If I could give more than 5 stars I would! My husband and I worked with Suzanne for the majority of the planning process. She was absolutely amazing to work with. She was so prompt with her responses, which was extremely important for a stressed out bride! We changed our flowers several times, and each time Suzanne just went with it and helped us figure out a new vision. She was the planner the day of our wedding and she did not disappoint. Our actual floral arrangements turned out better than we could have hoped for! My bouquet was much larger than I expected it to be (in a good way!) and the flowers stayed looking fresh all night. The guys were given an extra boutonnière in case something happened to one...they ultimately did not use it. My husband and I forgot it was in our refrigerator and when we came back from our honeymoon (9 days later!) the flowers still looked perfect! The quality of the flowers they use is obviously extremely high. We decided on high and low floral centerpieces and tall glass vases with flowers and floating candles. Some of the centerpieces were also used for the aisle of our ceremony and looked so beautiful. We received so many compliments on our flowers. They really brought the entire wedding together and made the room look so elegant and beautiful. Overall, although it is a little pricier than other places, I would highly recommend using Anthony Gowder Designs. They are so wonderful to work with and the quality goes above and beyond the price! On a side note, my husband and I actually got to meet Anthony Gowder and he was so unbelievably nice. He clearly loves what he does and very much appreciates his staff! read more

We used Anthony Gowder Designs for our wedding draping design. They were recommended to us by our venue for being the best (although also on the expensive end). Because we decided to add draping very late in the game, multiple other vendors recommended by our day of coordinator were already booked - thus we ended up going with Anthony Gowder. However, we initially felt comfortable with this based on Yelp reviews and the glowing praise from our venue. Our biggest complaint was the brief communication with the vendor. Everything was through email and I never saw samples of the fabrics or design of draping. When I reached out to discuss the exact design of the draping, I was told it would be worked out with our venue (I had actually discussed my thoughts with the venue coordinator - so I thought we would all be on the same page). When we arrived for the rehearsal, I was disappointed that the draping of the altar was not what I had pictured (it was one simple drape instead of a drape with a tented drape opening). I was told by our venue that it was too late to make any changes. Admittedly, I was too busy to actually reach out to Anthony Gowder at that point so I could not give them the chance to fix things. However, I was disappointed that my initial efforts to discuss the design more thoroughly were dismissed. The other areas of draping were beautiful. I hope that with proper communication everything would have been perfect! Edit: Stephanie from Anthony Gowder reached out to me to apologize and assured me they absolutely would have come out to fix the draping at any time leading up to the event. I appreciated they reached out and addressed the issue. read more

I had a very positive experience working with Cassandra Vack from Anthony Gowder. First of all, she was respectful of my budget. Sometimes there are vendors who don't want to work with you if you don't spend a certain amount, or some who only treat you nice if you are spending a lot, but Cassandra is NOT like that. I felt valued as a client from day one, and she never proposed anything that was too expensive for me. Cassandra was also really flexible and responsive. I revised my order at least five times, and each time she was patient and answered emails within 24 hours. On the day of the wedding, the flowers looked fresh and beautiful. The bridesmaid bouquets complimented the girls' dresses really well and helped make our ceremony look really elegant and romantic. If you look at their pictures, Anthony Gowder usually does more modern-looking designs, but my wedding was more rustic looking and they worked to fit my look. I think they do just as well with simple, rustic weddings as they do with ritzy hotel ones. The last thing I appreciated was that they did a free floral showing where they show you samples of how your flowers will look on your wedding day. Some florists make you pay for a showing so make sure you ask about that, because Anthony Gowder doesn't! Overall, going with Anthony Gowder was one of the best decisions I made because they made me feel like I didn't have to worry about the decorations on the day of my wedding! read more

Let me start off by saying that not ONLY does AGD do a fabulous job all around on floral BUT my fiance and I also hired Cassandra and Amy as wedding coordinators for our day and they were unbelievable! They did such an amazing job listening to how we had envisioned our day and the timing and they beautifully put together a agenda that worked out as spot on as you could ever imagine for that day :) In addition to all of their much appreciated efforts, i was also informed by one of our guests that day that she had unfortunately ripped her pantsuit at our wedding and was beyond mortified! However, she had asked for both Cassandra and Amy's help in this desperate situation and they immediately assisted and sewed up the hole that was in her pantsuit so that she could go on enjoying the night!!! How amazing is that?!?!? Overall, my now husband and I are beyond thrilled that we hired such wonderful people to provide the most beautiful floral arrangements but also for coordinating our day!! I would highly recommend them time and time again :) read more

Like a lot of people who have never planned a wedding before, I questioned spending more money on hiring a wedding coordinator. After talking with several friends who had been through the process, we decided to hire a day-of coordinator and could not be happier with this decision. We first stumbled upon Anthony Gowder Designs as a florist recommendation from our venue. We met with Cassandra Vack and she did a great job walking us through different flower types/colors (very helpful and not intimidating for non-green thumbs!) We ended up choosing a different vendor for flowers, but decided to hire Cassandra as our day-of coordinator instead, as she was reasonably priced compared to other day-of coordinators who seemed to offer services that were not really necessary. We were responsible for booking all of our vendors and gathering all the contracts and details. Then about a month before the wedding we started working with Cassandra again to finalize the logistics of the day and do a walkthrough of the venue. She requests a lot of input prior to the wedding, which may seem over the top initially, but it makes you stop and think precisely about how you want things done. On the day of the wedding, she took everything that we had planned and executed it perfectly, allowing us to shift total responsibility to her so that we could enjoy the day. She was very detailed, organized, thorough, assertive without being offensive, pleasant, and experienced in her understanding of weddings. From delivering checks to vendors, setting up place cards, favors, and table numbers on wedding tables, to assuring everyone boarded assigned vehicles to travel to and from the reception and church, to assuring the day ran punctually on schedule, and putting gifts away at night, she did it all, without asking for assistance. I came from a doubter of wedding planners to a total advocate of Cassandra and everything that wedding coordinators do! read more

I love these guys. Always have fresh flowers as the saying goes"you get what you paid for and yes indeed. Love them and staff so friendly and professional. read more

AGD did a fantastic job at our wedding. The decor looked exactly the way we wanted/ expected. In addition to decor we also worked with Cassandra for "day of coordination". Cassandra was extremely helpful and hardworking. I would definitely recommend AGD. read more

Anthony Gowder handled the flowers and lighting for my wedding back in 2009. We had some bucket lighting placed around the venue (Prairie Productions) and one fancy patterned light shining down on the dance floor, 12 tables with pretty large centerpieces, bridesmaid bouquets, my bouquet, and all the boutinierres for the men and corsages for moms/close family. This cost about $7k. I used orchids in my centerpieces and my bouquet, hence part of the hefty pricetag. But aside from the initial consultation, I felt pretty much ignored during the process leading up to the wedding. It was hard to get emails/calls back in a timely fashion. None of this would have bothered me, except for the fact that when I walked into my beautiful reception space, something seemed off. It was right then that I realized they had forgotten to include the cool hanging moss on all of my centerpieces, which although some might think hideous, I really wanted...and paid for. I shook it off because what could really be done at that point with only a couple hours left before the guests were arriving. The flowers were still beautiful, just not my dream wedding vision, and I don't plan on doing this more than once so I was more than a little disappointed. I mean, maybe $7k is the lower end of stuff they do, but it's a lot of money for someone like me and I was expecting perfection or damn near to it! Most disappointing though, was that when I contacted them after the fact to tell them about the error, they were just like "oh, well!" This really pissed me off. I wasn't expecting a refund, or even any money back, but send me a bouquet of flowers for chrissake or an orchid in a pot with an apology note. Any sort of gesture would have made me think they cared. read more

The floral designers at Anthony Gowder did a great job. They listened to what we wanted, and made sure that the flowers at our wedding captured the dream we had in mind. The prices were reasonable and the people were pleasant to work with. read more

They were amazing! Our wedding was a few weeks ago and everything turned out better than expected. They took my ideas and created something beautiful. Suzanne let me know what would work and what wouldn't. She was informative, inventive, and accessible. Our center pieces were to die for. The boutonnières and bouquets were exquisite. The only snag was for my bouquet. They could not get a hold of a particular flower I requested. I was presented with two other options and the one turned out to be just as pretty. I highly recommend. read more

We were really pleased with our wedding flowers. The quality was very much as promised and the service was friendly. I would recommend them any day. We mostly used burgundy and white roses for our bouquets and arrangements and they looked fantastic. read more

We used AGD for our wedding in August 2017. They were great to say the least. They are willing to work with whatever budget the couple has in mind. They even give suggestions and are willing to upgrade or downgrade according to your needs. The staff is friendly and always readily available, this was very important to me since I planned my wedding from afar. I absolutely recommend AGD to the next bride who wants a job well done with a cost the couple can afford. read more

Cassandra at Anthony Gowder was phenomenal! She acted as our florist and our day of wedding coordinator. Our flowers were gorgeous, and she was very helpful with keeping us within our budget. We were on the fence as to whether we would need a coordinator, but I am so glad we did. Cassandra handled all of the problems that arose on the day of so that we were able to enjoy our wedding without stress. I would definitely recommend! read more

I am so thrilled to have worked with Cassandra and Stephanie from Anthony Gowder Designs for our wedding. From the first moment we met, they understood exactly the atmosphere we wanted to create with the floral arrangements and bouquets. I also hired Cassandra to be our Day of Coordinator and I cannot say enough great things: she is energetic, organized, upbeat, fun to be around and extremely detail oriented. I always felt like I had her full attention and she wanted our wedding day to be as beautiful as we did. Every arrangement was meticulously executed and of the highest quality. We received many, many compliments on the bridesmaids bouquets as well. I can't imagine my wedding without Cassandra behind the scenes, orchestrating it all! What a magical night! Thank you! read more

Our experience with Anthony Gowder Designs was simply amazing from start to finish! We worked with Cassandra for our floral arrangements, we absolutely fell in love with AG Designs and Cassandra at our very first meeting. We also worked with Cassandra as a Day of Coordinator. She is the most organized, energetic, and genuine person we have ever met. We loved having a flower showing as we were able to make additional tweaks to our arrangements prior to the wedding day. We received so many compliments on our arrangements at church, bouquets, card table, and centerpieces. Each arrangement fit in with the theme, venue, season and were beautiful. Working with Cassandra, helped us to be on top of things, we received compliments from our other vendors how organized and easy she was to work with. If vendors had worked at another wedding with her they were excited to work with her again which is great feedback to hear in the process. She made our wedding day happen without a SINGLE hitch. We truly got to enjoy our wedding and be "stress free" because she had everything timelined and under control. We highly recommend Anthony Gowder Designs and Cassandra! read more

My husband and I worked with Cassandra from Anthony Gowder for our month of wedding coordination services. She was an INVALUABLE ASSET to our wedding planning experience. We joked afterward that we don't know how anyone could've gotten married without a Cassandra in their lives. She was available to answer any questions, timely in all of her responses, professional in her work with all of our other vendors, and so much fun to work with. She takes great pride in making the wedding day perfect for each of her couples. She anticipated needs that we hadn't even though of. Most importantly, her presence on the wedding day itself allowed our families to relax and enjoy every moment as opposed to answering questions from guests and vendors. Hiring a wedding coordinator, and making sure that he/she comes highly recommended, is our greatest advice to newly engaged couples. We could not recommend Cassandra and her team more. read more

Anthony Gowder Designs helped create absolutely beautiful designs for my brother's, sister's, and my wedding. The staff is easy to work with, their studio space is clean and bright, and they were able to give us exactly what we wanted! All the wedding guests gushed over the flowers. We went a little over budget, but it was so worth it! read more

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Anthony Gowder Designs. They created an exquisite atmosphere for my summer '09 wedding. I worked with Greta and she was just fantastic. She had awesome ideas and really helped make my dream become a reality. The flowers were fresh and vibrant. The color combinations were perfect. Everything was delivered on time. The lighting they suggested really played up the ballroom. A++! read more

I recently visited Anthony Gowder Designs and met with Greta. Their space is absolutely beautiful and shows a wide range of styles and designs. Greta was really great to talk to! Very down to earth and genuinely passionate about what she does. I would highly recommend Anthony Gowder Designs! read more

Wow - can't say enough good things about Anthony Gowder Designs! I worked with Greta - her attention to detail, friendliness, and overall knowledge of weddings was fantastic! She had a wonderful way of understanding my own needs, budget, and style and helped me put it all together... the outcome was absolutely perfect! I loved having such a personalized experience with the company... I felt like they really cared about my wedding - I wasn't just another customer! read more

MAGNIFICENT!!! Anthony Gowder Designs is the one to choose if your looking for a florist for your wedding or any event for that matter. Call them right now! We had worked with Suzanne Read, and she was the best. She had a very good understanding of what we wanted for our wedding and was extremely mindful and helpful in keeping us within our budget. My bouquet and all of the flowers for the bridal party were delivered on time and labeled appropriately. Our reception simply looked magical and heavenly with all the flower arrangements and candles. Everyone that attended loved the entire setting and the mood the arrangements created in the room. I highly recommend Anthony Gowder to anyone and especially to a bride-to-be. You will be very satisfied and happy with the results. Thank you Suzanne and Anthony Gowder Designs!!! read more

We used Anthony Gowder for all of our floral arrangements, backdrop/stage, lighting, and ceremony/reception decor. We also went through them to have a wedding coordinator (Cassandra). Let me tell you...Cassandra is absolutely AMAZING. Not only was our wedding beautiful, I mean absolutely perfect, but Cassandra is energetic, fun, organized, professional..everything you could ask for in a coordinator. She made our day incredible. Every last detail she made sure was spot on, she created a weekend timeline and made sure it was followed by everyone. When it came to our wedding day, I didn't have to do a thing. Cassandra had everything handled and I could just relax. Our wedding day went so smoothly because of her...I can't thank her enough! She loves what she does and it truly shows in her work. Our wedding was stunning and I would HIGHLY recommend Anthony Gowder, as well as Cassandra, for any wedding! read more

Anthony Gowder did a fantastic job for my wedding. I am still receiving compliments on my flowers and my wedding was almost one month ago. I was recommended to them via my wedding planner. We planned out wedding from out-of-state and we met with Greta twice to go over our vision and to do a viewing. After that, we communicated by email and Greta responded fast everytime. My bouquet was gorgeous-it was everything I had visioned and more. I did not want to ever put it down! The bridesmaid bouquets, ceremony pieces, cocktail hour and centerpieces were exquisite. We even used the centerpieces for the post-wedding brunch the next day and they looked just as beautiful. In fact, my sister sent me pictures of her flowers 1 week later and they were still blooming! Great job Greta and AGD!! read more

It was really a pleasure to work with Anthony Gowder Designs. They were very professional and responsive. They were more than happy to meet with us several times and prepared samples for us to look at. They were more than happy (read: did not act annoyed) when we kept on trying to bring down the budget. In the end they created a wonderful/classy look for our wedding while still keeping everything in budget. We worked with Suzanne who was very organized and must have prepared 7 or 8 draft proposals/contracts for us and was attentive to all the details I asked for. On the day of I did not have to worry about any of the logistics. Suzanne worked with my event space coordinator and worked everything out between the two of them. The thing I am most happy about is that they were always very nice/professional to my mom as she would occasionally call them with questions/requests even though she wasn't the point of contact. I would definitely recommend Anthony Gowder. read more

Anthony Gowder Designs was amazing. Not only was our decor to die for but Stephanie Gowder, our day of coordinator was our lifesaver. We got married on June 20th, 2015 at the W Lakeshore. Our ceremony was in the great rooms, which is another word for conference room :) Stephanie and her team completely transformed that room. There were candles and flowers and draping. The room looked incredible and really set a romantic tone! Which was quite an amazing feat considering the way that room looked without any of that! Our reception room has an amazing view of the city and lake. To enhance that Stephanie suggested using tall floating candles and some flower satellites around them. It was exactly what we were looking for, simple and won't take away from the view. We were so pleasantly surprised when we walked into the reception and it was even more gorgeous than we thought! Besides decor, Anthony Gowder does day of coordination services as well, we knew we definitely wanted this from the beginning. It was so nice to have everything be a one stop shop! Stephanie was our lifesaver from the day we hired her all the way through the wedding day. She contacted all my vendors, set up times for everything, and made an amazing day of timeline. I didn't have to lift a finger. The day of our wedding went so smooth and I know it was because of Stephanie. Our whole family and bridal party loved her, she was so sweet and incredibly organized! We really found a fantastic company when we found Anthony Gowder Designs. If you want quality and professionalism all the way, then you should definitely hire them!! read more

I cannot put into words how wonderful my experience with Anthony Gowder Designs was. I am a corporate event planner and rely heavily on design firms to make an event extra memorable and Anthony and his team did just that, so beautifully. From my initial call, I was treated courteously and my questions were answered promptly and thoroughly. Emily was a delight to talk to and made sure I received my proposal on time. Anthony's ideas were SO creative and exciting, I instantly felt as ease knowing that the image I had in my head would be not only met, but exceeded. From the table linens, the perfect floral arrangements, the sleek furniture, incredible lighting, greenery, potted trees with twinkling lights, everything was PERFECT. Everyone in my company raved and raved, I felt guilty accepting compliments because Anthony and his team made me look so good. Lastly, they were gracious and willing to work within my budget, which is always appreciated. I would HIGHLY recommend Anthony Gowder to anyone, for any occasion. Thank you! read more