Asrai Garden

Terrible experience. I purchase a plant (expensive and my fault for being impulsive) and found it at a plant shop ½ hour later for ¹⁄₃ of the price. I thought I would call let them know how unhappy I was — fast forward one week later — never heard anything back — finally had to call again — spoke with a manager who proceeded to lecture me on the ins and outs of small business — (glad she took that course!) — needless to say she was not very sympathetic. Asked me what I wanted her to do knowing full well she didn’t plan on doing a thing. When I suggested returning the plant… A very curt response, «Uh no I don’t think so». Likes to say everything is «Super». This store is not very Super”. the only thing worth buying there are the props and they’re not for sale — would probably be overpriced if they were. — no need to stop here!

So incredibly disappointed. Came home this evening to an early Valentine’s Day bouquet from my bf & after a total of no more than 4 hours after he had picked them up to me viewing them, the flowers were wilting & the ones in the center are literally on the verge of death. I’m partially to blame for telling him about Asrai garden, especially since I’m trying to hide the dead flowers so he doesn’t feel bad. He actually had better luck with a jewel florist before. Poor guy, now I think I owe him a better gift to make up for the $ he lost in hopes of quality & a happy girl.

I was looking for a florists that would kill a dozen roses for my wifes and mine 30 year anniversary Valentine’s Day getaway.
When the wife (at the time my girlfriend) and I went away for the first time, I put the dozen roses in the trunk of my car, to hid them from her. Since it was in Feb it was 1000 degrees below 0. And yes the flowers froz… So when i went to give them to her… There they were all black and frozen.
So in order to celebrate the right way… I had to do it again… They were the only florists that would kill the flowers and then sent them to our hotel… It was every thing i expected… They were AWESOME…
If you are looking for the unusual… They are the Ones to do it… Thank you the flowers were perfict.

This place cannot get any better! The aroma when you walk by down North Ave. is enough to drag you in. Perfect little shop with everything a nature lover, florist, & witch needs! I buy my sage from here once a month as well as gifts and flowers that smell oh so good! They have so many interesting and beautiful things to choose from. Stones, jewelry, not to mention a staff with friendly smiles! You won’t be disappointed entering! Thanks Asrai Garden, I LOVE working in the neighborhood with you!

These guys are great! They had to chase me down on my birthday and were so accommodating. Plus, the arrangement was gorgeous.

I just love this flower shop! I am so thankful for Elizabeth and her team. They are so gracious, creative, and helpful! Although, they don’t like the be known for this, the ladies at Asrai have bailed me out of the «dog house» at least a half dozen times over the last few years. I basically owe my marriage to them. And speaking of marriage, they did a lovely job with my wife’s floral head band for our rehearsal dinner for our wedding. The reason I am writing this review though is because for my most recent experience. I was looking for a bouquet for my wife for our one year anniversary. Unfortunately, I did not have time to get to the actual storefront before dinner, so I called and asked what they could do to accommodate and it turns out that they also DELIVER! I live right down the street, so this feature doesn’t always necessarily apply to me, but on this occasion it was a life saver! My wife was so happy when her beautiful bouquet showed up! I love Asrai, but more importantly, so does my wife!

I needed ten miniature bouquets for an event, and after following Asrai on Instagram and Facebook for ages and falling in love with their work, I timidly sent them an email with a laughable proposed budget of $ 150, a description of what I needed, and a list of flowers I hoped could be included. When Taylor and I connected by phone, she advised that they could definitely help me, and took the time to walk through my list, sharing the per-​stem prices of each of my desired blooms. Many of them were about $ 10 each, and as such, she explained that even increasing my budget to $ 200, would allow them to do a great deal more, giving them $ 20 per bouquet. This turned out to be doable for me, and I really appreciated that she was very straight forward, but kind. She didn’t pressure me, and gave me the impression that she really wanted to stay true to what I wanted, but supply the highest quality flowers possible for what I could spend. She assured me that it wouldn’t be a problem for me to provide my own vessels (assorted jam jars) and pick up the flowers myself, the morning of the event. A family member picked up the bouquets, and brought them to the event venue the day of the party, and when they were unpacked, I was absolutely blown away by their inventive, creative beauty. They were interesting, balanced, and stunning, and quite a bit larger than I anticipated. Throughout the event, I received compliment after compliment on the flowers, and at a follow-​up event the next day, I set them out again, as they still looked gorgeous. I ended up sending some of them away with loved ones, since flowers that lovely are too wonderful not to share. Still now, a month later, folks are remarking on the wonder of the flowers, and how they were some of the most exquisite bouquets they’d ever seen. Thank you for your dedication to excellent service and quality, Asrai Garden! I can’t wait to work with you again in the future.

This is the best hidden gem in Wicker Park… if not all of Chicago. It’s a truly unique place, nowhere like it in the city. The flowers are beautiful, their arrangements are truly like art. Their assortment of gifts and jewelry are very well curated by the owner Elizabeth and she goes out of her way to keep her store stocked with local artists and everything is handcrafted, I really love her eye for detail. Be aware that many of the items are at a bit of a higher price point but I have no complaints because I know it’s going to the artists who are handcrafting these items and as an artist myself I totally understand the need to charge for your time and work, after all we only have 2 hands. With that being said there are many items at impulse-​buy prices if you need to find a unique gift for a friend… or yourself for that matter. I highly recommend stopping into this dark wonderland. You’ll be happy you did.

Love, love, love Asrai Garden. This is my go to spot for flowers and gifts for the wife. The staff is super helpful and they always have beautiful flowers available. You will find all sort of things here. This is not your run of the mills flower shop.

This is one of my favorite places. I work in the neighborhood and sometimes come here on my break because it smells so good and there’s so much to look at. I have bought some plants that were very hearty, plus the people working gave me great advice of how to care for them. Such a great store, happy to support them!

I would not recommend Asrai Garden’s for your floral needs. I ordered a bright, colorful, uplifting $ 150 arrangement for my sister-​in-​law who had a mastectomy last Thursday. Jackie specifically told me that my price point would produce a «Spectacular» arrangement. After the arrangement arrived at the hospital, my sister-​in-​law requested that it be placed behind the bed so that she didn’t have to view it because it reminded her of a Weeping Willow. It was a small, lovely arrangement with 13 flowers (yellow, peachy, and a couple of red). I called the flower shop to see if I could exchange the flowers for something more colorful and uplifting ASAP so that my sister-​in-​law could enjoy. I waited 2 days for a phone call from Elizabeth, the owner. She left me a voice message telling me that she and her staff were very pleased with how the bouquet turned out and how she received 500+ likes on Instagram. She also proceeded to tell me that they do not sell cheap flowers (such as Gerbers); perhaps, insinuating that I much rather prefer those over hers for the price. I left messages which were not returned… I’m pleased that she and her staff are pleased and that they are a success on Instagram. However, you would think it be most important to please the paying client and to brighten up the day of someone who just had a mastectomy. I am disappointed in their need to be «right» instead of their need for customer satisfaction.
In response to Asrai’s Unilocal response, the picture posted on my review was taken 1 hour after the flowers were delivered. It’s as accurate as it gets. No trick photography or alterations in any way. Just a snapshot of the bouquet as they were delivered. I think the picture speaks for itself. In fact, I texted the same exact picture to Asrai the day after the flowers were delivered per their request. They responded by telling me via voice message that the picture indeed verifies their quality work and is indeed stunning and beautiful.

I had a great experience working with Natalie at Asrai Garden. She and her team created a bridal bouquet, boutonnière, and bud vase centerpieces for my small wedding. We never actually met in person and truth be told, I’ve never been inside their shop, but the result was fantastic. Our job was too «small» for an in-​person meeting, so our correspondences were all by quick phone calls and emails. Natalie designed the bouquet and bud vases based on photos I sent of ideas that I liked and photos of my dress, and described it them to me in detail in an email. She gave us a chance to give feedback on the original designs and estimate so that we could make any changes before finalizing the order (which we did).
They delivered the bouquet to my home the morning of the wedding, and they delivered the bud vases to our reception venue. Everything was on time and flowers were more beautiful than I could have imagined. The arrangement was spot-​on to what I had envisioned, maybe even more so. It was beautiful, fresh, and the flowers lasted for days after the event. The combination of flowers was unique and contained things you won’t be able to find at a regular store. My husband and I, and all of our guests gave us many compliments.
We paid around $ 500 total including all flowers, taxes, and delivery to two locations ($ 400 before tax and delivery). I think the high quality of what we got was well worth the cost.

Cute store with beautiful gifts. Definitely worth stopping in.
However, I would not buy flowers here again. The arrangement I purchased was wilting before I even arrived at my event… A bit embarrassing to bring flowers in that condition.

Asrai was my go-​to florist when I lived in Ukrainian Village. They excel at unique flower arrangements– artful and a little bit weird in this gorgeous way. The bouquets tended to last at least a week, sometimes longer, depending on what was in them. Highly recommend asking whomever is working to put an arrangement together by indicating a price point and color only and not micro-​managing the blooms (which is tough, I know). They will put together something whimsical and beautiful. It is fun to check out the rest of the store’s charms while you wait for your flowers.

Can we talk for just a minute about the awesomeness that is Natalie Lauzon?!
My husband found Asrai Garden on a whim after we had researched multiple florists and found that our budget was just too tight. Natalie was awesome from the start. She gave us tips on the best ways to work with our budget while still preserving the look and type of flowers we wanted.
I must have emailed her at least 50 times before the wedding with questions about the size of the vases we were ordering and what kind of ribbon I should choose for the bouquets — among other random things. She was so patient and so kind!
She even hand delivered the bouquets the day of my wedding (I actually feel terrible about this because I don’t think I was able to express how beautiful and spot on they were with what I wanted — wedding stress was distracting me!). She also managed to slip a congratulatory card into our bird cage card holder at the venue.
One of my bridesmaids is getting married in October and per our recommendation she is using Natalie too! Basically, Natalie is amazing and Asrai Garden is an awesome shop, a pleasure to work with, and very professional. You should get all of your future flowers from them.

Have some interesting gifts. Have been back twice for horse tail jewelry. They are very helpful. I didn’t buy any flowers but watched them build some beautiful bouquets.

Asrai Garden’s bridal bouquets and table centerpieces for our wedding were absolutely stunning, gorgeous, elegant, creative, and expertly arranged. They captured the aesthetic perfectly. However, the flowers for church were very simple for the price and wilted during the ceremony. It was embarrassing to carry dying roses to the Virgin Mary.
I was mostly pleased with the arrangements (which get 4.5 stars), but I found it difficult to work with Natalie. The cost did not break the bank but definitely was not a deal, and therefore not worth it for the lack of collaboration. There are many good florists in this city and I would not personally recommend this place although I’m sure other brides have had a better experience.

Natalie is amazing! My now husband and I came in for an initial consultation and had a fantastic time just spit balling ideas. Natalie is creative, passionate, friendly and very, very talented.
When we walked in for the first time we were instantly enamored with how beautiful the store looked and smelled. (Seriously, if I could get that in a perfume I would wear it everyday.) Our wedding was very retro, nostalgic and fun and we wanted flowers that expressed that. While I love flowers, I must admit I have no clue what many cut flowers are called, especially with how many exotic options are available these days. Natalie made the whole process so much fun and her excitement was very genuine.
My bouquet was gorgeous, and I cried (hysterically) when I had to say goodbye to the flowers I didn’t save to dry. The girl’s bouquets were orange parrot tulips and popped so beautifully with their teal and turquoise dresses. We used a lot of teal and turquoise in the linens and the orange, peach and yellow flowers used for the centerpieces looked AMAZING!
(She also comped my stand-​in for the bouquet toss and arrangements for the bathrooms which was so generous of her.)
I would recommend Asrai Garden to any non-​traditional bride who isn’t looking for cookie cutter arrangements and cliché centerpieces. Natalie makes the whole process fun and exciting. Her and her staff at Asrai are phenomenal.

I ordered bridal bouquet for my friend and was very disgraced. In the morning when I gave to her my present, itlooked well. but at noon flowers began to wilted. I felt myself uncomfortable, because every guest looked at her bouquet and knew it was my present. I am very unhappy and don’t recommend this place.

I can’t say enough about Elizabeth and Kristen. When we set out to plan our big day, I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to afford flowers– so many florists quoted us minimums larger than our entire budget!
Luckily, I stumbled across Asrai Garden here on Unilocal and scheduled a meeting with Elizabeth about 5 months before our wedding. I was encouraged by their website, where their «wedding rant» says it all– a $ 1000 wedding deserves the same attention as a $ 40 000 one.
Elizabeth was fantastic from the moment we walked in. She worked with our small budget and produced the most gorgeous bouquets for our November wedding. Emails were returned within 2 days, even during the busy summer months, by either Elizabeth or Kristen. They flexed with our budget and allowed me to make changes with no fuss, even allowing us to supply some feathers and to pick up the flowers ourselves to save money.
On our wedding day, I received tons of compliments from our guests and the hotel staff. I don’t think anyone would believe me if I told them how little we paid for the quality we got. I am so grateful that people like this exist in the otherwise money-​hungry, scheming wedding industry. Asrai is A+ !