Santa Barbara Wedding Coordinator

Highly recommend Toby for any planning needs. Toby did a really great job on our wedding — it was perfect! She really was on top of things, especially the day of, and made sure everyone was on schedule and all of the décor was where it was supposed to be! I used Toby for full wedding planning services and she was a great help through the whole planning process, working with the vendors and making my life easier. She is really positive, friendly, and definitely made the whole stress of planning a wedding manageable. Highly recommend her, great value for how much work she puts into the wedding and all of her knowledge /​experience in doing this so many years!

This review is long overdue, but I had to make sure and leave a review so other people know about the amazing service Toby provides. My wife and I attended school at UCSB and thought Santa Barbara would be the ideal location for our wedding. We live in San Francisco and knew that without having someone local to help us with things, we would be in way over our heads. My wife started researching local wedding coordinators and making phone calls. We were looking to have roughly 100 guests and keep our budget at about $ 35K or less. Believe it or not we actually had other wedding coordinators tell us there would be no way we could have a wedding in Santa Barbara for that amount of money. After that phone call we were definitely feeling discouraged.
Enter Toby Theule, wedding planner extraordinaire. From the first conversation we knew we had the right person. Originally we were just going to have her help with the rehearsal dinner and day of coordination. After a second phone call we realized her rates were so reasonable we decided to go with the full wedding planning service, and it was the best decision we could have made.
We told Toby what we were looking for in a venue and on the day we went to Santa Barbara to scout venues, Toby met us and drove us around all day looking. She had things on her list that we had never heard of as well as things that we didn’t think we could ever afford. Turns out because venues price things so differently, some of the places that we thought were way out of our price range, turned out to be roughly the same price as places we thought were within our budget. Ultimately we decided to go with The Santa Barbara Club. Even though I worked at the drug store across the street for 2 years while in college I had no idea this venue even existed. It turned out to be perfect, and we had an amazing day.
Not only did Toby find us an amazing venue, since she obviously was the one with the local knowledge she had a couple photographers and florists as well. We went with La Fleur du Jour for the flowers (Gennavieve is AMAZING and I highly recommend her as well) and Michael L’Heureux Photography (also amazing, and I can’t say enough good things about him either.)
Toby coordinated with these vendors as well as our linens supplier (who was also supplying the heaters and dance floor) to make sure everything was going to be delivered on time. She introduced us to the people at Enjoy Cupcakes and picked up the cupcakes for the wedding the day of the event. We made 2 trips prior to the wedding for food tastings and a few other things we wanted to be on hand for, but outside of that Toby took care of it all.
The day of the wedding, my wife and I did not have to worry about anything. I know I’m probably forgetting about 50 other things that she did for us, but at I think you get the point. If you’re talking to Toby and debating whether or not she is the coordinator for you, do yourself a favor and book her before someone else steals her on your date. My wife and I both say that what we spent with Toby was hands down the best money we spent on our wedding.
Thanks for everything Toby! Sorry it took me so long to get this written.

My daughter got married August 2, 2015 in Santa Barbara and was doing most of the planning long distance from San Diego. We decided to get a wedding coordinator to help us with «the day of» and reached out to Toby. Oh my! that was the best move ever. Not only did Toby help us with the million details the weekend of the wedding, but she spent hours on the phone getting to know my daughter and her vision for the event. Toby was supportive, organized, detail oriented and so friendly. She was the best money we spent on the whole event. We can’t imagine this magical weekend without thinking of how helpful it was to have Toby behind the scenes making it all come to fruition.

Toby is wonderful. I had no idea how to go about putting a wedding together. Toby walked me through every step. She introduced me to vendors that are the best in their business. She explained what needs to happen, what will happen, and what might happen. I messed up on table numbers and Toby calmly fixed the problem. She is reassuring, full of ideas and suggestions, and completely catering to the vision of the couple. If Toby becomes a life coach, I would sign up. You will be a happy bride with Toby at your side.

Toby Theule is the most awesome wedding/​event planner in the Santa Barbara area! She was absolutely essential to us pulling off a great wedding for our daughter this past summer! She worked tirelessly and continuously on this wedding for over a year, and many of our guests said it was the best wedding they had ever been to. As FOB, I am totally pleased at the overall value and all aspects of Toby’s work for us!

We used Toby for our daughter’s wedding and she was amazing. She helped with planning a beach wedding and then the reception back at our house for 200 people. There were many small details that she organized and kept track of. Thanks for making our daughter’s wedding the best day of her life.

I couldn’t be more thankful for her insight and guidance from the big stuff (like the expertly detailed wedding weekend, ceremony, and reception timeline) to every little detail. Toby provided endless fresh ideas to make my wedding feel special and customized, and that is where her years of experience in the industry really shine. Perhaps the most invaluable thing Toby did was call to check on each vendor, even the one’s I’d booked on my own, the day before the wedding… especially since she was able to discover that the order I placed for rentals had gotten lost in a company transition! Best of all, Toby totally fixed the issue and didn’t tell me or my mom until after the wedding, ensuring we had a stress-​free day with no-​clue of how close we were to a wedding without linens, chairs, a cake stand, etc! that freedom to relax, in my opinion, is worth any price!

I’m so glad we decided to work with Toby while planning our wedding. I ended up having a very chaotic year, while trying to wedding plan. She helped me stay on course, and organized. When ever we met or had a call she was always on time and prepared. When the big day came along I gave her all of the décor I had worked so hard on, and she displayed/​decorated everything perfectly. It was so great to be able to take that off my list of worries.

Toby was an invaluable investment in our wedding planning. From the moment I first made contact with her on the phone I knew she was the right person to help support my husband and I through the mysterious terrain of wedding planning! Toby is warm, positive, completely organized, competent, and available. She is a «cross every T» kinda person, exactly what you want for the job! She was there for us through on-​site meetings, planning sessions, and innumerous phone calls and emails. She also acted as a liason between the wedding venue and myself (as well as all of our vendors) which eliminated an enormous amount of stress.
On the day of the rehearsal as well as the wedding day itself, Toby kept every detail on point without my having to think about a thing. Our wedding was fairly DIY and the venue required a lot of logistic organization– she held it all together. Every once in a while she’d find me and say «5 minutes til…» and that was all I needed to know. Having Toby at our wedding allowed me to be present and fully experience my wedding day, which is the point! I could not be more pleased with her help as a coordinator, and as a person.

Coming from out of town, getting a good wedding coordinator for our daughter’s wedding was paramount. We trusted in great faith that Toby knew what she was doing and we were gratefully pleased with all of her work and her referrals. She is a delightful and wonderful woman and I would recommend her as an event coordinator to anyone!

Toby did an amazing job helping to coordinate our wedding! We loved working with her through the entire process. Her referrals were so awesome and everyone was perfect for us and our budget. She was a huge help given that we had to plan the wedding from a distance. But Toby’s referrals and help the day of the wedding made me feel at ease throughout the entire process. She was more than helpful and accommodating throughout and I am so glad that she was a huge part of our big day!

I highly recommend utilizing Toby’s wedding planning and coordinating services for your wedding day. My husband and I worked with Toby for our November 2, 2013 destination wedding in Santa Barbara, which was a complete success. It truly was one of the most wonderful and memorable days of our lives. Since my husband Ryan and I live in the Bay Area, our initial contact with Toby was via email, and later over the telephone. Bot proved to be sufficient means of communication for what we needed to accomplish in a short amount of time (I honestly didn’t start seriously planning until four months before our wedding date). Without a doubt, Toby is very thorough and organized, and will keep you on top of things when it seems like your to do list is never ending. Her insight is invaluable; and she’s very familiar with the SB and surrounding areas and will have great vendor referrals and suggestions, should you need them. The progression of our actual wedding day was seamless; not a detail overlooked, and both my husband and I (and our immediate families) were far less stressed and enjoyed the day to the fullest because we had Toby there assisting us. While we knew Toby was there in the background, keeping things seamlessly moving along, I doubt that many of our guests even noticed her. While very sweet and genuine and a pleasure to talk with, Toby maintains a low professional profile throughout the day so that you can stay on schedule, but enjoy each and every splendid moment without feeling hurried or stressed. Having someone you can trust to handle all the special little details so that you can enjoy each precious moment of your wedding day is, in my opinion, priceless. If you’re looking for such a person, look no further; Toby is the wedding coordinator for you.

Toby was wonderful to work with! She was an excellent communicator about the events and the details of the wedding, and had everything planned perfectly for the wedding. As an officiant, I could not say enough positive words about how wonderful it was to work with Toby. I wholeheartedly recommend any bride/​groom that might be looking for an exceptional wedding coordinator in the Santa Barbara area, to give Toby a call!

My husband and I got married in October 2012 and regrettably, I am just now finding time to write a review for Toby. Part of my delay is that realistically, there are not nearly enough nice and fitting words to match the phenomenal service and support Toby provided during the planning and day of our wedding.
As my husband told me on the day of our wedding, «You know, I thought you were crazy for wanting a coordinator. In hindsight, I see the value. We should have hired Toby for full services rather than just day of coordination. And I have to tell Toby that her fees really don’t match her services, she should charge more!» Well, yes after the fact, that is easy for him to say.
But I must admit, Toby was worth her weight in gold. We initially hired her for day of coordination because we had our ceremony at the SB Courthouse, which required someone onsite during the entire reservation block.
In short: you cannot go wrong with Toby! She is professional, courteous and responsive. And most importantly, I really do believe she loves what she does and cares about her clients and making sure that their vision becomes reality. If you’d like more details, continue reading!
Toby was extremely responsive during the planning stage. We had two planning meetings and they went very well. Toby was attentive and mindful of our requests. Now mind you, as I mentioned before, my husband did not quite understand why we were thinking about spending our highly valuable wedding dollars on a coordinator, but after meeting with Toby… he got it.
We were not planning to have a traditional ceremony and were also being married by my husband’s cousin who had never performed a wedding ceremony before. Toby was great in advising us on aspects of the ceremony that we most likely never would have thought of without her. As far as the ceremony and reception timelines went, Toby listened to what we were thinking of doing and made recommendations, some we went with and others we didn’t. In retrospect, I wished we had gone with the recommendations. There are very few things I would change about our wedding day and one of them was a decision that my husband and I made despite Toby’s advice. WE SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO HER!!! And even though I did not hire her for full services, Toby was quick to provide vendor recommendations. I ran into a hiccup with my initial hair and makeup artist and she referred me to a local SB vendor who came through and made me feel at ease.
Additionally our reception venue came with an onsite event planner, who was fabulous in her own right. However, throughout my wedding research I had heard horror stories of coordinators and onsite event planners not getting along and having «turf issues». I must say, even though this was the first time Toby and the onsite event planner had worked together, there was never an issue and the two of them worked beautifully together to pull off an awesome wedding!
Toby has been a coordinator for many years and has worked a wide array of weddings. No matter what style of wedding you are planning, I am confident Toby can not only «pull it off» but also leave you with the same memories that we have… our wedding vision came alive just as we wanted and the day went exactly as planned. Even more than six months later, my husband and I are receiving unsolicitated comments on how our wedding was «so much fun» and «the best ever»!
I believe this is a testiment to the awesome team we pulled together of which Toby was an intergral part. We did not have one single «disaster» or «incident», at least not one that we are aware of or had to deal with and our intention of providing our guests with an awesome and memorable event was executed beautifully. We truly got to enjoy our day, family and friends; my only issue… is that the day went by so fast! My advice, don’t forget to steal away a few private moments with your beloved!
If anyone has additional questions or would like further referral information, feel free to get my contact information from Toby.

Toby is a fantastic wedding planner and coordinator! I recently worked with her and found her to be organized, very professional, and fun. She made this couple’s wedding dream come true with her attention to detail ~ and they were thrilled! I’ll work with Toby any chance I get!
Nanette McIntyre
Ceremonies By Nanette

Toby did an exceptional job planning this wedding. I’m a musician that she hired for the event, she was highly organized, creative and a pleasure to work with and the couple were very impressed with her professionalism. I couldn’t recommend her more highly — I’d work with Toby again anytime.
Bill Boetticher —

Toby is absolutely fantastic! I’m a wedding photographer and I have worked with her many times and I am always amazed at her ability to make the day run smoothly with a smile on her face the entire time. And she always makes sure her vendors are well taken care of :)
She is positive, enthusiastic and always joy to work with!

Professional. Energetic. Creative. Caring. Sweet as pie… that’s Toby! With a kind heart and a listening ear, she will take your wedding dreams and make them happen. I’ve worked with Toby as a makeup artist/​hair stylist for her events, and would highly recommend her to any bride and groom who want their wedding day to be a dream come true. It will be the best decision you’ll ever make!

Toby was a great coordinator for our wedding and such a sweet person to work with! Without her our special day wouldn’t have been possible! I would definitely recommend Santa Barbara Wedding Coordinator!

Toby is a super sweet woman, mom, friend, and WEDDING COORDINATOR! We are vendor friends and I know she is organized, calm, and totally together on your wedding day. Absolutely worth getting to know! No need to look anywhere else, she is your coordinator!