This is actually my second time having the pleasure of working with Nichole and her amazing team…read more Last minute (well a few months before) I decided I needed something beautiful to set the tone of our wedding weekend and have floral and decor for our wedding eve/rehearsal dinner at the Chicago Firehouse. I wanted a vibey/moody setting to really accentuate the dark wood and old Chicago feel of the building and knew that Nichole was the perfect fit from the start. I simply told her where it was and her proposal came back PERFECT. Beyond that, when it came to life it was 10000% times better than on paper in the proposal. All evening we received so many compliments about how everything looked and how beautiful everything was. Nichole is also an incredibly kind vendor - one who is always responsive, goes out of her way to make sure your vision comes to life and the truly best compliment you can give her and her team is to simply get out of their way. She has a way of seeing beauty in spaces and venue to make your vision come to life and she's such a gift to the wedding and event community in Chicago. Working with Nichole and her team, you will feel a sense of calm and contentment knowing that your dreams are in the very best of hands.

One look at XO Designs Instagram page and we knew Nichole and her team were the ones we wanted for…read moreour wedding. Nichole is a beautiful person, everything we discussed upon our initial conversation was brought to light on our wedding day, she truly delivered magic. Her creativity in building the floral assortments were simply stunning, our guests were in awe of the beauty. All of the flowers took my breath away, I will forever be daydreaming about them. We couldn't have asked for a better team to be with us on our wedding day, they were all very professional and kind. We can't recommend Nichole and XO Designs enough, they truly made our day magical

Floraison has become my #1 go-to for all things floral! No matter what the job is, Amy always…read morecreates beautiful, unique works of art that can brighten a room and bring a smile to anyone's face! Everything from weddings, to bouquets to flower crowns - always executed with so much thoughtfulness and care!

Amy was a dream to work with during our wedding last month. Her depth of knowledge and easy-going…read moreattitude proved to be a perfect combo for this bride. Upon meeting for the first time, I felt she truly got the aesthetic we were aiming for right out of the gate. Amy was also super detailed and straightforward in her proposal. She was also flexible with changes and updates as we got closer to our date. The day of, with our wedding being pretty DIY, she rolled with a tight setup schedule and really helped take the pressure off of my mom and other family members in the stressful few hours leading up to our ceremony. On top of all of that, everything was absolutely stunning - from our bouquets and boutonnieres to the beautiful altar and centerpieces. Thank you for everything, Amy!

We LOVED working with Natalie and Studio Poppy for our wedding florals! Natalie was so incredible…read moreto work with - she really understood the look we were going for and delivered the most STUNNING florals and reception decor, while staying within our budget.

Studio Poppy is literally the perfect floral company! The owner, Natalie, is the sweetest-…read morecreative, easy to work with, friendly, just couldn't be better. We wanted our wedding to be mostly greens, with unique white flowers & she nailed it. The groom & I love beer- so she came up with the idea of adding beer hops to the boutonnieres, & they were a complete hit. I had 8 bridesmaid bouquets, 1 bridal bouquet and 2 bridal corsages. We also had a large greenery arch and she nailed that as well. It worked great as a center point for our ceremony, as well as a back drop for the bride/groom as we ate. She really works with you on what you have in mind creatively. For instance, my husband and I love wine; so wanted to include our wine bottles as decor. We also wanted to utilize fake greenery as runners on the tables. Natalie allowed us to drop our bottles off (~60 of them I think) as well as probably around the same number of greenery runners. She set everything up in the most perfect manner. Overall I can't say enough good things about Studio Poppy. Be sure to use them for your wedding/any special events. Additionally- I did a holiday wreath workshop with Studio Poppy & it was equally as fun as my wedding planning experience with her. From this I can confidently say, anything you book with them will be amazing!

When my wife told me her vision for our wedding reception centerpieces, I was a little skeptical…read more Moss and succulents sounded so very different from the traditional flower arrangements to which I was accustomed. I had come to accept that I was marrying an artist with unique ideas, so I let her run with it. Davenport Design took my wife's concepts and made masterful displays. Not only did they create beautiful settings, their price was far more reasonable than the other florist my wife approached for a quote. I knew she was thrilled with Davenport Design's work but I didn't realize exactly how much until last week when she sent them a gift card to a restaurant as a thank you for greatly exceeding her expectations. Carl and Scott made our wedding day more beautiful and made my wife very happy.

Davenport Design makes dreams come true. I knew that I made the right decision to hire Davenport…read moreDesign for my wedding when I received a text prior to arriving at the ceremony/reception venue from my good friend who was the ceremony vocalist. It simply said, "This is gorgeous!!" Well, I take that back- I knew before then. I had worked with them for many events previously when working for a former employer planning their large fundraising galas. In that role I used them for at least 5 of our large galas and was always impressed. It was Davenport Designs' professionalism, ease to work with and extreme talent that made them my first choice for doing the flowers for my big day. However, I must admit that they did far exceed my already high expectations of them. Having an arts background, visuals are very important to me and to nobody's surprise I had a definite vision for the ceremony and reception decor. The look combined elements of both a woodland and vintage design theme (which prompted a look of doubt from my then-fiancé). Their execution was elegant, creative and nothing short of breathtaking. This wasn't your typical vase of flowers at the center of each table like most wedding receptions. These were a work of art. The ceremony back drop was equally stunning and provided a focal point like no other. Davenport Design is amazing to work with from start to finish. Thinking about how beautiful they made our venue still makes me smile.

I wanted something different for my wife than the usual dozen red roses for Valentines Day. She…read moretypically prefers more varied and non-typical flowers. I asked around some friends and family, and Gatherings was among the recommended options. I sent in a note indicating my wife likes, "loose, organic looking arrangements with some unusual flowers." The next day, I got a call from Lisa. She was more than happy to help. She asked if I had any more requests, and I just asked her to make something that she herself would like. When the arrangement arrived, my wife could not have been more thrilled. She loved the variety of flowers, and the feeling of a personal touch that had gone into selecting and arranging them. As a husband who isn't skilled himself at picking out flowers, I highly recommend Lisa and Gatherings.

For two years in a row, we've used Gatherings for high school functions like homecoming and Prom. I…read morewas impressed at the level of customer service Lisa extended towards me. She was organized and thoughtful and even asked me to text a picture of my daughters dress so she could have a visual. She was quick to respond to to questions and made the purchasing simple with just a few clicks to complete. For a small business, off the beaten path, I would 100 times recommend using them and discovering for yourself how amazing and caring Lisa and her team is at Gatherings.

I have used Fleur Couture for a handful of corporate events. Nicole is wonderful to work with. Her…read moreeye for detail and creative designs are always appreciated by myself and the guests at our events. I would highly recommend using Fluer Couture for any function!

Amazing florist in Downers Grove! I have used Fleur Couture on many occasions and am so impressed…read moreeach time with their unique and beautiful floral arrangements. They are convenient and always seem to know exactly what I'm looking for whether it's a birthday arrangement, sympathy or birth celebration. A must try in the florist market if you are looking for arrangements a cut above the rest.

I used Sarah Peterson Design for our Save the Dates & Wedding invitations. She did an absolutely…read moreamazing job on both! We are still getting compliments on them. Her technical skills (ie what will work on what paper, different types of printing options etc) were a great match for her creativity. Throughout the process, Sarah listened to what I was looking for, sent me samples to review and was always prompt with responding to questions and correspondence (within the business day if not even an hour or two!) For those of you planning a wedding or who have planned a wedding you know that this almost never happens... All of this resulted in a beautiful invitation and was EXACTLY the look and feel I wanted. I highly highly recommend using Sarah Pederson Designs as an alternative to the bigger print/design shops out there. You will walk away with a much more personal and high-quality product!

We used Sarah for our wedding invitation suite, and also for our menu cards, escort cards, and…read morefavour tags. She was fantastic to work with! We liked her right away as soon as we met with her. She is easygoing, but very professional. She was able to distill our many disparate ideas into a cohesive theme that was just right for us and our wedding. Our guests thought they were totally adorable! She is an excellent and timely communicator, and very willing to make even the most minor of adjustments, as well as offer suggestions and alternatives. She delivered a great product, ahead of schedule!

Michelle is a master planner, full of ideas. During this time of uncertainty due to Covid-19, she…read moredoesn't just create, she builds relationships in order to deliver a product that you're both proud of. I found these gift boxes circulating on social media, and they were so perfect to send my mom for her birthday and Mother's Day. My mom loved her box and was so happy with the personalized details! I 10/10 recommend these gift boxes for birthdays, graduations, holidays, and any other occasion really.

I'm not sure "great" adequately describes my experience with NORA events. Because of Omicron we…read morehad to quickly transition a reception from live to virtual. I was determined to create some sort of "at home" reception for the guests of honor, two colleagues who deserved a real party. Another event-planning colleague recommended NORA events. I contacted Michelle, explained the situation, and she instantly went into creation mode. She asked for details about each person, made suggestions, and quickly produced an initial proposal that was close to perfect. After one or two more discussions it was perfect, and the boxes were customized to the specific needs/preferences of each recipient: cheese, charcuterie, personalized Champagne bottles, chocolate - already ingredients for perfection, right? But Michelle didn't stop there. I sent customized gift enclosure cards (with logos etc.) at her suggestion, and she found two unique boxes to wrap everything up in. (It's worth noting that both recipients were men, and both were really impressed with the presentation as well as the box contents.) The day of the event I received an email with sneak preview photos. I was blown away. Within minutes of the first delivery I heard from the first recipient who was equally so; and later that evening the other recipient sent me a note, paraphrased as follows: "...We enjoyed a small post-event reception later in the evening... with the wonderful chocolates, cheeses, and Champagne. Thanks so much for finding a way to make the remoteness of this event more personal and meaningful." Beyond the gift boxes themselves, what impressed me most was the short timeframe in which they were accomplished (14 days!); and that Michelle gave as much personal and thoughtful attention to a small order as she would to a large one. She really wanted to get every detail right, and she succeeded. We'll definitely use NORA events again, and I'll be sharing information with other event planning colleagues. Highly recommended!