Chicago Botanic Garden

atering 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 maintain 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)

e they put into our day! CBG on the other hand was pretty terrible to work with. We are giving two stars rather than 1 because the venue is absolutely gorgeous and the food was delicious (though that is Culinary Landscapes and not CBG, technically). The problem is that CBG was horrifically unresponsive and unaccommodating. Being the reception venue, all of our other vendors depended on communication with them to be able to do their jobs properly. We had 5 different vendors complain about not being able to get a response from CBG, even in the days before the reception. Two vendors said something along the lines of "not believing how inattentive CBG was" and "CBG being the worst experience they've ever had trying to get in touch with the venue." We could hardly get a response on an email, even after escalating. We started the journey after booking in Sep 2020 with Kelsey, who was extremely helpful and as responsive as she could be. When the pandemic hit it seems the events team came under new management and in the final months leading up to our big day, they were simply a nightmare to work with. Nobody would respond to emails, calls, even when we were trying to reach them to pay an invoice at a deadline (we ended up paying a week or two late because no one would answer). After Kelsey, we kept reaching out for a new contact to work with and they couldn't point us to anyone. You can imagine the stress this would induce for a couple as the big day approaches - not able to coordinate or make adjustments with the largest vendor that they are paying the most money to! The day of, the train of my dress was stolen and I reached out to CBG afterward and they made no effort to recover it or look at security footage. I had to follow up maybe 3 times over the course of a week to even get a response. Never found the train. We also asked that they package up the remaining cake (we had estimated ~70 extra servings) & the remainder of the late night snack spread to take home. We even confirmed this with them during the reception and they agreed. At the end there was "nothing left" - so either they were helping themselves in the back or threw it out in lieu of packaging things up with the boxes provided by the cake vendor. Finally, during the food tasting they messed up our request and served us the incorrect dish - (fish, which my husband is allergic to). When we requested to try a different one in its place, not feeling comfortable serving our guests a dish we hadn't tasted ourselves, they told us there was no possible way to schedule that. Overall, it was just the kind of inattentive, poor service that rubs you the wrong way, and that's NOT what you want on your wedding day. CBG was the source of 98% of our stress in the two months leading up to the big day. I wish we couldn't relaxed and enjoyed our engagement a bit more in those final days instead of worrying about getting a response from them. The gardens are absolutely gorgeous - wow what a venue! But just proceed with caution knowing they will be difficult to work with :/ Again, we considered not posting this - but on your wedding day of all days, we want other couples to be aware and hopefully have a smoother experience!

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!!

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!)

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!

eption in the McGinley Pavillion. It was a fairy tale come true. The venue is breathtaking, but beyond that the entire experience was unbelievable. Our CBG wedding event planner, Kelsey, did a fantastic job. The entire staff is top-notch. Our dinner was delicious, with impeccable wait staff, bartenders, security, etc. It was all around a wonderful experience. I highly recommend the CBG for a truly magical, beautiful wedding/event.

en. The first time we did a visit was in the middle of winter (18 months in advance of our wedding) and Kristina did a wonderful job helping us to visualize our dream of a beautiful June wedding. We did most of our planning via email and Kristina and her team were incredibly responsive and supportive. We selected many of our other vendors from the CBG list of vendors who have previously presented CBG weddings and were so thankful that we did. CBG is beautiful and provides so many option as well as being very expansive so having knowledgeable vendors was a huge part of the success of our event. Kristina provided us periodic updates on our selections and pricing and timeline which were very helpful. We found no surprises-which is a HUGE benefit of selecting CBG with it’s in house catering staff and “one stop” event supplies. CBG is truly one of the most beautiful sites in the Chicago area and we are so very happy with our selection and the service and support they provided. We were not “ballroom” type people and just loved the outdoors and the setting so much!!!

there! The service staff were so prompt and organized. Our event coordinator, Brittany, was extremely helpful and great to work with. The food was delicious. The appetizers, salads, entrees and desserts were all fantastic. We have received so many compliments on the venue from guests. We can't thank you enough for making our day so unforgettable!!

it just felt so perfect. CBG was the first and only venue that my husband and I toured only a week after getting engaged, and we had booked by the following week. The service here is truly at another level. Connie and her team are not only the epitome of professionalism but are also incredibly personable - they made my husband and I feel like we were simultaneously royalty and the staff's oldest friends (how do you do that?!), but my hunch is that anyone who gets married here walks away feeling like that which is so special and unique! One of the truly "above and beyond" experiences we had: my husband and I are vegan, so the exec. chef & his team created an entirely veganized menu for us (both @ the tasting where service was INCREDIBLE and for the wedding itself) while providing traditional options for our non-vegan guests. Doing so required ordering in special items at which they didn't even blink an eye - never once during our planning with them were we told that something wasn't an option. On top of that, they worked with us so that all of the special details we wanted to include could be done so within our budget. They're happy to make accommodations to keep things more eco-friendly should one so choose, but they also can support those couples who want more opulent, high-end affairs. Planning from out-of-state can be difficult, so we were so glad that through CBG, we were able to take care of ceremony AND venue location, catering, and all equipment rentals. It was such a blessing never to worry knowing those things were being managed by Connie and her incredibly capable crew. They also did a fantastic job of coordinating with our external vendors which was so helpful. The service throughout our entire reception/ceremony was probably the best I've ever seen anywhere for any event in my life, and I think we heard from almost every guest that it was one of the most beautiful weddings they'd ever attended, and that's truly thanks to the venue and the staff there.

iful venue in the Chicago area.

n bettter!) than our outside space. The service was impeccable. We had clear lines of communication with their contact person for the entire planning process. While it is quite pricey, it was the wedding of a lifetime.

ic 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!

ke she almost stepped in as a wedding planner for us to help us out.

ur socks off food-and KRISTIN PEREZ as your wedding coordinator you will blow away your guests! I got married on August 9, 2013 and people are STILL talking about our wedding! It is money well spent! They do it all for you. There is no guess work! Everything you need form event rentals is included in your package and you have lots to choose from! I can go on forever about this venue. Go see it for yourself!

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!

ld not have had a better experience!

ulinary Landscape, not only uses food grown on the premisis (part of a program for underprivileged inner-city kids), it is DELICIOUS to boot...and yes, I actually ate at my wedding! Both the wedding ceremony and the reception were outdoors in the tented McGinley Pavilion facing The Great Basin; it was spectacular and our "first kiss" was timed with the bells chiming (not planned, but it was a good sign that it worked out that way!) on the hour, 7 p.m. on the dot, as we became husband & wife. Connie and Lindsay are wonderful and I cannot recommend CBG any more strongly. Photos from friends have been outstanding (there is no bad place for a photo at CBG!) and I await my professional imagry because it can only get better... Thanks to all at Chicago Botanic Garden for making my dream wedding something I no longer have to dream about. :)

g and organizing, we had a GREAT experience!!! The day of, it rained and was cold, Connie knew that if at all possible we wanted the ceremony outside, she tried and tried but alas Mother Nature had her way, but Connie and her team did everything to make the whole thing beautiful both for us and our families!!