I wish I could write this review about the amazing job Carolyn did for our wedding, unfortunately this review will be based on my experience working with her. At first, everything was going well. Carolyn worked with us to get within our budget and really captured what we had envisioned for the big day. I will say that she did a fantastic job detailing the blooms she would use and even incorporating photos of what we could expect the pieces to look like. We went ahead and cancelled our contract with another vendor because of this. After a few attempts of meeting in person and scheduled phone calls, a personal matter came up which we were more than understanding and accommodating to reschedule. FINALLY, we had a call scheduled. Unfortunately, Carolyn emailed me shortly after confirming our phone call stating that she could no longer be our florist for the wedding (in 3 months) because she needs to attend a baby shower the same weekend... I get it. Life happens. But how do you operate your business like this???? Do not commit and back out after you had already said you were available. I know we didn't have an agreement yet, but it's about the principal and professionalism. I guess something has to go wrong during the wedding planning process, I am disappointed that it was with her. Now, on to the task of finding a florist with our style and budget in Chicago during one of the busiest wedding months.... read more

We were Very happy to work with Carolyn. She was able to create our vision for our wedding in budget. My wife had many things that she wanted in our wedding, such as baby breath ball hanging from ceiling, floating candles and etc. And we were so happy to see how all it came together on the day of wedding. She had limited time to set things up, because we were using one location for both ceremony and reception. She did wonderful job to create not only centerpieces but also details of cake station. She worked well with other vendors and was very professional. She gave us helpful suggestions and also took down all the flowers for us after the wedding. If you are looking for florist who is detailed and will work with you to understand and create your vision, we highly recommend The Bread and Butterfly! read more

The Bread & Butterfly - baby breath ball and LED candle suspended from ceiling - Florists Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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We had Carolyn do our floral arrangements for our July 2016 wedding. She was the best-priced florist I found by far & seemed to fit our aesthetic (less structured, more lush). I didn't have a clear vision of what I wanted, but she was able to help piece everything together in a cohesive way. Carolyn even designed a massive flower arrangement to cover up a nude statue right that was right in our ceremony space... no one knew that we got married directly in front of a woman's rear-end! My bouquet was exactly what I'd dreamed up and loved it so much that when I saw it, I swore in front of my new mother-in-law! Oops! I would absolutely use the Bread and the Butterfly again read more

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I found Carolyn through some internet research as I was planning my Chicago wedding (11.23.16) from Los Angeles. I went back and forth between doing silk flowers and real flowers and decided to ask Carolyn for a quote. I think I asked her several times for different scenarios of what i could do with my budget and the whole time Carolyn was so patient and answered every question. She was so easy to work with from afar. I ended up having her make my bouquet and ordered 8 corsages and 19-20 boutonnieres for our wedding party, parents, and special vip wedding guests. Carolyn delivered it straight to my hotel room in downtown Chicago and explained who's flower was who. I wanted simple and classic flowers and it's exactly what I got. I would recommend The Bread and Butterfly to anyone looking to get florals done because Carolyn was so easy to work with and her florals are beautiful! read more

I am not very demanding when it comes to florists. I found this florist as I was simply attempting to find one near the location to which I was sending the arrangement. I Stated my budget and described the purpose for the piece and (apparently) the arrangement came out very well. I fully intend to order from this shop again the next time I need to send an arrangement to that area. read more

Working with Carolyn of The Bread & Butterfly was one of the most enjoyable parts of planning our wedding! We had a moderate budget for flowers, but we still wanted something that would reflect the vibe of our wedding and that would make it feel extra special. We met with a few florists and their proposals came in over budget or they sighed and said they couldn't do much for us with our budget and gave us very meager proposals. We found this to be very discouraging. . . and then we met Carolyn! Carolyn was happy to work with our budget. All we did was provide her with a few reference photos for things we liked and she came back with tons of suggestions for how we could achieve a similar look. She even went the extra mile by drawing us an illustration of what our floral arch would look like when we had trouble envisioning what the final look would be. She was always was very prompt and thorough when responding to emails and questions. On the day of the wedding, the flowers turned out better than anything I could have ever imagined! They had the bohemian and colorful look we wanted and we received so many compliments from our guests. I'm still dreaming about the beautiful coral peonies she was able to find. . . And Carolyn really went the extra mile AFTER our wedding. We had wanted to donate our flowers to a charity named Random Acts of Flowers which repurposes wedding flowers by putting them into arrangements for people in hospitals and rehab facilities. Carolyn organized the donation drop-off for us and the charity received the flowers without any problems. Because of her willingness to help us out, several people at local facilities were able to receive some beautiful flowers to brighten their day. We would highly recommend The Bread & Butterfly to anyone who wants beautiful flowers and great service at a fair price! read more

Absolutely recommend Carolyn for your wedding! She responds quickly and is so easy to work with. She captured my vision perfectly and even went out of her way to deliver the flowers to the guys so no one would have to leave our hotel. Her arrangements are very elegant and she is such a sweet person. Thank you for everything!!! read more

We were beyond happy we chose the BAB shop to do our flowers for our wedding. Carolyn was so easy to work with even with us giving her little direction, she had a vision and made both our ceremony and reception shine! We had three different locations with the hotel where we did first looks and needed the bouquet and boutonnieres, a gazebo in an outdoor park for the ceremony, and an upstairs space at a restaurant for the reception; Carolyn dropped off the flowers for each location and set everything up all while juggling another wedding at the same time. She never missed a beat and everything looked amazing! The bridal bouquet was just stunning and the price for everything beat every other florist we could find. If you really want to wow people with the flowers at your event you need to use The BAB shop! read more

Carolyn is AMAZING! My husband and I booked The BAB Shop for our wedding on 9/19/15. I found reviews from Carolyn online and am so happy we went with her. We had two meetings to go over everything we wanted for the day- with many questions and emails in between. She immediately got our vision - and the flowers ended up being more beautiful than I could ever have imagined! She is also way more affordable than other florists in downtown Chicago plus she drops off the bouquets/Boutonnieres in the morning, sets up the flowers at the venue and picks/cleans it all up at the end of the night. I would highly recommend Carolyn if you're looking for a florist! read more

Carolyn is amazing and you should work with her. I looked long and hard for someone to work with and finally stumbled around The Bread & Butterfly. Working with Carolyn was a breathe of fresh air and one of the best decisions I made throughout the planning process. She is kind, responsive, knowledgable and super talented. I had a specific budget for flowers and was really looks to do something a little different. Carolyn worked with me and helped craft the perfect bouquets and centerpieces. I had a few ideas and Carolyn just brought everything to life. She was diligent at making sure we were on the same page and that I was comfortable with her proposal. She was very organized and sent a proposal with the specific flowers and colors that would be used throughout. A last minute decision to have flower crowns apart of our ceremony turned out flawless. I was so worried about them fitting and tugging at my hair and Carolyn made suggestions to avoid this by adding a ribbon. Carolyn was very prompt and arrived on time to deliver the bouquets and boutonnieres and then went to set everything up at our venue. Everything was BEAUTIFUL and it was so great to know I could rely on someone and not worry about my flowers. I can't thank you enough Carolyn, thank you for adding so much beauty and color to our wedding day. read more

The Bread & Butterfly - @Elle Rose Photo - Florists Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I can't say enough about Carolyn of Bread and Butterfly! She was such a pleasure to work with for our wedding- flexible, communicative, and her talent is evident in the gorgeous arrangements she created for us. I really appreciated that she was able to meet up with me in-person for an initial consultation at a local coffee shop, and going forwards it was easy to work via email- adjusting the detailed floral proposal as needed until we came up with something that perfectly fit our vision, as well as our budget. Carolyn was also very professional on the day-of, arriving to drop off our bouquets perfectly on time and even a little early, and we were blown away once we got to the venue and saw the vases all beautifully arranged for the ceremony. Thanks again, Carolyn- you provided the perfect touches to make our big day special! read more

Carolyn did the flowers for my wedding and they were absolutely perfect! I trusted her creative styling to make everything perfect and her judgment was right on! I got so many compliments on my bouquet, my husband even said he loved it! The tables looked awesome and so did the bridesmaids bouquets and groomsmen's boutonnieres. I highly recommend her! read more

Carolyn was great from start to finish! She really helped make what we envisioned fit within our budget. Not only was she responsive from beginning to end, but she also had great ideas to add and helped bring everything together perfectly for our day. Having a great vendor to work with is so important and we really loved working with Carolyn. Also the floral arrangements for our welcome party (added last minute which she was completely amendable to) and our wedding were amazing! read more

Carolyn just did an awesome job with our wedding flowers! I had been planning on doing DIY flowers, but thank goodness I got some sense and found Carolyn. She had a great vision when my non-creative self didn't really know what I wanted, and she took care of everything floral-related so I didn't have to worry about it for a second. She also accommodated a few last-minute changes perfectly and easily. I was so grateful to have beautiful flowers and the days leading up to the wedding to spend with family and other last minute details, rather than flower arrangements! I highly recommend her! read more

Carolyn was FANTASTIC! I met with a few other florists before I had the luck of finding her. She was able to give me the look I wanted and meet my budget- something none of the other vendors said they could do. The flowers turned out perfect for my January 30th wedding- just the right about of color to brighten up the day. We had one meeting and several long email conversations to design the flowers. She was super attentive to detail and even let me know ahead of time that some flowers might not be readily available (or looking their best) so we were able to plan backups just in case. The centerpieces were lush and vibrant and the perfect accent to the wooden barn we chose as our venue. She even came out to the barn to set everything up during the day, and was able to bring out LED tealights and holders! read more

Choosing The Bread & Butterfly was one of the best decisions I have ever made in regards to wedding planning. She is so talented, open-minded, caring, professional, and communicative. All in all, she is an absolute doll. I had a very distinct vision, and not only did she provide me with EXACTLY what I had been dreaming about but the flowers came out even better than I had imagined! Additionally, she set up my centerpieces, placed flowers all around the cake, and picked up the vases at the end of the ceremony! I know that for any event that I will need flowers, I will be contacting her. She is amazing!! read more