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
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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
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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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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We looked for a caterer that had a variety of foods we wanted to have at our wedding.
Elite Events Catering‘s service and food were amazing, and we chose them because the food was amazing and the pricing was great!
– Stefania and Jared |
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“Our team at Elite Events Catering has become like a family and working together with them is just amazing! We didn’t have much of a choice when it came to choosing because the whole team insisted on being apart of creating and executing our wedding. Choosing our wedding menu wasn’t easy at the beginning, and the menu went through many, many revisions. Of course, we wanted to show off a bit, but at the end of the day, we went with a more simplistic approach. We had a lot of fun creating a menu that was relatable and comforting while still having fun with presenting it in a creative way.”
– Melissa and John |
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“We wanted food stations that would offer variety, but also provide everyone with something they liked. We ended up doing three different sliders, tacos, and a big salad buffet! It was such a spread. Working with Elite Events Catering was amazing! We wanted a specific menu, and they told us from the beginning they would make it happen! Melissa was always on time, and truly went above and beyond to make Tyler and I feel special. We were more than pleased with the service and food, and it made everything even more special that the ingredients that they used are local and farm to table!”
– Stephany and Tyler |
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“I was so overwhelmed with all the choices of food and places I could choose from. I knew I wanted chicken while my husband was all for beef. Elite Events Catering was like a one-stop-shop! I loved it. The company was amazing with both their services and food. I received so many compliments on the food from my guests.”
– Cassandra and Chris |
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We are both foodies so we knew we wanted a lot of yummy food with Florida and Caribbean flare and a steakhouse menu vibe. We struggled to decide between buffet and plated, but ultimately decided on plated to have some planned sit-down time. We had shrimp cocktails and Cuban-style pork appetizers passed, along with a beautiful cheese and charcuterie display with all the accouterments anyone’s heart could desire. We love the wedge salad from Ulele so our caterer replicated that. For the main dinner, we gave our guests a choice of mahi or filet and even a filet Oscar-style upgrade option. We love the Florida Keys so for dessert we had key lime pie shooters. We also had mini ice cream cones because that’s basically a must-have on a warm Florida night.
We looked for reasonable pricing, the ability to completely customize our menu, and all-inclusive services such as bar service and linens, plates, cutlery rentals, etc. Elite Events Catering was amazing, and I highly recommend them! It is a husband and wife and woman-owned business. We had an initial tasting and the food was so good. They were very communicative throughout the whole process and were always very accommodating with our change requests to the menu, including some last-minute additions. Alex was adamant about having a Ulele-inspired wedge salad so the owner Melissa even went to Ulele and tried the salad to get her inspiration. She and her husband were such a joy to work with. They delivered everything we discussed!
– Katie and Alex |
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