Tonya orchestrated our daughter Lindsey 's wedding at our home, Casa Medio. It was exceptional. I heartily recommend her.

Tonya is the consummate professional and the wedding planner you want for your big day. From the initial consult to after the wedding, I found Tonya and her team at Soigne Productions to be top notch, high-quality, reliable, warm, and supportive. I found her on Yelp after doing extensive searching, and after interviewing a few wedding planners. From the get-go, Tonya was flexible, extremely organized, dependable, proactive, and very familiar with the wedding venues and vendors available in Santa Barbara County. She allowed me to be as hands-on as I wanted, while providing solid advice and providing support whenever I asked. Besides supporting me with logistics, she has a great eye for style, and I took her recommendations several times for items such as floral arrangements, cake design, etc. I was aiming for a wedding that was minimalistic, romantic, with some handmade items, and uniquely us, and Tonya helped us deliver that. She listened carefully to our vision and helped us execute it seamlessly. If there were any gaps in my vision, Tonya filled them in even better than I could have. When my mom wanted to meet my wedding planner, Tonya was gracious enough to set up a meeting with her to make sure my mom felt confident about the wedding planning. It was great having her create a detailing timeline for the bridal party and the vendors, and running through the wedding rehearsal the day before - it saved me from having so much work! On the day of, we hit a few snafus, from late-arriving wedding guests, to almost going over the time we had set for the trolley, but Tonya handled everything calmly and supportively, and knew exactly what to do. She let us enjoy our big day while she took care of all the little details and logistics (all the small things, like paying the restaurant tab at the end of the night, add up but we didn't notice because she was by our side). It was great having someone we trusted look after us and our guests the day of. Because of Tonya and her team, our guests loved our wedding and we were able to enjoy all the little moments of our big day! I'd highly recommend her for your wedding as well. Some of my favorite guest quotes (that were made possible because we had Tonya): "The wedding was so much fun." "Your wedding is the one I wished I had. I'm jealous." "The wedding was perfect; I don't think anything even went wrong!" "This wedding is so you guys. It's so you!" "It's the best wedding I've attended this year. My favorite!" read more

Tonya did a wonderful job arranging the wedding of my daughter who lives in London, UK. She liaised with her easily on Skype and arranged the whole event with all its complexities, seemingly effortlessly. She was friendly, invariably responsive to calls and messages and could not have been easier to communicate with. She kept track of everything and had a great sense of style. The event was quite beautiful. We could not have asked for more and highly recommend her. read more

This is long overdue, but definitely necessary - Tonya and her team at Soigne Productions are exceptional. We extensively interviewed wedding planners, and ended up choosing Tonya because she understood our needs, she was able to provide a rough budget from the beginning, and she seemed extremely organized (in addition to the photos of her events being beautiful). Tonya guided us through every decision, offered countless suggestions and recommendations, and she was always thorough and quick to respond to my millions of emails. In the end though, the most important thing is that everything goes off without a hitch on your wedding day and that the bride/groom never concern themselves with the details of their wedding day. Now, having gone to a ton of weddings, it's extremely common for something to be off (food doesn't come out on time, photos run long, DJs announce names incorrectly, brides are stressed out, etc.). That's why every time I find myself at a wedding, I'm reminded of how grateful I am for our experience working with Tonya. Tonya and her team made sure that EVERY SINGLE detail was so perfectly executed, and prior to our wedding, she made sure that she knew exactly what our preferences were if X or Y or Z happened, so she would never have a need to discuss logistics with us on our wedding day. Tonya and her team are master executers. Without hesitation, I'd highly recommend Tonya and Soigne Productions! read more

Such a pleasure to work with a company and people who are both professional, relaxed, and able to coordinate an elaborate wedding like this past weekend in wine country. Can't imagine how Tonya and her team handle such a detailed and stressful (with all the potential last-minute glitches) with such grace and efficiency. Excellent choice! read more

If you are looking for a wedding planner in the Santa Barbara area, do yourself a favor and stop right here, you found her! Tonya was so organized, attentive to every detail, and overall just lovely to work with. Our Oct 6 wedding was absolute perfection and she really went above and beyond to pull it off. First off, if you are wondering about the additional cost it takes to hire a wedding planner, don't scrimp here. Tonya knew so many vendors and had preferred discounts with many so she actually ended up paying for her own fee and then some just by steering us to trustworthy, quality vendors. Next, she is worth her weight in gold just for keeping all of the contracts, timelines, payment schedules, etc all in one place and all incredibly organized. Literally, 2 weeks before the wedding we decided to change from bottled beer to glasses; she had our whole rental order pulled up with photos of our two former top picks (from over a year ago!) and emailed it out to us within the hour. Impressive to say the least. Then when it came to the wedding day, she never once rushed us or let on how stressed/ crazed she must have been. She was a very non-intrusive presence- there when you needed her but not hovering. My husband even cut his finger with a steak knife and she was there within second- with a tan band-aid in hand! Finally, all of our vendors LOVED working with her, which tells me that she has a really great reputation here in town, which again, in a small town like Santa Barbara where there are SO many weddings, it certainly can't hurt that your wedding planner is universally liked by everyone in the industry! If you have any questions about Tonya, just message me on Yelp. We loved working with her and our wedding could not have been more perfect even in my best dreams! read more

Oh my gosh, I simply cannot say enough good things about Tonya and Soigne Productions. Our wedding is approaching on September 28 and already Tonya's help has proved invaluable. I truly don't know what we would be doing without her. She is incredibly well-connected with all the best vendors in Santa Barbara and is able to provide such wonderful advice when you are feeling lost. She is so much more than just a wedding planner - she's like a mentor/guide on your wedding adventure! I don't know how she does it, but she is always available when you need her, whether for just an e-mail or even a phone call - and although she has other weddings and clients, she somehow manages to always make you feel like you are the only one! AMAZING! Her ideas and organization have been absolutely priceless. I will update this review after our wedding is done, but I just had to say some things about her because working with her these past months has been such a dream. I agree 100% with the other reviewer who said hiring Tonya was the BEST decision they made. I actually do events for a living and wasn't sure that I really needed the help. In retrospect, I am SOOOOOO happy I hired Tonya. No matter how experienced you are, you simply cannot manage all the details on your own wedding day. The peace of mind that Tonya has given us is honestly worth three times what she charged us. She is the BEST!! read more

Tonya and her team executed an absolutely gorgeous wedding last night at the Santa Barbara Historial Museum -- and it was simply beautifully run from top to bottom. Gorgeous decor decisions, food, lighting and entertainment all tastefully executed with a refined touch and lovely aesthetic. I look forward to being at another wedding run by Tonya and her team. read more

I am so excited to write this review because of what a pleasure Tonya was to work with! Tonya was the grand jewel of my wedding vendors. I worked for a year creating my dream wedding, and a few months out I found Tonya to help me put all the pieces together. I can not tell you how trilled I am to have worked with her. It really was the best decision I made. Tonya is professional, to the point, loves what she does and is GOOD at it! She helped me arrange my rentals (saving me thousands!), guided me through seating charts, and was there to help me when my serving suddenly went from family style to platted. The day of she was incredibly on point. She took in all of my requests, and every item I provided her was set up just the way I wanted. Her guidelines and check lists were beyond helpful. While I have some experience in events, I truly could not have pulled my big day off without Tonya. She will take your event on with so much professionalism. At first her confidence was almost intimidating, but then I realized how valuable it is to have someone so on top of her stuff in your corner. She is also a wonderful person, and really becomes a friend in the planning process. I am bummed its all over, it was so much fun working together! read more

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I began the process of planning a destination wedding while living in Boston for my daughter who resides in Chicago. I had only once briefly visited the Santa Barbara area with no real knowledge of potential wedding resources. As my planning process progressed, I was informed that it is mandatory to have a wedding planner by the management at my site selection, the Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos. Since I previously had planned two weddings without using a wedding planner I did not know where to start in deciding the right person for the job. The combination of the New England connection, her former position at the Firestone Vineyard, and consistent excellent reviews on line prompted my reaching out to Tonya. As you can imagine, it is very difficult to choose the right person during a long distance telephone conversation to help with a once in a lifetime milestone event. I most appreciated that Tonya was always supportive of the choices made for the wedding and the effort she placed in understanding and implementing the many unusual Jewish wedding details that were important to our family. Although I only contracted with Tonya for the month of wedding services she was graciously available to answer questions and provide valuable suggestions throughout the planning process. Although the rain forecast for the wedding day was menacing and my stress level was rising, Tonya was the rock that quietly changed all the details to move the cocktail reception and dinner indoors. The bride and groom successfully had the outdoor ceremony of their dreams keeping their guests dry by following her recommendation to purchase white wedding umbrellas. This provided our guests the opportunity to comfortably admire the beautiful surprise rainbow stretched out before them that no one will ever forget. My only regret is that my other two daughters are married so I cannot plan another wedding with Tonya. read more

Tonya was coordinator for our wedding this summer at a private residence. She was amazing. Kind, calm, and on top of EVERYTHING. We had ~130 people and had to bring in everything; dance floor, bathrooms, catering kitchen, lights, a generator, tables, chairs, linens, etc... She made the whole process so much more enjoyable and was worth at least 2x as much as she charged. The day of went so smoothly and the only minor things that popped up during the day, she took care of them before we even had a chance to think about it. Of all the money we spent on our wedding, (Photo, video, catering, etc...) she was by far the wisest investment we made. I highly, highly, recommend her! read more

Working with Tonya was exceptional from the excellent communication throughout the entire process to the unbelievable execution on the day of to create the perfect dream wedding for my daughter. You are extremely talented, in charge and so amazing to work with. All of the vendor recommendations were spot on. If anyone out there is interviewing wedding planners, you should quit looking and hire Tonya and her team. You will not be disappointed! read more

We chose Tonya as our coordinator for our 2009 wedding at the Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos, CA. With her help, our wedding day was everything we wanted it to be and more. Tonya was the perfect wedding coordinator. She is thoughtful, detail-oriented and has great relationships with the best vendors in Santa Barbara County. She gave me great advice when I was having trouble making decisions and helped keep me on track while planning for our big day. When our wedding day arrived, I was relaxed and didn't worry about a thing. Having a coordinator like Tonya made the whole experience so much more enjoyable. I can't thank her enough. I would definitely recommend her work to anyone! read more

Tonya Szele is THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS! We met Tonya very early in our wedding research process, and it was apparent five minutes into our meeting, that she was going to be not only our wedding coordinator, but someone we'd remain friends with long afterward. Her expertise in assimilating all of our ideas, clarifying our vision, and translating it into superb vendor choices not only cut the planning process down by about 1000% in terms of time and effort, but also led to us having the opportunity to work with the very best, kindest, talented people in the business. We took great comfort, knowing that literally any of the vendors that she arranged for us to meet, would have done an exquisite job and exceeded the highest of expectations. And we've been to A LOT of weddings! To say that her professional network LOVES her, is to understate how quick they were to go the extra mile not just for her, but for her clients. And it feels weird to say clients, because through it all, she was more of a friend, wedding mentor, and at times, psychologist. Our wedding day at Crossroads Estate in Los Olivos went off without a hitch, and while we did not set out with the goal to have a wedding that people would be talking about per se, guests were raving about every little detail for months. Not the next day, week...MONTHS. 18 months later, people still talk about it. And honestly, aside from maybe some super sweet dancing moves, and a room full of love, it was all about Tonya Szele doing what she does best, and delivering the wedding of our dreams. She will do the same for you, and she is absolutely, positively, without a doubt, someone you should hire if you're taking the plunge or throwing a memorable event of any kind. read more

I have worked side by side with Tonya in a leadership environment for 2 years. My walk away impression of this woman is, "...Wow, she really knows how to get things done...". It is not just her job to organize, lead and serve. Its her personality. Many people wander about in life for years trying to find what kind of work suits them best. Tonya has found hers, tackled it and wrestled it to the ground. She's good. Man, she's good. read more

We truly enjoyed working withy Tanya's team throughout the entire process of the wedding recently held at Figuora Mountain Farmhouse where our team of servers (Central Coast Party Helpers), helped set up, serve and clean up for this wonderful family. They were very organized, communicated very well from the beginning (which is super important). We had the menu from Full of Life Flatbread, the rental order, layout and timeline to review with Tanya thoroughly and she even set up a conference call with the bride so we were sure to be on the same page with everything. The bride was very happy and the event was well organized, beautiful and they even provided a special "vendor box" for us vendors to eat, as well as they set up the catering area with covers on the tables and risers for the legs (super important to us). They basically "rolled out the red carpet" for all of us and it was greatly appreciated. I am looking forward to working with Tanya and her team again very soon, as we cover San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara with professional servers, bartenders and kitchen help, we would be right by her side for any events! Thank you ! Brigitte Faulkner, Owner, Central Coast Party Helpers (805) 238-7979 read more

It has taken me several years to get to this even though I think daily about our wedding and how incredible it was to work with Tonya. Talk about calm, cool, and collected...Tonya planned the perfect day for us and made everything so easy. We worked with her on everything, beginning months out- caterer, design, invites, location, etc. She was so patient throughout and went above and beyond in so many ways. She listens, offers valuable and thoughtful feedback, and is very transparent. She has an incredible eye for details/decor and is a total pro. I never once needed to follow up with her, as she is proactive and reliable. She also has such a wonderfully warm demeanor. I would recommend her to anyone and would love to work with her again in any capacity. She brought our exact vision to life and did it so seamlessly...with as little stress possible. We talk about her and that day all the time! She is THE BEST! Thank you Tonya! Christa and Mike Phillips read more

Tonya coordinated/planned our wedding at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum on 10.3.15, and I couldn't rave more about her. Our wedding (which involved a complicated mish-mash of homemade elements, cultural elements, a ton of vendors) went perfectly seamlessly and most importantly, my husband and I had the best freaking time. We did "month-of" coordination with additional help with rentals/design, but she was so much more of a resource than I could have imagined. My family and groom's family were all very involved, and she gracefully dealt with zillions of phone calls/emails and helped us create exactly the sort of vision we had hoped for. She is extremely capable, direct, and detail-oriented while still being upbeat, fun, and friendly -- perfect combination. We love you, Tonya! read more

I think the hardest part in planning a wedding is the location. Once you both agree on that - everything else seems to fall into place. We fell in love with Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos. The setting was exactly what we had been searching for over a year. The second most import piece would be Tonya. She was able to execute all of our big ideas and make our wedding completely flawless. She is very professional keeping us on track with a timeline. The day of our wedding I knew we had nothing to worry about because she did such an amazing time keeping us on track. We got married two years ago and people are still talking about how amazing our wedding was. I have to agree. We would not have done it without the grace of Tonya. read more

How do I even begin to talk about how amazing Tonya and her team are? She is truly fantastic. If you are getting married in Santa Barbara, you have to hire her! I grew up in Santa Barbara but now live in LA. Most of my family is from England, my husband's family is from Chicago, and the majority of my friends live around the US so we knew that we wanted to create a "destination wedding weekend" showcasing the beauty of Santa Barbara. Tonya and her team planned our rehearsal dinner at the Coral Casino, our reception at the Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens, our brunch at the Waterfront and a Sunday BBQ at our house. Each event had between 60-250 people and the whole weekend went so smoothly thanks to Tonya. Tonya came very highly recommended and we were very impressed by her package options as we knew we were planning a large outdoor wedding that would require everything to be brought in (rentals, linens, lighting, etc). From the very first meeting, we were so impressed by how calm and composed Tonya was. She is a fantastic listener, provides great insights, and has so many wonderful suggestions for personalizing the wedding which I knew that I wanted to do but had absolutely no idea what that meant in the beginning. She is extremely responsive via email (a plus for working brides so you can coordinate from your office) but is always willing to meet in person. Throughout the year, she helped me define and shape my "vision" from multiple PInterst boards and coordinated all of the logistics, vendors, and timelines so when I arrived at the wedding site on the big day, it literally took my breath away. She also has great relationships with vendors throughout town and many offered us discounts as we were working with her which was a great bonus! There are so many decisions that you have to make while wedding planning but hiring Tonya and Soigne Productions is one that you should do first-she will make the whole process so much easier and much more enjoyable! read more

Tonya did a fantastic job at my daugther's wedding. Its always stressful planning a wedding but trying to plan it when you don't live close to the venue is very difficult. My daughter has her own public relations company and also worked as an event planner and I (mother of the bride) hosted a monthly "how to plan a wedding" show. We still needed Tonya to take over the rehearsal and wedding. Because of her, we were able to enjoy the wedding "moments" that we'll cherish for ever! read more

I hired Soigne to coordinate my June wedding. Tonya was great to work with - she is so calm and knowledgeable - she took the stress out of dealing with all the vendors. It was definitely worth it to have a coordinator and Tonya is amazing! read more

Soigne Productions knows their stuff. I hired Soigne as a month-of coordinator for my June 1 wedding in Santa Barbara. I immediately felt at ease from the moment I met with Tonya and Nitana (the associate planner who would be in charge of our wedding on the day of). I felt like it was hard to review the web sites of different wedding production companies in order to choose one for our wedding ... it felt like all the web sites were offering the same thing. Therefore, I felt so lucky to meet with Tonya and Nitana and feel like they both understood what I wanted from my wedding right off the bat. Tonya pulled out a speadsheet on her iPad to show me how they organize the information for all their weddings. It was a stunning display of organization! It made me feel really comfortable because although I had an idea of how I wanted the wedding to go, I didn't really feel like I knew how to make the wedding happen on the day of. That's why I knew I needed a month-of planner ... and that's how I knew Soigne Productions was the right choice for us. We met with Tonya and Nitana three times before the wedding to go over the plans we had ... and I felt very comfortable emailing with Nitana or Tonya with any questions we had leading up to the wedding. The month before the wedding Nitana really took over the heavy lifting as far as planning and contacting vendors ... it was SUCH a HUGE relief at that point to let someone so capable deal with the planning. The cost of the month-of coordination package was worth it right there. Our last meeting was at the reception site with all our vendors; Nitana contacted and coordinated the meeting with everyone. Tonya and Nitana let all the vendors know exactly how the wedding reception would go and it was really wonderful to see how organized and professional they both were. Nitana handled our wedding rehearsal and our entire wedding day and she did such a wonderful job clearly communicating to everyone where they needed to be and what they needed to do. Although I hired all the vendors myself and did a lot of decor and such ... I didn't need to do anything the day of the wedding which made it so enjoyable and relaxing for me. Additionally, my dad was in charge of tips and had some questions at some point the morning of the wedding. When he called Nitana, she patiently walked him through all the vendors and how to tip each of them. Nitana was patient and helpful during the entire process, and Tonya runs such an organized, professional business. I feel like I've spent this review raving about the great business that Soigne is, which is totally deserved, but it is also important to note that the Tonya and Nitana are wonderful, kind people that are a joy to work with, as well. It makes such a difference when you are planning something like a wedding, when all the decisions feel so important to you, the bride/groom, that you don't feel like your questions/concerns are trivial or stupid. I felt so comfortable asking Soigne anything ... they did such a wonderful job in making my wedding a happy memory for me and my now-husband. read more

When we started planning our wedding we thought we didn't need a wedding coordinator...we were so wrong. We found Soigne Productions online and liked Tonya's extensive experience so we hired her just in case. It was probably the best decision we made. I would not have survived the planning process without her! She is so professional, organized, sweet, thorough, and so extremely knowledgeable and talented. She always answered our calls and emails immediately, she remembered every tiny detail we mentioned, she implemented everything just as we asked, she understood our vision and made it even better. She even had little ideas to save budget in some areas so we could splurge on the things that really mattered to us. We did not worry about one thing on our wedding day, we just trusted Soigne Productions to take care of the details, and they exceeded our expectations. Or wedding day was amazing, and we were able to enjoy it stress free thanks to Soigne. read more

To say that Tonya and her entire team at Soigne Productions were fantastic would be an enormous understatement. She and her team were exceptional in their professionalism, knowledge of the local market and wedding/event production field, ability to adapt and accommodate each individual request in a highly personalized way tailored to our specific needs, and overall extremely calming energy throughout what can otherwise be a very stressful wedding planning process. She also has incredibly strong relationships with all of the Santa Barbara area's vendors which allowed her to make thoughtful, efficient and customized recommendations based on our budget, vision and venue specifically. Though Tonya has her skilled support system in her talented colleagues at Soigne, she was refreshingly hands-on with every detail of our planning process which made us feel very special and prioritized in spite of our knowing how many other clients she was working with simultaneously (knowledge based on the fact that we had the good fortune of attending so many of our friends' weddings the year of and prior to our own wedding for which Tonya was also the event planner of choice). I can say with absolute confidence that my husband, immediate family, bridal party and I were all infinitely grateful to have Tonya and Soigne in our corner in the months and days leading up to - and on - our wedding day. The event truly went off without a hitch (to our knowledge) and absolutely shattered our already exceedingly high expectations of what we wanted our wedding day to be. There is no better choice in Santa Barbara than Soigne Productions! read more