I know Elaine from her excellent work at Vintage Gardener in Toronto's Distillery District. I can say with confidence that Elaine is a lovely and experienced florist and gardener with legitimate knowledge about successful event planning and floral arranging. I would also recommend her workshops. They teach you new ways to see flowers and how they are connected to significant points in our lives and the lives of others. Thank you Elaine for all the lovely gifts you helped me create for my favourite people over the years. Toronto will miss you and your store! Lucky Cambridge, Ontario. read more

We got married almost 2 years ago now and I'm still mad about how this company serviced our wedding. We had ordered ONLY full size blown out roses and babies breath, this is why I went with them because they said they could do this for us. We had multiple virtual meetings and one in person to make sure we were on the same page. Just for the day to come and nothing to be as we expected. The center pieces looked like they had 1/4 of the flowers we spoke about. They subbed ALL of our blown out roses for mini regular roses when we paid extra specifically for this. When I say all I mean ALL, Our signage florals, center pieces, head table pieces, alter pieces. Everything. We got florals for our dog collars that were small enough for a chihuahua not a large dog so you couldn't see them what so ever (we were told they have used these on lamas). The one that still makes me mad is they hug ALL of our aisle florals going down the aisle, upside down!! So the stems were sticking up. It looked ridiculous and still does in photos! I reached out to them after the fact and all that was said is we can come to a workshop for free? Why would I want to come learn about flowers over an hour drive away and how does that make up for you not upholding your word on our contract. After i declined and said they owe us compensation back they ghosted us and never replied. I'd leave this review on Google but they clearly deleted their Google due to all the bad reviews. Extremely disappointed in the service and customer service, we paid alot of money to get what we wanted and that's not what happened. Beware of this company. read more

I had sent Elaine my floral vision to get a quote from her, she provided a quote and had a a special that if I paid up front I would save the tax. During the wedding planning she had said that a Flower Party is included and I can bring my girls and wine and charcuterie with me to plan the vision for my flowers and we would all get to take home a bouquet we made. She ended up pushing back my party to when her shop closes and unfortunately my girls weren't able to come but I brought my fiancee with me and when we got there there was another party happening so we had to stand waiting for 20 minutes. once we got in, it was a 15 minute meeting going over the plan her and I already discussed a few weeks prior and didn't make bouquets- not sure if I brought my girls if that would have been different but either way wasnt what she had promised. When I saw my wedding flowers day of, they weren't like my inspo pics I had sent her which was quite disappointing because I only wanted big focal point arrangements. I am not sure I would recommend her. I had heard quite a few negative comments about her from other people and hoped I wouldn't have issues but was disappointed with the appointment rescheduling and how my flowers turned out on my wedding day. read more

This company deserves negative stars. Buyer beware. Do not get sucked into her scheme and lose your money. Planning a wedding or an event is already stressful enough.. you do not need to add more stress to your plate by dealing with her and the lies she spews. Elaine, the owner, deleted both her Google business pages... I'm assuming because of all the negative reviews. From the Potting Shed and Cambridge School of Flowers are the two company names she operates under. Here are screenshots of my original post on Google. For additional feedback, look up Cambridge School of Flowers on the Better Business Bureau website to see more complaints and search From The Potting Shed on Reddit. read more

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Still waiting on my refund from 6 years ago.... In my case she just stopped responding after suggesting she would look into the matter. Because we cancelled within a specific timeframe I was due 50% of my deposit back. It meant that she was still keeping a significant portion of my money ($900) - which I was fine to accept, without cost or harm given the services were not due for another year. I guess she needed the other $900 more than I did. read more

awful awful service -below grade product caused un necessary stress on the most important day of my daughters life after numerous consultations (with different consultants each time) and going over all the details and paying close to $4000 you would think they could at the very least manage to hang some greenery on a photo what a joke spent the good part of an hour trying to get a hold of someone to come to the venue to do what they were paid to do and here comes Elaine in her ratty cloths 5 minutes before my daughter is walking down the isle to throw some greenery on photos that lined the isle she didn't even make it out of the chapel and it had fallen off and landed on the floor I planned a special moment for my daughter and myself I had asked and provided an article to pinned to her bouquet on last consultation and guess what they forgot -SO GLAD ELAINE that you were able to see my daughters reaction and share my special moment when you pinned the article 5 minutes before she walked down the isle i was busy picking up the greenery from the floor but wait best part she tried telling me that she was doing me a favor she did refund me $50 and said ME BAD well guess what you are BAD- don't entrust your special day to this business read more

The flowers were.... okay. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I expected more. My bouquet was so so.... again not sure what I was expecting. Owner was nice, but I did have issues getting in touch with her as my wedding was getting closer. It did cause me some stress. But the flowers were there on my wedding day. So that's good. read more

We were very disappointed in the customer service we received from the Potting Shed regarding our wedding. The flowers were expensive and not what we expected. We are still waiting for a partial refund for missing floral arrangements, and the event passed a month ago. If you're getting married in Cambridge (E.V.O Kitchen, the Cambridge Mill, or Langdon Hall) consider a different floral company. We're a couple in our late 20s and have lots of friends getting married soon...we will urge them to go elsewhere. Our problems began when Elaine forgot about our flower consultation/party. This was touted as a special event where you could bring girlfriends and wine. I emailed her the day before to confirm since I hadn't heard from her in months (we discovered that Elaine is very communicative as she is waiting for your payment; then once she receives the money she virtually disappears). When we got to the flower party, Elaine was flustered and informed us she had forgotten. It was very busy that day because it was their open house; however I had travelled a long distance to attend the flower party, and I had no choice but to complete the consultation that day. It was not "special" whatsoever, however Elaine seemed to understand our vision. On the wedding day, there were a number of issues. 1: My friend went to pick up the flowers for the wedding party at 12:30 p.m (I had pre-arranged this timing with the Potting Shed weeks prior). The flowers were not ready, and the staff made my friend wait in the car for 20 minutes because "they were finishing up the bouquets". We were on a timeline, and of course this pushed everything back, causing stress for my friend and the entire bridal party. 2: My bouquet was just ok in my opinion...I certainly wasn't awestruck. It was decently designed but not what I expected. It didn't include the flowers I had requested. I had specifically asked for lots of anenomes and queen anne's lace and and it was mostly greenery with one or two flowers poking out. Worst of all it lasted for about 45 minutes before it became completely wilted. It was so bad it couldn't even be used in photos. Our photographers were shocked at the poor quality. The corsages did not last long either, and those aren't cheap. It was a disappointment for my mother and mother in law to have wilted flowers on their wrists. 3: The mini garland on our seating chart looked like a wilted collection of weeds. This decoration cost $50, and I honestly could have gone into my backyard and picked better foliage. 4: There was NO flowers on the head table. We were supposed to have a beautiful display, and it was no where to be found. The other arrangements were nice enough, but again not as expected (my heart definitely fell when I saw hydrangeas- a flower that was never mentioned and one that I do not care for). 5: The greenery on the tables was sparse and not as per the invoice. There was also no greenery left for the wedding cake and the cake company had to pull some off the tables. These were the biggest problems- there were more but I won't mention them all. Obviously we can't turn back time, but I expected Elaine to be reasonable in her attempt to rectify the situation. However, her customer service was very poor. I got in touch with Elaine the Monday following our wedding, and politely outlined my concerns. She sounded regretful and said she's get back to me with a resolution within a few days. This never happened. I texted her to follow up the following Tuesday and received no response. My husband called her that afternoon at 4 p.m and was met with a curt "we're closed". I texted her the next day (Wednesday) to a response that she was "sick in bed". Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I did not contact her again until Monday, two full weeks after our wedding. She never responded. I gave her one last chance the next day (Tuesday), texting her and asking her when we could talk. She finally returned my text with an email, explaining that the reason why the flowers were so sparse was because of the hurricane in Florida that occurred about a week and a half before our wedding. She was nice enough in her email, and seemed regretful. However, I'm really disappointed in the amount of effort it took to elicit a response, and I'm not thrilled with her reasoning for the lack of flower displays. I understand that there is nothing you can do about a distributor supply issue, but I'm not sure why this excuse suddenly arose two weeks after our wedding. In fact, other weddings the Potting Shed did on September 16 looked great, with tons of beautiful flowers (we could tell on Instagram and Facebook). Clearly they put more time and effort into some weddings over others. I'm not sure why ours landed on the back burner, and to be honest, it's really saddening. In our opinion, a supply issue does not excuse the lateness, extremely wilted flowers, lack of floral arrangements, and complete absence of communication. read more

This was by far the worst experience of my life. They have received almost $3000 of my money and refuse to contact me by email or phone. I have been trying to communicate with them for over a year to receive this money back. After numerous emails and calls with no return calls or emails, I got a call from their "new receptionist" asking for me to come in for my pre-wedding consultation or flower party. To which I notified them that the wedding date had been changed and will most likely be cancelled to the death of my mother, and that I already spoke to someone about this change and that person had stated that it was alright to change the date. An email was sent to Elaine and the representative that we were speaking with to see about getting a refund for the whole amount or for half, to which the representative stated that there were no refunds. However, on the two (2) contracts that outline our floral request, this is not stated anywhere. To be clear....we had no consultations about flowers, there was no work put into creating floral arrangements whatsoever, other than a few emails about package options. Therefore, they are keeping our money for doing nothing. I STILL HAVE NOT HEARD BACK FROM ANYONE. I was told that they are very busy with weddings and do not have time to contact me. This is what the new receptionist stated. We heard about From the Potting Shed from the Cambridge Mill where we are planning on getting married and have recently come to understand that they are no longer on their preferred vendor list. Curious.. I wish that this experience had not happened and that I had been smarter with my money. It seems as though I am now out of a lot of money as I cannot get a hold of anyone, in any form. This is extremely detrimental to my wedding and has put a great financial burden on myself and my fiancé. Its unfortunate that someone would take advantage of people this way, and I still hope that this can be resolved in some form. read more

Elaine was absolutely incredible! I asked Elaine to do the flowers for my wedding after my cousin used her for her wedding a few years previously. At my cousin's wedding EVERYONE remarked about how the flowers were the most incredible they had ever seen and so I did not hesitate to contact From the Potting Shed when planning my wedding! I did not know very much about flowers, but after chatting with Elaine and her team they had all the right questions to help me get the right flowers for our winter wedding (apparently it is important to get the types that wont freeze and turn brown during our outdoor winter wedding!). Because I live in Australia, I was not able to attend a bridal party workshop, but my cousin told me how much fun it was when Elaine invited her and her girlfriends to go to her shop and make some bouquets themselves that they were able to take home - that way she was able to get an idea of what she wanted. In the end, she gave Elaine total creative control (which is exactly what I did!!). Elaine went so above and beyond our expectations. My husband is Australian and there were 7 types of Australian plants in the bouquets! Our table garland was unbelievable and made the head table look incredible, and our "foraged" style centre pieces were perfect. I really cannot recommend From the Potting Shed enough. Elaine has such and incredible style and eye for detail and is so easy to work with. Flowers were not something I had to worry about at all!! Thank you so much Elaine!! (I really wish I could add photos, because they are AMAZING!) read more

Elaine and her team were simply the best for all of my wedding flower needs! Everything from start to finish was so seamless and the flowers were more beautiful than any flowers I have ever seen. The wedding guests agreed and commented countless times on how amazing they were. Elaine and her team made themselves available to everything and anything I needed. The communication lines were always open and they went above and beyond as my florist. I would 110% recommend From the Potting Shed to any bride looking to be completely blown away by beautiful flowers on her special day! read more

I highly Do NOT recommend using this florist for your wedding or event. I also suggest to anyone thinking about working for Elaine to rethink that decision as she often does not pay employees. I worked there last year and witnessed many other employees not getting paid, and I am still waiting for a substantial amount from 6 months ago. She will ignore and dodge any contact from employees or customers if she owes them money, and always has an excuse when she does eventually reply. Elaine is a very unethical business owner and can not be trusted. She can make things look good from the outside, but deliveries are almost always late and she usually makes a mistake somewhere along the way. read more

I feel as though these two stars are generous. I was recommended From the Potting Shed and after reading the reviews, I booked against my better judgement. After reaching out the first time- Elaine responded very quickly with a price list - and once I decided to book she was very pushy when it came to money. Paid about $8000 in full for services about a year and a half away. I was okay with this at first, her communication in the beginning made me feel as though I was making the right decision. As soon as she received my last email transfer she vanished. Moving forward the big day is about a month and a half out, I`ve sent many texts, emails, Facebook messages and phone calls.- No answer, No reply.I express how worried and stressed as I am as I have had zero contact with my florist for about 14 months. Ignored. I`m terrified as she has a substantial amount of my money. Did she skip town? Close up shop? Finally, I hear back from her. I start sending over my inspiration photos, and express crystal clearly the vision I had for my big day. Everything seems fine, they say it's no problem, blah blah blah. Flower Party time! Super excited, my Maid of honor, wedding planners and I make our way out to Cambridge for my customized flower party! Am I a fool to think this would have been the night we make up a mock bouquet of what the flowers will look like on my wedding day? Instead, we are offered half wilted flowers to make some random bullshit bouquet that had nothing to do with my wedding. They were left overs from a party they had before we walked in. Again, this night we clearly go over my vision in detail. I add on a few more things- a floral garland to go around an ice sculpture I was having as a surprise gift for my husband, a garland to go over our seating chart board, An extra few hundred here and there adds up again quickly to Iclose to another thousand dollars. I leave only to be called at 6;00am demanding I transfer the money immediately. Pushy as hell. Whatever, at this point I am afraid to get into it with her as the day is drawing close. The big day is here! Flowers show up, beautiful- yes- but certainly not at all what I had asked for. NOT AT ALL. Bridal bouquet, not what I had asked for, flowers are not what I asked for. I even mentioned not to use specific flowers and SURPRISE they they are! Now we are at the hall, the extra garland I had paid for was ALL GREENERY with 6 or 7 flowers in it. What did I pay for? Hundreds for this garland alone with only greenery. Also, I had messaged Alison before the wedding to let her know about a discrepancy on the bill and where I was double charged for an arrangement- I was assured she would look into it and transfer me back my money. Never happened. Overall, the pushiness, lack of communication, bullying for an etransfer not ever 12 hours after leaving her place the night before ( which she never even spoke with me herself- you would think someone spending minimum $8000 somewhere the owner would at least thank you for your business) and the total creative freedom they took I was not pleased. Again the flower arrangements that DID have flowers in them were beautiful, but NOT what I wanted. If you are a bride booking with the Potting Shed- be prepared for a) they expect full payment upon booking b) bouquet party is nothing like it is advertised to be c) they expect you to bring back all vases the next day- even after spending close to $10,000 all said and done. d) zero communication- but if you owe her a penny, be prepared for a morning wake up call saying pay me or its not getting done ( word for word- she said she was at the floral market, and if I didn't send the money over now, she wouldn't be able to order the flowers we needed- which i found alarming to say the least) And there you have it. The pros and cons of booking with From The Potting Shed. read more

Sad to say: this business is entirey dishonest. My partner ordered a custom wreath before Christmas and when it didn't come contacted the business several times. She was finally--after Christmas--offered a chance for a refund and requested it. Again it didn't come and we texted them several times. More than ninety dollars, for nothing, and no refund. read more

We live in the States and booked From the Potting Shed based on her pictures online. The owner, Elaine, was great at communicating at first, but once we paid her (a year before the event) she dropped off the face of the earth. She added A LOT of addition stress in the weeks leading up to our wedding and she was not replying to emails, missed our planned phone call appointment, and was giving difference excuses as to why her and her team were lacking communication. In the end, the flowers were gorgeous and turned out very well. But I expect much better communication from a business that I am paying for their service. Was not worth the additional stress. read more

I booked my wedding with Elaine over a year ago on May 29, 2018 where I paid the full amount of $2300, as she insisted that my date of June 15 of 2019 was in high demand and had other couples interested. Very shortly thereafter, my fiancé and I called off our wedding. I called Elaine and let her know the situation, to which she seemed empathetic and was willing to refund me the full amount as the date was a full year away. I was told to email her and she would follow up. Over 6 months passed, I sent numerous emails, texts and phone calls with no response. Finally, in December I was able to get in touch with Elaine (had to call from a different phone number) where she agreed to send me a full refund if the date was filled. If not, her policy stated a 50% refund with 8 weeks notice of the planned date. She once again went MIA, until April where I was told she was meeting with various couples who were interested in the date and once again, she would follow up. Here we are now, June 9, one week from what was supposed to be my wedding day and I have FINALLY received a refund of $1150 after many messages begging to move forward. Not only did Elaine drag this on for a full year, had me bend over backwards for any response, neglect to follow up with me for months when the date could have and probably has been booked, she has taken $1150 for a service that was never executed. To say I am disappointed by this woman and the quality of customer service would be an understatement. Elaine is unprofessional and is a complete scam artist, this was a horrific experience and I would strongly advise one to think twice before booking with The Potting Shed or giving this woman any money. read more

Booked a wedding, was asked to pay 100% upfront by e-transfer. I did. Cancelled the wedding and gave more than 2 months notice and as per the contract, was to receive 50% of my funds back. I am still waiting almost a year later after many emails, phone calls and even offering to take it as a credit. No response. Next step - small claims court. Sad. read more

Flowers for my wedding were beautiful, but everything else was a nightmare. Could never get ahold of anybody to give me receipts after I had to pay in full upfront, once I got a receipt it was missing items agreed upon. The owner gave us a lot of attitude during our floral appointment when we tried to suggest things, and in the end they charged my credit card for various items that I had not consented to ... they claimed the charge was reversed but its been weeks and weeks. Disappointed with the complete lack of customer service and disregard for customer satisfaction. Will never again use or recommend this vendor especially for brides. read more

I recently got married in May and used From the Potting Shed as my florist! Elaine was recommended to me by a very close friend who was also a bridesmaid of mine. From the first meeting with Elaine right up until the wedding day I was confident she new exactly what I wanted. I told Elaine my wedding day vision, the kinds of flowers and the colours I wanted and left it up to her and her wonderful team. I have to say I was absolutely amazed. Elaine hit every detail perfectly and helped make our day amazing! I would absolutely recommend From the Potting Shed to any bride to be! read more

From the Potting Shed was our wedding florist in 2012, and we had incredible bouquets that fit the style I was looking for perfectly. Elaine and her team have great style and their evergreen workshops are also a lot of fun! Highly recommended. read more