zenia from Flor del Monte, we already knew that we wanted her to do our wedding flowers. From the very beginning, Zenia exuded a sense of warmth and comfort with full professionalism. She made us feel very comfortable as we went through all the details and how we envisioned our wedding flowers to look like. We met with another flower vendor just so that we have room to compare but we didn't get the same feeling of excitement and relief as we did after meeting with Zenia. That was when we knew we wanted Flor del Monte.

I told Zenia about my color theme and what flowers I wanted and she also added in some of her own ideas which were fantastic. My bridal bouquet was just as how i envisioned it to be, if not better. I wanted something different for my bridesmaids and instead of mini bouquets for them, I got them pomanders. They were absolutely adorable and classy looking. My bridesmaids had such fun with their pomanders while calling it their "bowling ball" because it was a little heavier than it looked, but it was awesome! Now I wish I got a pomander for myself just for fun :)

Don't ask me why as I don't have the answer to this but my husband is nervous about pins on his clothes. It has something to do with being nervous about how the pins might accidentally poke him when he hugs people on that day. Oh well, I guess they don't call it irrational fear for nothing! At our final consultation with Zenia, when he realized that his boutonniere would have to be pinned onto his lapel, he pointed out to Zenia his concern and she suggested that instead of using pins, she would use a very strong and secure magnet that would make the boutonniere stick to his lapel.

I always knew that I wanted tall centerpieces for my wedding reception (it's one of those wedding "dreams"... lol) and I couldn't have been happier with Zenia's work: tall vase with white hydrangeas and overflowing willow branches. In lieu of a traditional guestbook, I described to her that we wanted a wishing tree and she executed it as well.

When we walked into our reception venue, I couldn't believe what a fantastic job Zenia did. She pulled it all together and that was enough confirmation that we made the right choice with Flor del Monte.

1900 W Cermak Rd
(between Damen Ave & Wolcott Ave)
Chicago, IL 60608
Neighborhood: Pilsen

(773) 523-3573

In Water Flowers Review

My wife and I purchased flowers for our wedding here. Natasha was very kind in her service and pleasant to work with. She helped think of ways for us to stay within our budget and not spend too much, such as using the altar pieces during the ceremony as the table centerpieces at the reception.We went in really without having much of an idea of what we wanted, but she knew better than to just throw out random suggestions. She asked lots of questions to determine what type of colors my then fiancee wanted. Afterward, she created a sample bouquet for her, which was invaluable because it brought out more feedback, with which she replicated exactly what my wife wanted. Natasha is creative but was not push at all. She insisted on giving us something that we really liked and chose ourselves. The delivery was on time and professional. They had things set up so quickly that we didn't even notice when they left.

2132 Fillmore St
(between California St & Sacramento St)
San Francisco, CA 94115
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights

(415) 359-1232

Sharla Flock Designs Review

It's funny, i first learned about Sharla Flock floral designs because my honey brought home a  postcard with her ad on it home from starbucks. This was Honey's way of helping with wedding planning. After crosschecking the yelp reviews and reviewing Sharla's website, I met with her and had a great conversation/consultation on what I would need for my wedding and her survey for planning wedding flowers was fabulous for putting clarity and precision to what would be needed for my big day. She was professional and gracious with delivering a gorgeous set of flowers for the bouquets, bouttineers, and corsages (pew decorations also) that totally vibed with our conversation on what I had envisioned for my wedding day. The colors and quality of the flowers were outstanding and they were robust and just, well, incredibly lovely.

3516 Sacramento St
Ste 12
(between Laurel St & Locust St)
San Francisco, CA 94118
Neighborhood: Laurel Heights

(415) 668-9905