Boerner Botanical Gardens — Attraction in Hales Corners

If you want a dream venue with a dream team for a perfect wedding, I highly recommend Boerner Botanical Gardens.

My husband and I live in Chicago and wanted a wedding close to Illinois/Wisconsin for his family, but also near an airport since most of my family and friends were flying in from California. We also knew we didn’t want a barn or hotel, and we envisioned a wedding theme that reflected our love of plants, books, and fantasy — our vendors heard us say “Fantasy Botanical Garden Library” more than once!

After conversations with over 10 venues and tours of four, we narrowed it down to two. What put Boerner over the top was not only the breathtaking gardens, but also how quickly we bonded with Yvette. She is incredibly kind and calming, which was especially important for me as a very detail-oriented, Type A scientist who struggles to “let go” and trust vendors. Touring is essential because it shows you both the space and the people you’ll work with — and Boerner excelled in both.

On our wedding day, our photographer was thrilled because there were endless stunning spots for photos. The Zilli team at Boerner, especially Yvette and Dana, were truly the dream team. Even when we made changes the day before, they accommodated everything without hesitation. They answered all our (many!) questions quickly, listened carefully to our vision, and helped us bring it to life. Lori was also fantastic at ensuring the day ran smoothly.

They went above and beyond in accommodating my celiac disease, making sure every course — from hors d’oeuvres to dessert — was gluten-free friendly. The waitstaff and kitchen team were attentive, making sure we tried everything, including late-night snacks. The bartenders were equally wonderful — fun to chat with, flawless in mixing our specialty cocktails (Aperol Spritz and French 75), and a hit with our guests.

Our guests raved about the venue and how personal it felt to us as a couple — a true reflection of how well the team listened and delivered. And best of all, everything was affordable without sacrificing quality.

We didn’t hire a wedding planner, so we relied heavily on the Boerner team to execute our vision. They exceeded every expectation. Thanks to them, our wedding was a...

Spring 2022 is coming and the new children's specialty Garden it's moving along!!

There are sings of life coming back in the green coming to life all over the garden. Plus evidence of new projects coming along in the main garden also.

Happy Juneteenth at the gardens all summer long!!! A really nice Garden area has been dedicated to the contributions of African Americans who not only broke their backs and families to contribute to our economy, they also brought with them plants that we eat every day in our diet and never think that they came with them on that long Voyage here to the United States. It is a fun and educational exhibit. From the Bottle Tree to okra. It is located right near the Rose Garden which is currently on the 20th of June flourishing.

The walkways are now more accessible to those with carts for motoring around the gardens. Instead of the gravel and dirt beautiful bricks and cement make it easy traveling. There are one way only routes to follow. You don't get any pea gravel in your sandal and shoes as it's been replaced with beautiful brick walkway.

Everyday is different at the gardens. So you may want to buy a season pass!! It's a wonderful place to walk, meditate by a water fall or Babbling Brook. Dont we all need that now in these confusing, overwhelming times!!!

Plenty of places to sit down along the walk.

There are restrooms in the garden and the welcome center and gift shop. Along with a family and non-gender restroom and now they've even added a breastfeeding station .

So come on out to the gardens this summer and enjoy a little history along with a lot of beauty.

There is plenty of parking and equipment for special needs and lots of shade for all those Wisconsin snowbirds who are back from Southern States to park their cars...

China lights is a very nice experience if you arent rushed!! It's better to go earlier not at 8pm. Later in the evening the parking is horrendous!! The roads aren't illuminated to see the signs for parking. The signage sucks and the parking staff did little to redirect the congestion. Finally after driving around doing the same circle around and around like 4 times after like 35mins..... found parking it's was 15 dollars. That was expressed not until I waited in line for over 15mins no turning back. I came to China lights last year the experience was soo wonderful so came back and brought the whole family with but wasn't at all the same experience I remembered last year. Extremely disorganized. Then after waiting and looking for parking for almost 45mins we finally got parking and got in. At this point it's about 9pm. Once inside was much better for a little while until 10pm came around we were rushed and shown the exit bc they were closing. Didn't get to see all the displays, also was looking forward to do all the childrens activities but didnt have time. was rushed to the exit. Tried to use the washroom before we hit the road and even the staff at that time kept telling us to make our way to the exit. For over 20-30 bucks a ticket we have a large family, being deceived on parking and being rushed to leave wasn't at all the best experience nor the experiencei remembered. I returned this year because the 1st experience was soo wonderful. They should stay open later & get more organized. This year I feel like I wasted my money. 💰 But as they mentioned ALL SALES ARE FINAL!...