Elite Events Catering
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Elite Events Catering specializes in full-service event design while working with clients to develop unique, custom menus and beverage packages. Our greatest joy comes from seeing our client’s vision come to life and helping to make lasting memories.
What We Love About Elite Events Catering
Elite Events Catering is a full-service catering and event design company known for custom menus crafted from scratch with fresh, locally sourced ingredients.
Their talented team collaborates with couples to design one-of-a-kind dining experiences, from chef-attended stations to curated beverage programs. With a focus on creativity, detail, and personalized service, Elite Events Catering transforms each celebration into a memorable culinary experience.
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What We Offer
We always like to tell our clients that we can help with as little or as much as they need. We can simply provide their menu and service or we can be a one stop shop for their menu, beverage program, service, table top rentals, and so much more.
We Love Weddings Because…
Well, I think it is safe to say that this is a very happy and important day in anyone’s life. By being a wedding professional, I get the opportunity to work with enthusiastic clients and other vendors who are all very excited to make this experience the best possible. We are not really in the business of just weddings, but real lives and making memories.
Our Wedding Style
We specialize in custom weddings… meaning we start by first getting to know the couple and finding out as much about them as as possible. For example we like to find out their favorite foods, what their backgrounds are, what vibe they want for service style, etc.. This way we can work with them in creating a menu that really represents them as a couple so that they have a truly one-of-a-kind curated menu for their wedding day!
Our Personality
Having been raised in a big family in a very small town in Minnesota, my personality is pretty down-to-earth. I have had the fortunate opportunity to travel around many parts of the world and lived in Europe for a while, so that has had quite an impact on me in terms of developing broad respect for different cultures, styles, traditions, and cuisines. I simply love to combine all of these experiences and inspirations when working with clients to create something really unique and personalized.
What Inspired Us to Start Our Business
I started my own business after spending more than 10 years working for other professionals in the catering industry and simply knew this is what I wanted to focus my creativity on moving forward. Simply put, I just love catering and creating special events and lasting memories. To me, it doesn’t get much more rewarding than that.
What Makes Our Business Stand Out
We have a talented team of chefs with different culinary backgrounds who each have their own style. When working together on creative menus we simply have so much fun collaborating together and I believe this is what makes our food most unique. Most importantly our attention to detail is what makes us stand out. We create most of our recipes in-house and focus on creating dishes that are made from scratch while sourcing the best products we can find, with an emphasis on trying to use as many local and sustainable products as we can. I believe if we make it a priority to use the best ingredients and put love into our food that our clients taste the difference!
Associations & Awards
South Tampa Chamber of Commerce; Winners: Taste of South Tampa (Best of VIP) 2017; Marry Me Tampa Bay; Working Women of Tampa Bay
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Services & Pricing
We always like to tell our clients that we can help with as little or as much as they need. We can simply provide their menu and service or we can be a one stop shop for their menu, beverage program, service, table top rentals, and so much more.
As each wedding celebration is unique, so is our pricing. Our menus are constantly evolving with many innovative and custom options to choose from. Please inquire for up-to-date pricing. For example, if you wish to add a chef-attended carving station, a caviar bar, or perhaps a live sushi rolling station we have you covered. Perhaps you would like us to bring onboard one of our professional sommeliers or mixologists to add that extra flair to your wedding. We can work with you to offer a multitude of exciting options that work with your specific budget.
I grew up as the oldest sibling of six children in a very small town in Minnesota. Our mom was a homemaker and our dad was a long-haul truck driver. Sound like the beginning of a country song? Well, my early life was pretty much that… like a country song! I ended up graduating from a private liberal arts college with political science and German double major, with the thoughts of going into international law but realized that my calling had always been in the food business so I focused on that instead. I studied abroad and traveled across Europe and visited several other continents, always fascinated by the local cuisine and culture. In 2000 I moved to Tampa as part of a new adventure, where I fell in love with the area, started a business, got married, and am continuing to love every minute of this exciting journey!
One thing most couples would be surprised to know is:
I’ve had the amazing opportunity to travel around the world, try all sorts of amazing foods, work with talented professionals but at the end of the day, I think most couples are often surprised to find out that I am really just a small-town girl at heart.
Non-wedding Passions:
To me everything can be related to weddings in some way but if I had to choose a passion that is non-food/catering related I would go with music. Here it is again! I grew up signing in choirs and playing in bands and have always been passionate about music. From the moment I wake to the end of the day I always have music around me which I find inspiring for whatever mood I’m in and whatever creative outlet I’m looking to explore.
Reviews from Marry Me Tampa Bay Couples
Marry Me Tampa Bay curates the below reviews from real couples whom we’ve personally interviewed. As Tampa Bay’s most trusted wedding planning resource, these reviews are 100% accurate and aren’t created by fake accounts.
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Our main concern for catering was service. We wanted no one to be waiting on anything, and things to feel seamless. Oddly, we started the conversation with Elite Events Catering saying we’ve never had good wedding food, so the food wasn’t our primary concern; we cared most about service. They assured us the service would be excellent, but the food would be as well, and it certainly was.
Their team was incredibly helpful during the selection, planning, and execution. Everything was delicious; it felt like an incredible dinner at a highly rated restaurant, and they pulled it off in an art museum. They were very helpful and creative when working with us to come up with fun passed apps for cocktail hour that played off our favorite foods.
Elite Events Catering consistently outperformed expectations across the board. They were there for us from walk-throughs to rentals, and honestly, just to pick their brain for ideas.
– Olivia and Dean |
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Our wedding menu inspiration was really to be something everyone could eat, regardless of dietary restrictions. Being the big foodies we are, we wanted delicious food, served hot. The live-action options were a hit. We had a carving station, a pasta station, and even a Rainbow Caesar salad! But most importantly, we ended the night with a banana flambe.
We hired Elite Events Catering for the initial connection we had with Melissa Misgen and her team. The moment we walked in for our tasting, we were treated like royalty, with a glass of wine to pair with each dish, and we got to know Melissa and her husband and how they started their business. We had a personal chef who tailored her menu to our preferences. It was a very personable experience, and the food was outstandingly delicious.
– Breaunna and Alyssa |
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I wanted something that everyone would love and that was traditional. My favorite was the mushroom tortellini.
I hired Elite Events Catering because I loved the food we tried during our tasting. They were flexible with items we wanted and could make changes where I wanted them. Their staff was attentive and polite. The food was great. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
– Jessie and Seth |
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We loved partnering with Elite Events Catering because Melissa Misgen spent time with us on the phone learning about our favorite dishes and creating a custom menu within our price point. We bounced ideas off each other, and she didn’t miss a single detail. She took so many notes, and she went so above and beyond by our first tasting that we immediately felt relieved and knew our guests would be blown away.
Melissa thought of dishes that spoke to our roots and where we’re from but also used local ingredients native to Florida that our guests would love to try. Our favorite dish was our Spicy Florida Yucatan Shrimp pasta. Everyone at our wedding was passing this dish around so even the guests who didn’t select this item got to try it!
I had heard from numerous sources that Elite Events Catering always overdelivered and had amazing food. It was an easy choice to select them as our vendor, but what absolutely blew us away was the perfectionism, level of detail, and expertise that this team can deliver for a wedding of nearly 100 people, all while having the best attitudes and biggest smiles on their faces.
This is a family business, and I felt the love they put into our menu and couldn’t recommend them more.
– Ryan and Christian |
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Catering was really important, and I wanted the food to be more than just sustenance. I wanted it to be an experience that contributed to the night’s essence. We chose to move away from the traditional approach and make it more interactive, so we opted for stations rather than a plated or buffet meal. It allowed guests to move around and choose from different options.
I came to Elite Events Catering with some pretty crazy ideas! From our very first meeting, Terri listened to my ideas and helped me execute exactly what I envisioned. We came up with creative hors d’oeuvres like custom pizza boxes representing my time in NYC, Pittsburgh-themed pierogies, and cigar spring rolls with burnt edges served in cigar boxes. I felt completely at ease knowing Elite Events would handle everything from start to finish. They are extremely professional and polite and felt like family by the end.
– April and Tyler |
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We wanted a caterer that didn’t offer just the typical wedding food and where we could customize our meal choices. We had some guests with dietary restrictions, and we wanted to be able to have meal options that were vegan and gluten-free, for example.
We did a tasting with Elite Events Catering, and we fell in love with the food and the owner, Melissa. She was super helpful and was able to customize everything exactly how we wanted. Our guests loved the food on the wedding day.
– Kelly and Jake |
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