Chicago Botanic Garden Reviews

The absolute dream venue!!! The events team was so professional, had great communication, and was very kind. Anyone who has ever had the honor to visit the gardens knows the natural beauty and how well kept it is. I was able to take a tour and discuss the different areas available to host a wedding. We ended up having the ceremony and cocktail hour in the Rose Garden with reception in the McGinley Pavilion overlooking the lake. The Rose Garden had a natural isle with a tall wall of trees on each side which was gorgeous. The team did a great job setting up and blew my expectations out of the water. They have an on-site catering team which is top notch. During our tasting, the chef came out and personally introduced himself and was open to customizations but honestly the food tasted like a 5 star restaurant we didn't change a thing!!! I really wanted to create a magical experience for our guests and this was the perfect venue to do that. Lots of parking available, they create custom signs pointing your guests in the right direction, have on site security to ensure the safety of your guests, and don't even get me started on the AMAZING catering team. They came out like an army, so in sync to serve the food. Never interrupted speeches, and the nobody's glass was ever empty. They even assigned one staff member to the bride and groom who did an excellent job and made sure we were taken care of. I worked directly with Michelle from events planning and she is a rock star. I gave her a huge hug after the ceremony and will forever be grateful for all she did. Plus a huge perk of having your wedding at CBG is you don't need much florals... you are submerged in a work of art!! No need to add much at all, let the beauty of the venue speak for itself. All in all, this is a high end venue that I highly recommend for any couple looking for an out of this world experience on their wedding day. All of our out of town guests are still talking about how it was the best wedding they have ever been too. Ditch the boring banquet halls and host your wedding at the CBG!!

CBG was our first choice venue from the start. We could not imagine a more beautiful place to host our wedding day -- with the beautiful backdrop and natural setting, it feels like being transported to a different world. There are several wonderful locations to choose from too - we spent a few months debating before we landed on where we wanted our ceremony.

What we were pleased to find out as we got into wedding planning was that it’s supported by an extremely professional operation. The food from the in-house caterer is the best we’ve ever seen at a wedding (not just our bias! We heard this from a bunch of guests too), the team was easy to work with, and the day-of operation was seamless in execution. Finally, with a bride VERY hesitant about an outdoor wedding, we were thrilled with our indoor option, Krehlberg Gallery (ceremony) and the Bonsai Terrace (cocktails) -- even though it rained on our wedding day and we had to go with plan B, we think it might have actually turned out even better than if we had been outside. Many guests had no idea it was a plan B. Thank you to the CBG team for a wonderful day that was everything we hoped for!

Our family would totally recommend the Chicago Botanic Gardens for any reception. The evening was flawless from start to finish. Our guests were welcomed to the English Garden for cocktails and then lead to the pavilion for a scrumptious dinner. The service was impeccable because the waiters were efficient and not intrusive to the wedding celebration. In addition we were thrilled with the high quality of all of the hard goods Culinary Landscape provided. Everyone fully enjoyed their meals and loved the beauty of the lighted gardens as the sun set. We did not receive one complaint the entire event

Our entire experience with the CBG, Kristina Thomas, and their caterer was excellent! Book it now!

We had our wedding at the Chicago Botanic Garden in May 2015. Connie and her staff were absolutely wonderful to work with. The gardens attention to every last detail, made the day the wedding of our dreams. I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful venue in the Chicago area.

My husband and I had our wedding reception at the Botanic Gardens on August 2nd, 2014. It was an amazing experience! The venue turned out exactly as I had pictured (it felt like a dream). Mary Biller, the wedding events coordinator, was fantastic to work with! She was always helpful with ideas, vendors, timelines, anything! We didn't have a wedding planner but we really didn't need one! Mary helped us set up our little "extras" like the card box, escort cards, wedding favors so we didn't have to worry about anything!

I can't say enough about their catering, either! We had our wedding tasting a few months before the wedding and it was incredibly hard to choose our final options. The appetizers, salads, and main dishes that we ended up going with are some of the best meals we have ever tried!

It was so easy to work with the Botanic Garden - I can't say enough about the setting (it is breathtaking)! I would not look anywhere else if you want a gorgeous wedding venue with a great staff!

The wedding was amazing and we thank you for all your services. Thank you for making our wedding the most amazing day!!

Thanks

The Dunscomb Family

The garden has always been one of my favorite places! They truly take time to build a relationship with each couple throughout the planning process. There is no other place to host your event!!

The Chicago Botanic Garden was the perfect place for our wedding. Everyone was so helpful and accommodating to our wants and needs.

I received more compliments on the food at our wedding than for anything else!! The food was absolutely amazing from the vegetarian ravioli to the filet mignon! The catering service was also expert at delivering the meals in a timely and professional fashion as well as creating a friendly atmosphere at the reception. I was also very impressed that they were able to accommodate for food allergies. They were also flexible, serving an extra ice cream cake to the wedding party and extra plum brandy behind the bar that we brought in ourselves. I couldn't have asked for more, but I would have liked to ask for seconds. Amazing deliciousness at every turn!!

Chicago Botanic Gardens is absolutely beautiful. Once you see it as a possible venue option, it is hard to consider having your wedding anywhere else. Working with Kristina and her staff at Chicago Botanic Gardens was one of the best parts of my wedding. They were amazing to work with and always willing to answer the million questions I had. I couldn't recommend working with Kristina and Chicago Botanic Gardens highly enough.

The Chicago Botanic Garden was the most magical place for my wedding reception - beautiful, superb staff, great food, lovely setting, responsive, helpful, accommodating, the whole bit! I would recommend it to anyone and everyone!

The best service ever. The staff was amazing and there was such great care to every detail. Great flexibility in changing food options to our liking. The venues are beautiful and the staff takes care of you and your guests

Connie Bolle, was GREAT!! the gardens hold a lot of memories for us, and this is just one more. The food to really spectacular from Culinary Landscape, their own vendor..we were at first a little skeptical about using them but they really hit it out of the park!!!!! And we are total foodies! Thank you Connie for putting all of our worries to rest and helping put this event together without all the worries!!!!

Connie & Kristina from Culinary Landscape at the Chicago Botanic Garden absolutely WONDERFUL to work with- Their years of experience and professionalism made the planning process for my custom wedding menu flawless!!

Their service & staff blew us away. Our guests are still raving about our wedding day, and we couldn't have asked for a better experience!!

The ladies who set up my event were the most professional, polite, and helpful people I have ever met in my entire life. The Gardens itself is truly amazing, and really, every staff there was just so above and beyond, even if they weren't working with Facility Rental. Whitney, Tammy, and Ann were so amazing -- nobody should go anywhere else for any type of event. I was totally blown away! They treated my bride like a queen-- I really was impressed.

You literally cannot be disappointed by a venue this gorgeous. I had my wedding reception at the McGinley Pavilion and knew the aesethics would be perfect, but was delighted to find that the food and staff were outstanding as well. This dream wedding venue comes at a cost--but one that is totally worth it.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is an absolutely amazing site for an outdoor wedding. They have several unique outdoor spots for photos, ceremony, and cocktails, each with their own beautiful flair. The McGinley Pavilion can be transformed as much or as little as you want, and is wonderful just as is also. Looking out onto the lake, it is great both day and night. Working with Connie and all of the staff just adds to the smooth, professional, and all around amazing experience of having your wedding at CBG. Expensive, but totally worth every penny!

The Chicago Botanic Garden is an amazing venue. I can't think of a more beautiful landscape. The people who work there are friendly and professional, but can take a while to respond to emails. Connie, who is the head of the events at CBG, is wonderful. She worked with us overtime to make sure our day was the best it could be. They really went above and beyond to accommodate our requests. They do have strict rules on what can be brought in. Catering must be done through CBG and is fairly pricey. But it was delicious and the guests really enjoyed the menu.

We had our wedding at CBG in 2019 and it was excellent. We got so many compliments on the venue, catering staff, and venue staff throughout the evening from a lot of our guests. One of the main reasons we chose CBG is because of their location flexibility - it ended up being much colder than usual on our wedding weekend so we couldn't have our ceremony outside where we'd planned. But the indoor contingency plan (Nichols Hall) is SO stunning that we didn't care! Also their food is amazing, and they do a great job of accommodating various dietary restrictions. It's definitely an expensive spot, but the quality of service and professionalism make it worth its value. Highly recommend!

There are so many positive things to say about our wedding at CBG. My now-husband and I grew up near the Garden and were thrilled to book our wedding at one of our favorite places.

We had a beautiful outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour on the Rose Terrace, followed by a reception at the McGinley Pavilion. The space is simply breathtaking, to say the least. Despite being an outdoor venue, our DJ had no problem getting adequate power for the music set up. The space was not buggy at all, and we had several backup plans for inclement weather in place in advance of the big day.


In addition to the beauty of the venue, the Gardens' exclusive caterer, Culinary Landscape, was exceptional. The food was beyond delicious, and my husband and I are big foodies! Our guests raved about everything, many of whom said this was the first wedding food they actually enjoyed. The service staff were superb. They even surprised my husband and me with some private appetizers and wine by the pond immediately following our ceremony, which ended up being one of our most treasured moments of the day.

In the interest of full transparency, there were some snafus leading up to the big day. In the two years that we worked on planning our wedding with CBG, we went through three venue coordinators due to high turnover. The transition between coordinators was less than ideal, with uncertainty for several weeks regarding who we'd be working with. Our first coordinator was not responsive at all, and the second coordinator was rigid and lacked flexibility. The final coordinator was assigned to us just a few months before the wedding, after pushing management to assign us a new coordinator. The second coordinator arranged our tasting for only 4 individuals when she offered "4 individuals + your wedding planner," and was not accommodating when we arrived with 4 individuals plus our wedding planner. The coordinators led us to believe that lighting and draping was included in our package -- it was not, leaving us to arrange for lighting and draping with one of CBG's exclusive vendors at the last minute. I would feel uncomfortable recommending CBG without sharing these issues, despite being overall extremely pleased with the ultimate execution on the day of. (Granted, we had an incredible wedding planner who I'm sure was responsible for making sure it was an amazing day. Shout out to Blair from BW Studio.)

Overall, we had a great experience with CBG, and would absolutely recommend it. (In fact, my husband's cousin is getting married there in August!)

The Gardens are absolutely gorgeous in the summer, and my husband and I fell in love with the location immediately after we entered. Aside from the beautiful scenery, the Gardens provide delicious food from Culinary Landscapes, their in-house catering service, and all of our wedding guests were raving about the food and beverages. The catering staff were amazing and very attentive. The only smudge on our experience was that establishing and maintaining communication was rocky – especially towards the beginning of our planning process – and there were a few surprise expenses tacked on. All things considered, however, we would go back to CBG in a heartbeat – we had a fairy tale wedding.
Photo credit: Bonphotage