I'm a silly, sarcastic optimistic plant freak known for adopting random accents & for being very direct (and for my potty mouth, if we're being honest!). I'm a hard worker and a people pleaser - which works to great advantage for my clients! I get excited about creating beautiful, relaxed, authentic events for my couples & clients.
I am also super passionate about helping the floral industry be more sustainable, and love to teach my tricks to other florists and event pros. Looking for more of a pedigree intro? Well, I have a BS in Horticulture from Michigan State University and have studied (in person) with Tomas deBruyne, Gregor Lersch, Hitomi Gilliam, Francoise Weeks, Susan Mcleary, Joseph Massie and many others along the way.
I am also super passionate about helping the floral industry be more sustainable, and love to teach my tricks to other florists and event pros. Looking for more of a pedigree intro? Well, I have a BS in Horticulture from Michigan State University and have studied (in person) with Tomas deBruyne, Gregor Lersch, Hitomi Gilliam, Francoise Weeks, Susan Mcleary, Joseph Massie and many others along the way.
Services
We hired Tobey for our 3 day Indian Fusion Wedding on Whidbey Island. Our experience working with her and her team was absolutely wonderful. On top of her stunning wedding floral designs, she is very detail oriented with her wedding planning services and has/connected us with a wide range of wedding rentals for our big weekend.
At this time, we are only offering floral design service for Whidbey Island and the San Juan Islands. No! We are happy to provide flowers or planning for all sorts of events. We enjoy planning and designing for birthday parties, corporate functions, elegant dinner parties, and any event. Since each of our clients is unique, and we want their event to feel special and relevant to them, our primary focus is on custom work.
Tobey Nelson Events + Design, based on Whidbey Island, has been a "go to" favorite of couples, clients and wedding parties for a decade. In addition to bringing artistry and mastery of her craft to each opportunity to please clients, Tobey strives to produce each project to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Our first love is the blossom. We especially prize those blooms and branches that are locally grown, in season, and gorgeous. Let us bring the magic of natural beauty to your event. We specialize in crafting lush, fragrant, romantic arrangements that reflect the unique vision of our clients and represent the very best of what the PNW seasons have to offer.
At this time, we are not offering wedding planning. Instead, we offer wedding coaching. This is great for couples who are not going to hire a planner, but would like to have the help of a professional to make sure there are no hidden trouble spots. Tobey can help ensure that you have addressed all the details so that your day will run more smoothly.
Reviews (24)
Daniel W.
Jun 08, 2020
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Although we had to cancel our wedding due to COVID-19, Tobey helped us with initial planning for floral design and event coordination. She was extremely fun and easy to talk to, empathetic with our situation, and her wedding expertise was very evident. We are sad that we never got to work with Tobey on the day of our wedding, but we will definitely work with Tobey again if we have another event. In these times of stress uncertainty, a professional like Tobey is someone you should pick for your wedding.
Jacy Doumas
Sep 26, 2019
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Tobey Nelson is amazing! She was an answer to our prayers for our daughter’s wedding and flowers. The flowers were gorgeous and centerpieces were perfect. She struck the perfect balance between elegant and bohemian. She’s a wonderful listener and understood what the bride, groom, family members & guests needed every moment. She provided guidance when needed and offered her expertise and input where needed. Tobey was professional, positive, and cheerful in every phone & email conversation (& there were MANY). She is detail oriented and expertly guiding us to an amazing Successful epic experience
Ram Biyani
Jun 23, 2019
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We hired Tobey for our 3 day Indian Fusion Wedding on Whidbey Island. Our experience working with her and her team was absolutely wonderful. On top of her stunning wedding floral designs, she is very detail oriented with her wedding planning services and has/connected us with a wide range of wedding rentals for our big weekend. She was just an email, text, or phone call away, and answered all of questions. Don't hesitate to hire Tobey Nelson Events and Design! Thanks again for helping making our magical weekend happen =).
Stefany Sit
Jun 06, 2019
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Tobey provided flowers for our elopement on Whidbey Island. They were beyond beautiful. Throughout our discussions together, Tobey helped provide direction and was also flexible to changes. My friends were able to pick up the flowers from Tobey and she made sure to communicate all the necessary information - including how to hold the cascading bouquet and how to adjust the flower crown. Tobey's floral arrangements helped our day feel so special.
Sarah Jensen
Nov 30, 2018
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Tobey provided the flower arrangements and installed ALL of the decor for our wedding on Whidbey Island. I booked Tobey before I'd even booked our wedding venue because everyone on the Island raved about her. One venue owner told me "if Tobey's here, I know everything will be ok" and I felt that exact same way on our wedding day and the days prior. She constructed beautiful table runners, perfect bouquets, and created the exact ambiance I'd pictured. You NEED Tobey for your special day, she's the absolute best.
Arianna Myhre
Nov 12, 2018
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Tobey was a dream to work with! She met me at a coffee shop in Seattle for our initial visit--and while I had some idea of what I wanted as far as floral arrangements, bouquets and boutonnieres, it was safe to say Tobey saw my deer in headlights look and was able to give me some great advice and ideas. She was able to guide me along this floral path in a relaxed, almost zen like journey and helped me hone in on what I truly wanted. I can honestly say I was blown away at by Tobeys creations! Tobey was so thoughtful, relaxed, professional and created BEAUTIFUL arrangements for my wedding. Thank you
Jennifer Katzinger
Oct 10, 2018
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Tobey Nelson's artistry is something so special to behold! As a floral designer she is truly brilliant and likewise as a wedding planner. She is a spectacular listener in the design process. As a leader with the wedding team she shines with clear communication, so respectful to the various needs of the caterers, wedding cake providers, set up team... and always keeping a light sense of humor that is infectious to the team! I have worked with Tobey on a number of occasions as a wedding cake baker and I am always inspired by her design and leadership.
Anna F.
May 21, 2018
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Tobey and her team are true artists. We used Tobey for our wedding and couldn't have been happier with the flowers, they were just beautiful. I gave her a few reference photos for color and style, but largely just let Tobey do what she does best. She threw in a few unexpected pops of color that fit with our palette and made every centerpiece unique.
On top of that, she was a great communicator and everything went off as expected - I didn't have to spend a moment worrying about whether things would go as expected. Thank you, Tobey!
On top of that, she was a great communicator and everything went off as expected - I didn't have to spend a moment worrying about whether things would go as expected. Thank you, Tobey!
Chip Cressman
Dec 07, 2017
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You won’t regret hiring Tobey from Vases Wild for your wedding or special occasion. She is incredible in every way and her talent goes much beyond flowers. Tobey’s arrangements and flower choices are so beautiful and reflect her talent and past in landscaping. The arrangements are natural and wild, but in good way. It’s like Mother Nature herself helped put together your floral decor!
A big advantage to booking Tobey is she will help make sure your entire wedding theme comes together, not just the flowers. Our package came with a few hours of event design consultation that ended up being
A big advantage to booking Tobey is she will help make sure your entire wedding theme comes together, not just the flowers. Our package came with a few hours of event design consultation that ended up being
Lillian Dickinson
Oct 03, 2017
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Tobey Nelson was born to be a wedding planner and florist. Whenever I felt stressed throughout my wedding planning process, Tobey was the source of calm I needed. She gave me suggestions from personal experience, based on relationships she had built with other vendors in the area. Tobey does not hold back her opinions, which is something I valued as a bride. I trusted her entirely with our wedding and everything went perfectly, from the timing of events to every last decoration. Her talents as a florist extend beyond raw beauty -- Tobey sources local and sustainable flowers and ensures the very
Polly S.
Aug 30, 2017
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As mother of the bride my role was to support my daughter so she did not unravel as she planned her wedding from a distance. When we decided to use Tobey as our florist and day-of coordinator life magically became manageable. She created all the bouquets and wearable flowers , supplied all the table flowers and kept the wedding party on task. She even handled a disasterous venue and wedding crashers and hid all the gory details from us! She is nothing short of amazing! I can only use superlative praise in recommending Tobey.
Shannon Murphy
Jul 09, 2017
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Tobey was both our wedding coordinator and our florist for our wedding. She was absolutely fabulous. She met with us three times throughout the planning process and helped us stay focused on what we needed to be doing. She also gave plenty of advice along the way on local vendors and design. We always felt like Tobey was keeping our best interests in mind so the wedding felt like us and we didn't pay more than we needed to. The day of the wedding, Tobey hit the right balance of being silly and fun, and taking charge so we didn't have to worry about any tiny details (or herding our family/friends
Sara W.
Feb 17, 2017
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Tobey is wonderful to work with, knowledgeable and talented. I really appreciated how much time she took with me before I hired her. She has a very likable personality and I found that she was so easy to talk to, completely easing my concerns about staying within budget. When we met on Whidbey Island to review my wedding vision (she offered to meet me somewhere closer to my home), she was prepared, organized, and had so many creative, cost saving ideas. If you are reserving Fireseed as your wedding venue on Whidbey Island, ask her about the indoor floral tree she designed for us -- it was stunning
Lauren B.
Nov 28, 2016
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Tobey created absolutely gorgeous flower arrangements for our Whidbey Island wedding, and she was a breeze to work with. She understood my vision and then improved upon it, and she was extremely flexible about incorporating some DIY elements I created (and even offered some advice on different pieces). Tobey was always accessible and responsive if I had questions or concerns, or if something needed to be changed. Most importantly for us, she was happy to work within our budget, offering some cost-saving tips on flower choices and giving us multiple options to choose from with regards to the number
Barbara S.
Aug 15, 2016
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My husband said almost everything I wanted to say about our son's July wedding on Whidbey Island, so I'll just add: Everything at both our welcome dinner and at the ceremony/reception was incredibly beautiful and polished, from food to flowers to physical setting and order of events. What struck us at both events was how Tobey threw herself into the fray. No detail escaped her, no task was beneath her notice, not even clearing tables. She has the energy and the commitment to make everything work, and we liked the way she modeled that commitment for her staff.
Craig W.
Aug 14, 2016
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In July 2016, Tobey planned our son's wedding at the Dancing Fish Farm on Whidbey Island for 140 people and a dinner the night before at a private residence for 100. Both events went off seamlessly, completely due to Tobey's tireless work and experience as an event planner. We began working with Tobey back in February and after our first call I knew we were in good hands because she managed us so adroitly. Her suggestions were always clear, to the point and, most importantly, correct. When a firm hand was needed to keep things on track, Tobey could be counted on to tactfully corral us
Case B.
Nov 04, 2015
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Tobey created the bridal bouquets and several large flower arrangements on wooden pedestals, which flanked our wedding aisle on Whidbey Island on 8/15/15. I would highly recommend her to anyone getting married on Whidbey, or anywhere in Washington for that matter. Tobey is very creative and easy to work with. My wife and I are so happy with how everything turned out on our wedding day, and Tobey was instrumental to these feelings.
Meghan M.
Oct 09, 2015
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Vases Wild created my brides and bridesmaids bouquets for our Whidbey Island wedding. They were absolutely beautiful! All local and in-season flowers, which tied in with our rustic wedding theme. Tobey was amazing to work with! She was flexible, offered great suggestions, and has great communication. In addition to the bouquets, she made awesome slap bracelet corsages for my mom and mother in law! They were a huge hit at the wedding! I would highly recommend working with Vases Wild for any floral needs!
Alexandra K.
Sep 10, 2015
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Tobey was absolutely amazing! She did the flowers for our wedding and did a spectacular job. We had some rough ideas at the beginning of the process and Tobey was able to take them and transform them into an absolutely stunning look. The flowers were so beautiful that we were able to go light on the other decorations. We rented her arbor and had Tobey decorate it and that was absolutely breathtaking.
My wife and I cannot speak highly enough of our experience working with Tobey and recommend her to everyone.
My wife and I cannot speak highly enough of our experience working with Tobey and recommend her to everyone.
Timmy S.
Mar 31, 2015
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I needed to send flowers to a memorial service in a rural area of Whidbey Island in Washington State. An online search led me to Vases Wild. After looking at photos of their work online and being pleased with what I saw, I called and spoke with the owner/designer, Tobey.
She makes each customer request to order, designing it for the specific person or occasion. She uses locally grown flowers and flowers grown by small flower farms on the west coast. Without hesitation she agreed to deliver the arrangement at a specific time to the facility where the memorial service was held.
The day after
She makes each customer request to order, designing it for the specific person or occasion. She uses locally grown flowers and flowers grown by small flower farms on the west coast. Without hesitation she agreed to deliver the arrangement at a specific time to the facility where the memorial service was held.
The day after
Jacqueline R.
Jan 22, 2015
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Jennifer H.
Sep 01, 2014
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I highly recommend Vases Wild to any bride/groom or customer in need of floral design and event decor expertise in the Greater Seattle area. Their flowers are fresh, sourced locally when possible, arranged beautifully, and are well priced. The bouquets, boutineers, and centerpieces which Tobey created were absolutely stunning. She did a wonderful job listening to what type of look and feel we wanted, and offered many suggestions to keep the costs in line with our budget. She presented several proposals and cost estimates to assist in our planning and determining the things we could do on our own
Jennifer E.
Oct 06, 2013
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Tobey was very helpful in working me to keep my floral arrangements within my limited budget and provided multiple floral arrangement options for the season. She allowed me to add my own personal touches (ribbons, vases, etc. that other florists would have required me to purchase from them. I would not hesitate to recommend Tobey and Vases Wild.
Vanessa K.
May 05, 2013
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Vases Wild created a beautiful bouquet for a friend in sympathy of her father's death. It was such an artistic arrangement. And so much more personal than sending something through a regular on-line flower delivery service. I was so appreciative and impressed with the value and quality of the work. Then, I was lucky enough to be surprised the same day with a birthday bouquet from Vases Wild from my husband. It is gorgeous! It is a gift to be on either the giving or receiving end of Vases Wild. Highly recommended!!!
