Emerald Coast Catering

Gary and his crew were fantastic for our beach house wedding! We were lucky to find him because he has done events at the beach (mansion) that we used for our reception before. We were super picky about out menu and ultimately chose Gary because of his wonderful paella station (we were engaged in Spain and wanted a dish for our wedding that we fell in love with while we were there). THE PAELLA WAS AMAZING. Fun to watch cook and fun to eat! We had many picky eaters who had never had it before who all raved about it. He even did a special alternative shellfish-free paella pan because my (now husband) has a shellfish allergy. We also chose to go with the Cuban station with pulled pork, beef stir fry, red beans and rice, and plantains. SO GOOD... fit us perfectly with many paleo, gluten free, and vegetarian guests at our event! We had estimated our guest count a bit high and although there were left-overs by the time the crew packed everything up, it was gone by the end of the night post-bar-hopping! We provided our own spirits but had Gary add extra bartenders to our event. The guests RAVED about the awesome bartenders and catering crew! His crew congratulated us personally and gave hugs--also stopped by a bakery and packed up our top cake layer for us to travel back home with!! We also used Emerald Coast for our event needs. We rented our ceremony chairs through them and also multiple cocktail tables, linens, and tables for our cake and dessert area. I cannot rave enough about Emerald Coast Catering! Gary and his crew went over and above for our wedding and it wouldn't be what it was without all of his help!

I’m a destination bride and they made it so easy!!! We had a shrimp boil for my 75 beach guests and it was AMAZING! Everyone loved the food the clean up was simple. Would recommend!

Not a good experience, very unprofessional, plus he's charging customers the fee he pays as a merchant to process payments which is illegal in Florida.

Gary and his team at Emerald Coast Catering did a fantastic job!!! We couldn't have been happier!! My husband and I were helping to plan our daughter's wedding and were hours away in a different state. Gary took all our phone calls and answered all our questions. The day of the ceremony, while we were at the wedding, Gary and his team arrived at the reception location and started getting things ready. When we all walked in to the reception, they were ready to go!! I couldn't have asked for anything more!!

Gary and his team did an awesome job! Can't say enough good things about Emerald Coast Catering. The food was amazing and the staff took care of everything! Seriously they take care of the tiny details that you forget when planning your own wedding and make sure you are completely stress free on the day of your wedding. So glad I choose Gary and his team to be apart of our special day! Also I'm not the person that takes the time to leave reviews, so just saying they are pretty damn good :)

My family and I were so very pleased with our decision to use ECC for my destination wedding. I can't imagine planning it from afar without their help! I expected the day of to be stressful, but thankfully, they took care of everything and it was truly an easy and fun experience! I was able to fully enjoy our day and the reception. The food was AMAZING! The decor turned out beautifully. I wanted it to be pretty and timeless, but didn't really want to try and figure out how to bring that to fruition (design is not my strong suit). Thankfully, Jan was able to listen to me and turn my skeletal outline into a full fledged design that was breathtaking. Could not be happier!!

My experience with the Emerald Coast Catering team was wonderful! We were on a tight budget and really wanted a lot as far as design and food. Initially, I assumed that meant I'd need to shoulder the load for design and vendor coordination, etc. myself. Living in another state, I expected this to be challenging to say the least. Thankfully, in working closely with Jan (we used their full service option, decor, food, the works!) we were able to get everything we wanted, stay within our targeted budget and avoid the hassle of managing the decor and associated rentals ourselves. The day came together perfectly with less stress for me than I ever would have expected. The food (station style) was a crowd pleaser (some of my family members are STILL talking about it) and Chef Gary was a joy to interact with. I'm so thankful I found them and explored the option of having them handle everything. Do yourself a favor - let them handle the stress while you enjoy your day!

I think "overdeliver" is the best word to describe how ECC approached our wedding. I tend to be a perfectionist and that makes me hard to please. I was so impressed at Jan and Chef Gary's ability to make things run so smoothly and turn out so well (and so in line with my vision). As someone who has done events in the past, I know there are always things that don't go to plan. However, I have no idea what they were on our day because any issues were solved without my involvement and from my view everything was PERFECT! I definitely reccommend them for your full service event, you won't be disappointed!

We had such an amazing wedding in April of this year, and so much of it had to do with Emerald Coast Catering. It started with them listening and understanding what we wanted it to be, and then it all came together beautifully. The food was outstanding, the service perfect. Everyone had such a great time. Thanks so much to them making our wedding perfect.

Our wedding was fabulous! we are so very happy we chose Emerald Coast Catering to provide the delicious food and very nice staff who made the entire evening a dream come true. I highly recommend Gary and his staff. My friends and family think I am a genius event planner. little do they know how easy Enerald Coast Catering made it for me!

Emerald Coast Catering did an amazing job with my daughter's wedding. It was a destination wedding which was held outside. We live 2 hours away and handled most everything via phone and email. From the delicious food, complete table/chair set up for the reception and wedding ceremony, lighting, and even clean up, everything flowed perfectly. The personnel were professional and so helpful. Jan provides the complete package. She made sure everything turned out beautifully.

AMAZING! Jan and Gary were great to work with from the very beginning. Jan was very understanding with our multiple menu changes to fit both our vibe and budget. I really felt like she wanted the food at our wedding to be exactly what we wanted instead of maximizing their profit. The tasting we did with Gary was delicious and got us very excited for the big day! We got so many compliments on the food - everything was perfect! I also was very pleased with the staff and bar setup/bartenders. It was a wonderful and stress-free inclusion. I would highly recommend Emerald Coast for any event you have!

DREAMS DO COME TRUE I have always dreamed of a romantic destination wedding. We found the perfect location and we needed the perfect caterer. A friend who had been at a wedding in the area recommended Emerald Coast Catering. It was the perfect match. The food, the decor, the reception was exactlly how I dreamed my day to be. And my guests had a great time. Thank you to all at Emerald Coast for my beautiful day.

From the first meeting to the wedding, Jan was a great partner! Helping plan the menu, advise on the set-up, concur with other vendors and work closely with them. The food was great - especially the appetizers!! And the set-up was lovely. The staff was fantastic at keeping our venue in a tent on the beach professionally neat and were gracious with the guests. The bartenders were really great, too!! They took care of everything - we didn't need to think twice about it. Very flexible, enthusiastic, and a great menu to work with! Would hire them again!!

What a day! Thank you Jan and Gary for making our day worry free and perfect. The thoughtful insights from menu selections to design made for a delicious and seamless eventing. The chefs and staff were attentive and friendly. Thank you again for the perfect night.

Our experience with Emerald Coast Catering was fantastic from start to finish! After reading so many great reviews, we knew we were in for a treat but the reality was so much more! Planning was a breeze with Jan guiding us through choices of decor and and set up. The food decisions were our biggest delimma...We wanted it all but chose the low country boil which was amazing!!! No worries on the day of either! We happily followed our catering manager,Jimmy's advice, focus on fun and let the ECC staff do all the work! We highly recommend Chef Gary and company!

Thanks to the wonderful staff at Emerald Coast Catering our wedding day was one we will cherish for the rest of our life. The decor, food and service were exquisite. Thank you again ECC.....

Emerald Coast Catering was fantastic. They not only did a wonderful job in helping me chose a menu, they did a wonderful job helping me to navigate other vendors for my perfect day. They are 5 star

And it was ours. We were so happy with Chef Gary and his people. They were prompt with attention to our questions and to the details of our reception. The food was simply delicious. The tent, giant chandelier, tablecloths were gorgeous. When we entered the reception it was magical. The staff could not have been nicer to us, our families and our guests. We didn't want the night to end. But when it did they gave us our go box which we enjoyed for the 2nd delicious meal of the day. We highly recommend Emerald Coast Catering, especially for a destination wedding as we live in the mountains of Colorado and were so very excited about our beach wedding. No worries if you hire Gary and his people. T & G

I am loving them! The designer helped me with the layout for ceremony and reception following. She helped me with the linens, tent, chairs and tables and then worked with the florist. It was a breeze, one meeting and it was a done deal. Food was fab! Jeb is a picky eater but he loved both of our stations. Everyone ate, drank, danced and partied. I wish we could do it every year. I can still taste the food and my father stil goes on and on about the fajita station. The staff was friendly and took great care of us. All in all, we could not have chosen better than Emerald Coast Catering. Their pricing to value was extraordinary as was their food and service. I definitely recommend them to any bride. Thanks again to the staff. Lacy & Jeb

Emerald Coast Catering figured out our layout, timeline and setup details. They are the best. I was anxious about planning my wedding but as soon as I met with them I knew that I would be in good hands. They gave me tips for things that I never considered and even told us some budget saving ideas. We had a general idea of things we wanted to include in our wedding celebration such as a champagne toast, cocktail hour, photographs after the ceremony but had never planned a wedding and were afraid we would do something "wrong". Emerald Coast Catering advised us and encouraged us to create our own style and use things that really meant something to both of us throughout the reception. They knew the rental house and advised "what to do where"! They brought the furniture, setup their food and bar areas and the staff was the nicest. They told us they were there to help us celebrate and let us be guests, and they did. At the end of the night we were so busy celebrating that everyone ended up in the pool, except of course the staff! Thank you again Gary, you are the absolute best! We recommend you to everyone for a smooth sailing wedding with delicious food!!!! C&P

Emerald Coast Catering was very helpful during our planning stage, providing tips and asking questions. The quote they sent laid everything out, things we didn't know about but were happy they did. We selected the stations and our guest enjoyed the food, the service and the atmosphere. The difficulty in choosing which stations was the most difficult part of our decision making once we hired Emerald Coast Catering! We ended up with Celebrate the Sea and the Havana Stations, both delicious. Their designer reviewed our venue, a house we rented on the beach, and advised how to set up the reception. It was the perfect solution to fitting a lot of guests into a rental house. The evening was perfect. We will always remember the wonderful night and our family is still talking about how good the food was. Kudos to staff. Fondly, Natalie & Les

I hired Emerald Coast Catering for my destination wedding in the panhandle area of Florida this past April. They helped me with my vision for how I wanted the day to be, guided me through the design process and provided a sample tasting of my menu choices with me and my fiance. They also recommended some places locally for flowers and music, which made it so much easier on us. The reception area that they put together on the beach turned out so beautiful, much more than I had hoped. We had a dinner after the wedding, and so many people spoke to me about how much they loved Chef Serafin's food and how professional the staff was. Everyone had a great time and our day was absolutely perfect.

Once engaged I did not know where to start. James and I knew we wanted to marry on the beach where I vacationed growing up so we started looking at vendors in the Destin area. It was overwhelming. But when we found Emerald Coast Catering our comfort level went way up and we were able to focus on the details of planning and the comfort of our guests. They sent us a detailed proposal and assured us we could change things as our plan evolved. Boy did we change things! They never got irritated and gave us good advice, asking questions we never thought of. Thank goodness. They even told us what not to do saving us money. Our wedding and reception were beautiful with linens I loved using purple and silver with accents on the cake table and guest book table. They recommended a great baker and several florist who we interviewed and selected one who worked well with us. The food was outstanding. We had a seated dinner after the cocktail hour and the servers were prompt and attentive. I felt as if we were in a fancy restaurant. Our family and friends are still praising the food and talking about the entire evening. I would absolutely tell any bride and groom to hire Emerald Coast Catering, as they made it a pleasure to plan our important day. Thank you to Chef Serafin and his staff for all you did to make our day so special! Jen and James

Everything was wonderful. The food was delicious and staff paid attention to all of our needs. We were initially hesitant due to budget, but found that the money spent was well worth it. After all it was once in a lifetime! We would recommend Gary to any bride and groom who want quality.

Chef Gary Serafin and his staff did a wonderful job. The design & linens were beautiful, the food was more than delicious with plenty of it and the staff was gracious. Our family, friends and also Joe and I had the night of our lives. I am more than happy to recommend them to any bride and groom. We both have jobs that keep us busy and were worried about having time to adequately choose vendors for our destination wedding, but Gary made it easy. Everyone is still talking about the food and how lively the reception was. Thank you!

The food was wonderful and the staff was very accommodating to last minute wedding changes due to rain! They moved everything inside and we still had a beautiful reception. Will use again for family events in Destin!

Let me just say, planning a destination wedding was hard work! I had originally been talking to another caterer, but after a few unreturned calls and e-mails, I knew it was time to move on. I found Emerald Coast Catering online. Within a day of writing an e-mail, they had contacted me about the size of my wedding (40 guests) and what my ideas were. My husband and I picked the Economy Menu (with the BBQ pulled pork and chicken breast...we picked both entrees and 3 side dishes for an extra fee), which was basically just a buffet style meal. It was perfect! They showed up when they said they would...had everything ready to be served when scheduled...and the food was really good! My family is from Oklahoma and my husbands' family is from Germany and everyone thought the food was really delicious! Once everyone was done eating, the gentleman serving the food took everything in the house and put it in containers so we even had tons of leftovers! I didn't even notice he was there or had packed up! We also hired Emerald Coast Catering for a bartender service. The bartender made sure everyone had awesome drinks and full drinks all night long! They were the only vendors we hired that said, "anything you want, I'm here for you"! Emerald Coast Catering was BY FAR the least stressful part of my destination wedding. They really did such a great job and I am so happy we decided to go with them!....FYI, my wedding was 05/07/2014.

Emerald Coast Catering did an awesome job with food, service and attitude. Everyone seemed like they like their job. Refreshing compared to many places. They made planning easy and the wedding party sweet! I would be glad to recommend them to other couples.

Emerald Coast Catering catered our Thursday night welcome dinner before our wedding in July 2013. We could not have been happier with Gary and his team! From the beginning of planning through the end of the event, Emerald Coast was responsive, accommodating, and reasonable. And the food was delicious! We had a Mexican-themed event and they were able to provide delicious cuisine and margarita machines to top it off. Our guests loved the food (we could probably have doubled the amount and it would have still be finished at lighting speed!) Emerald Coast helped to start our wedding weekend off right and we are very grateful for their attentive service. We would gladly recommend them for any size event (our's was around 100 people). I hope we have the occasion in the future to use them again!

My husband and I were married on May, 20th of this year. We had the Emerald Coast Catering as our caterers and I can honestly say we do not regret this decision. First of all, the food was amazing! Everybody enjoyed the food, throughout the whole evening and the days to follow, everybody just kept talking about how amazing it was and how much food there was (there was enough for people to have thirds and then some leftover). We also had them make my Grandmothers potato salad recipe as a side dish, and they made it perfect (even ask my Grandmother). Not only was their food great but their service was awesome too! After having to deal with problems from the florist and bakery, Emerald Coast Catering proved that not every company has poor customer service. It had gotten pretty hectic before the ceremony, so it was very nice to be able to come to the reception and have them helping and serving. We also rented some items from them such as tables, chairs, lights, table cloths and more. The reception area looked beautiful and we couldn't have been more happier with it. Honestly, if anybody is planning a wedding in the Destin, FL area, I would recommend Emerald Coast Catering. They were very helpful and patient throughout the whole planning process. If you have a budget, they will try their best to stay within that budget and make any suggestions to help. Overall, Emerald Coast Catering did an excellent job helping make our special day even more special!

There are so many people who talk about their weddings and their own experiences, and I know in my life, I have been to many, many weddings, but my wedding, catered and decorated by Emerald Coast Catering was the most wonderful wedding that I have ever been to. I know that I am biased because it was my day, but it was exactly what I wanted and more. They wonderful people at ECC made sure that I had anything that I needed. They opened their doors to my mother and I with such warm and excited hands. They were there when I needed ideas, helped me with my vision, and listened to what I wanted down to the very last candle. The food was amazing. The grits bar was original and delicious and made my guests feel right at home in my southern, outdoor party. The station concept was wonderful and before they mentioned it as an option, it never had even occurred to me. My guest were comfortable, well-fed, and happy, which is exactly what my husband and I had wanted. The staff was incredible! They were there at my every whim, but also, to my guests, they were personable, fun, and so helpful. The food and service was right on point, the crowds flowed like there were 50 people there, not 200. Even more impressive to me, and what I am the most thankful for, is that Jan and Gary were so very supportive and loving to me and my family. I was in a unique situation. My husband was deployed during the entire wedding planning, and even though I was nervous when planning because of the situation, they made me feel comfortable and excited to be getting married. I will always thank them for that. I would recommend Emerald Coast Catering to anyone who wanted a beautiful, fun, organized wedding with AMAZING food! Thank you Jan and Gary!

We just returned from our honeymoon and I wish to recommend Chef Serafin and his team while I am still aglow!!!! I truly was a princess for the day. No anxiety because we knew Chef Gary had the plan. Excited about the feast because we knew the food was going to be top shelf. Glowing in the light because his staff created the most beautiful setting for our reception. It was perfect. I recommend Emerald Coast Catering to any smart bride who wants value for her money and to be a princess for day! Thank you again Chef Gary and team. Helen and Curt

This was the 4th wedding of our 4 children and the 3rd in 18 months....and by far the BEST! I never worried about a thing - I knew that the event would be everything my daughter wanted, the food would be awesome, all our guests would have a great time, and my husband and I would have a good time also. As an Event Planner, it is hard not to do things myself, but this wedding was a joy to plan, a joy to be at and my friends are still taking about the fabulous food. The wedding took place outdoors so we needed tents, tables, chairs, and linens. The wedding ceremony and the reception were in different locations on the property so we need various set-ups, the weather was very unpredictable, the wedding started in the daylight and ended very late so we needed lighting, and we were expecting over 200 guests. The staff of Emerald Coast Catering was awesome and the wedding could not have been better. I would recommend Emerald Coast Catering to anyone planning a wedding, or event on the Emerald Coast!!!!

Chef Gary made our rehearsal dinner and our wedding day so great. The food, drinks, and service were second to none! He guided us so each night had its own feeling and both nights were just right. Next time we are in Destin we are going to try 30-A Gourmet and have more delicious food! TandB

On their website they said it would be perfection in paradise when they did my wedding, and it was! Emerald Coast Catering had a huge array of menus and we chose Celebrate By the Sea and the Pasta Station for our reception. The chefs were there talking and serving, it was so much fun. Earl and I both talked to everyone and enjoyed the food. The presentation was lovely. The waiters and bartenders were friendly and helpful all evening, even with one or two slightly excitable guests (Earl's side of the family!). The tables and linens were set up the morning of the reception so my mother and her friends could decorate, as were the food stations. It could not have run more smoothly, other than if we had not had rain. Even in the rain, the entire evening was PERFECT!!! Thanks to all. I highly suggest any bride who wants smooth sailing to hire Emerald Coast Catering.

I am sure that most brides feel the same way I did when I began planning for my wedding, overwhelmed. Who knew all the choices that needed to be made? After my groom and my dress, my choice to hire Gary and Emerald Coast Catering was the best decision! He listened to my vision and we worked out a menu and the other details followed. It was not stressful at all the day of the wedding. His people showed up and set up the tables and chairs and tablecloths, set up the food tables and bar and were gone. My friends were able to decorate in plenty of time for the wedding. After the ceremony his servers were there greeting my guests and directing them to the rest room and the bar. They were polite and helpful all evening. The food was unbelievable! I had the Grill Station and Celebrate the Sea Station. The selections were wonderful, my guests were so happy. Thank you to Gary and his staff. I highly recommend him!

He was so much help we felt totally relaxed after we had hired him. He asked great questions and we appreciate all the attention to detail. Our menu was the New Southern Comfort, a taste sensation. Thanks to you and your staff Gary. We gladly encourage couples to hire him as he goes above and beyond the call of duty in the most subtle ways. You may not even realize all the details until you hear about it from your family who was there before the reception started! Thanks again Gary.

Chef Gary and all his crew at Emerald Coast Catering were FAB!!! We had fun, our guests had fun, our families had fun! Food was tasty and pretty. To all brides and grooms, go with Gary's mojo! Francesca & Tim

While planning our wedding we had to make many decisions. Choosing Emerald Coast Catering for our wedding was a good choice! Everyone associated with the company was professional and courteous. The food was excellent, far above our expectations with creative presentation and cuilinary flair. Since we are foodies, that was a very good thing. We would recommend the firm to any bride and groom. Thank you to the staff for making our reception a wonderful experience. Emily & Walter and Family

Emerald Coast Catering did a great job for our wedding. Our budget wasn't huge, but they worked with us, advising us on things we could do ourselves. It was a fun, casual wedding to celebrate life with my best friend and the entire catering crew made it the best party of our lives. The paella was unbelievable. A lot of our guests had never had it before and are still raving about it! It was fun seeing the chef cook it and he talked to everyone, quite a show. Thanks Chef Gary, we appreciate all you did and are glad to give you the best rating possible! Lane & Joe

I gladly recommend Emerald Coast Catering to any bride. They were happy to listen, provide a tasting, make suggestions and take care of business. The waiters were polite and the bartender was awesome. The food was delicious, everyone thought so. I would tell any bride to do herself a favor and hire Chef Serafin. He totally takes care of the items you want so you can spend your time on the many other decisions required in planning a wedding. We had a wonderful wedding and reception! Thanks ECC

Our wedding exceeded my dreams and John's expectations! The food was so delicious and everyone ate until their hearts and stomachs were content. Chef Gary was very accommodating with all of my questions, menu changes and overall patience. I would encourage any bride to hire Emerald Coast Catering. Their staff was amazing, also patient, and very attentive. They set up the reception the morning of the wedding and offered suggestions as to where everything should be placed for the best guest flow. They were right on. The reception could not have gone more smoothly. I was sad when the evening was over, but we had a goody bag of food for a midnight private picnic from the chefs! They are the best! Leslie and John

While I was researching caterers for my wedding I found Gary and am so happy I hired him. The waiters, bartenders and chefs were friendly and professional. The food was amazing! Gary made it all seem so easy. I did not have to worry about anything during my reception but to speak to every guests and enjoy myself! My parents were thrilled as well, and that is not always an easy task! Thank you Gary and staff for making our wedding the best night of my life. I highly recommend them. A Happy Bride!!!

I gladly recommend Emerald Coast Catering for any event, especially a destination wedding. They gave me advice, were prompt with answers, easy to work with. Mainly, the food was wonderful! My family and guests were so happy we did not serve the "same old wedding food". We selected action stations and the chefs grilled and cooked, talked to the guests about the food and were very professional. My wedding set the bar for our friends! Choose the grits station, it was my favorite. They even saved a plate of appetizers for us when we came back from having our photos taken after the ceremony. They are the best!

I am so grateful for Gary’s help in planning the food for our wedding. We booked him last minute and he really came through, helping us figure out the best food for the type of reception we wanted. On the day of the wedding, I barely saw his staff...as the bride, I was already overwhelmed by details and it was so nice to know the food for my guests was completely taken care of. My now-husband (who never raves about food) commented several times on how much he enjoyed the sliders! I was so pleased that he enjoyed it! Also, as a finishing touch, there was a box of food from the reception boxed up and ready to go with my new husband and me on our honeymoon! Since I hadn’t had time to eat anything during the reception, I was SO grateful for this little, thoughtful touch! They even uncorked the wine, added wine glasses and put in a bit of our wedding cake too. All in all, I was very pleased with the professionalism, quality of food and service I received from Gary and his staff. I would definitely recommend them, especially for someone planning a destination wedding where you have to trust your vendors to come through for you! Thanks, Gary!

A work in progress describes my life, busy and changing. Having Emerald Coast Catering help me plan my wedding was one of the best decisions I have ever made, as it was not a practice wedding and the real thing was fabulous! Thank you to all the staff that set up the morning of the wedding with the kind suggestions, the chefs and waiters that were at the wedding and the amazing bartender. Gary is the go to guy for weddings. I would definitely recommend him and his company.

Gary was absolutely fabulous to work with. Friendly, professional, patient, flexible, and just plain ole GOOD!!! You wont be disappointed!! My only regret is that I didn t get to eat more and left the reception hungry. Price u pay as bride i guess. Learn from my mistake future brides...INDULGE!!! My family and friends had nothing but good things to say on food, service, and presentation. Much THANKS to GARY & your ECC FAMILY. XOXOs from Mr. & Mrs. Brown

Gary Serafin and ECC were great caterers for our wedding reception. Always prompt in returning calls and responding to our email questions. Prices were very reasonable, staff was courteous, prompt on the day of the event and the food was excellent. They even helped us save money by providing linens and tables at cost. Gary was very good with providing suggestions when prompted. We had a tasting before we had selected our caterer and he was very accommodating when other caterers weren’t, some not even returning calls. I definitely recommend Gary and the ECC staff for future events.

Simply the best, Emerald Coast Catering provided us with information, fabulous food, courteous staff and terrific ambience. We did not have to worry about anything to do with the part of our reception that Gary and his staff handled: from the rentals to the lighting to the linens the atmosphere was elegant but relaxed. The food was beyond definition. We had a plated dinner served to our guests in three courses. I have never had a better meal at a five star restaurant. How the chefs and waiters did it in a tent is beyond belief. The wines Gary recommended were a perfect pairing with each course. At the end of the night I felt like Cinderella with her Prince Charming...and still feel that way. If you want to start out your marriage on the right note, select Chef Gary and his team. Thank you to all at Emerald Coast Catering, Deb & Fred

Gary was great from the start. He answered my questions, asked questions and guided me. We changed our menu three times and he was fine with that. In the end, the reception was amazing the food tasted wonderful and all of his staff was so nice. Emerald Coast Catering made it easy and fun!

Emerald Coast Catering had the most delicious food, our guests still talk about it. The waiters and bartender were courteous and paid attention to details. It seemed like there was never a line and that each person was special. Of course I was because I was the bride, but family and friends rave about the entire reception. Leon and I loved every minute of the celebration. I would gladly recommend them to anyone who cares about food and service. Gary was terrific leading up to the wedding. He asked questions that I didn't even think of. Emerald Coast Catering ROCKS!!!

Steve and I got married on the Gulf Coast and luckily found Emerald Coast Catering. The flexibility shown throughout our long planning process and many suggestions were invaluable. On the day of the wedding they arrived, set up and came back in plenty of time to perfect all the details. We loved the food and service. We are still receiving praise from everyone. The calm relaxed atmosphere that we wanted was achieved as were all the other details. Thank you to all at Emerald Coast Catering. Chloe and Steve

Very helpful is the best title I could think of because that is what they were from the beginning. Gary promptly called me after I sent in my request for information, asked me questions and sent me a quote. It was all detailed. When I talked to him about my budget he advised me. We ended up with the perfect meal at the right price. The food was five star. The waiters were so nice our friends and parents are still talking about them. Thank you Chef Gary, you guided us to the perfect wedding reception! Priscilla & Leo

Gary Serafin and Emerald Coast Catering are outstanding at what they do! After sorting through some less than helpful catering services in our area we found Gary and his team. Gary personally responded to my emails and gave a detailed and reasonable estimate upon request. He was infinitely helpful in selecting the appropriate menu style and combination along with décor. Leading up to the event Gary continually provided an up to date summary of our selected services. This was very helpful in organizing other parts or our big day. On the day of our wedding Gary’s team was set up and ready hours beforehand and provided great service with outstanding food. Our guests were full of compliments on the tasty hors devours and delectable dinner entrees. I highly recommend Emerald Coast Catering to anyone looking for delicious food combined with years of experience and friendly service.

Soooooo much THANKS to all at Emerald Coast Catering. It was a storybook wedding! It was wonderful and the catering was perfect. We are quite particular and they were amazing in pleasing us in every aspect!! I will gladly recommend them every opportunity I get. They made everything easy, elegant and successful!

Emerald Coast Catering made our wedding so wonderful. The food was exceptional and the presentation was beautiful. Everyone loved all the food, especially the crab cakes! The contribution of their wonderful talent made our wedding a wonderful and memorable event. I recommend them to all who care about a special day!

I commend Gary and his excellent staff on the great work they did for the most beautiful and relaxed wedding I have ever been to, our own! Everything at the reception went exactly as planned and we received so many compliments on the reception and the food. The tent was beautiful and the food was excellent! I especially liked the tropical fruit beurre blanc sauce on the Mahi. It was delicious! I was so impressed with all of their staff. Everyone was so nice and we felt as though our wedding was exclusive and attention to detail was attended to by all. We appreciated everyone's hard work and not one of us felt the least bit stressed so we were able to enjoy the weekend and a family vacation. The wedding was everything we envisioned and planned. We will use Gary again for a family vacation planned next year! We highly recommend Emerald Coast Catering.

Chef Gary Serafin provided services for my wedding and did beautiful work. Everything looked great, and I'm so glad I chose Emerald Coast Catering. The guests are still complimenting the great food! I happily recommend Gary and his staff.

I thanked Gary and Emerald Coast Catering and I will be happy to tell other brides that I thank them for everything they did. They helped me with too many things to list and everything turned out just the way I hoped! Everyone kept telling me how good the food was, how great the service was, and how great the Town Hall, at Rosemary Beach, was decorated. Thank you, thank you again!! I recommend Emerald Coast Catering if you want to enjoy your wedding.

Emerald Coast Catering provided wonderful service. I had high expectations and was pleased that they all were exceeded. I gladly recommend them to anyone that is in need of catering within the Destin area.

Emerald Coast Catering did my rehearsal dinner and wedding. They converted the entire atmosphere from one night to the other in the same space! Casual for the rehearsal dinner and seated and served with gorgeous lavendar tablecloths for our wedding. The arbor on the beach was to die for and I watched them put it up while I got dressed! We wouldn't change a thing about the weekend. It was an unbelievable, amazing moment of our lives & we thank Gary and his crew for their part of our special day. We are going to get remarried in Vegas by Elvis in January!!!! Keep up the amazing work!

I LOVED working with Emerald Coast Catering for my daughter's wedding. Everything was perfect! Everything from the planning phase, the wonderful menu and food, the bar, to the lighting, decor and total layout and flow of every aspect of the event...it was all TOP NOTCH! I am so glad that we chose Emerald Coast Cateirng for Casey's most special day! Below is a copy of the text message that I received from her on the day after the wedding as they traveled to their honeymoon destination. "We made it to Maui!!! It was the best wedding ever! Neither of us has stopped talking about it! It was more than the wedding of my dreams! I could never dreamed something as wonderful and fantastic as last night! Love, Casey" Thanks to Gary and his staff for helping to make my daughter's dreams come true!

Gary and his Team were amazing. Where do we even begin... the food was excellent! The service was above and beyond! We can't even thank them enough for making our wedding so wonderful! It was better than we could have EVER imagined!!! The presentation of our plated dinner and the assorted dessert plate was PERFECT! The team was superb! We couldn't have been happier:) Chef Gary has such a wonderful group of people to work with and should be proud:) We would recommend them to everyone!!!!

This Thank You is long overdue! I don't know how to put into words how fabulous everything turned out. Every guest was so impressed with how delicious and creative the food was. Having Emerald Coast Catering handle the tent and decor helped to streamline the out of town planning process. They made it so easy to plan from far away, were always quick to answer e-mails and phone calls and responded to our questions in very helpful ways. Their professionalism throughout the process and especially on the wedding day made my job as a bride easy! I would recommend Emerald Coast Catering to every couple who wants a spectacular event. (Make sure you select the butternut squash soup!)

I just want to share with The Knot readers what a spectacular job Emerald Coast Catering did on our wedding!!!! Everyone raved at the food and I was impressed with how organized and helpful the staff was!!! We had a great time with everyone and they truly made our wedding beautiful!!! We are so thankful we picked them and would recommend their services to anyone!!! Thanks again Gary.

I was just working on Leslie and Justin's wedding album, and thinking about what a wonderful meal Chef Serafin served to us. They were terrific and made our special evening very special with their congeniality, and kitchen savy. (Besides the fact that the food was just downright delicious!) I certainly knew nothing of area caterers since our daughter's was a destination wedding, and I did all our research online. Their website was great, but their promptness in returning calls and emails was impressive and sealed the deal. None of my questions seemed to deter them! We, along with our guests, would never hesitate to recommend Emerald Coast Catering's services.

My husband who is a foodie and has collected wine 20 plus years was quite impressed by Emerald Coast. He was especially impressed when they made suggestions to our guests on what wine to have with each dish. Not something required of a caterer but it shows the company hires quality people to represent them. But let me back up to when we first contacted Emerald Coast. They responded immediately and were very professional. I had a good feeling about these folks from our very first conversation with Gary. We rented a huge house for the wedding and reception on the internet sight unseen. Gary was familiar with the place and gave us advice above and beyond the catering aspect of the wedding that took a load of worry off our shoulders. Bill, my husband, spoke with Jan on the phone and she gave great advice on how to set up for the ceremony and reception. Again guidance on the ceremony wasn't part of the catering contract and very much appreciated by a bride getting married at a place she has never seen! Unfortunately we did not have the opportunity to meet Gary and Jan in person. There was a food and wine festival that same weekend and I believe they were making what could possibly be the world's biggest pot of Paella (per their representative) which in and of itself is quite impressive! But I digress...on to the day of the wedding. We were impressed at how early they came to set up and that was a big help since we were decorating the tables. The food was very good especially the asian chicken spoon appetizers. We did a buffet with service meaning they served people at the buffet station which they executed beautifully. I already told you about the fabulous bartending so that leaves the cake service which was also outstanding! I barely noticed them breaking everything down and the next day we found the leftovers wrapped and in the fridge. So I guess this is a very long way of saying, go with Emerald Coast for your catering needs. Well done and oh yeah I almost forgot they are right on the money as far as pricing (pun intended)! You get more than what you pay for...like those asian chicken spoon appetizers...wonder if they can freeze and ship some those to us......

In planning our daughter's wedding I realized there was alot of decisions to make . After contacting ECC with a friend's recommendation I felt confident with the first phone call I was working with a professional who could guide my daughter and I thru the process. From the ceremony site @ Eden Gardens the consultant provided options to stay within our budget. The food selections were incredible and their final choices were absolutely delicious ! Loved the table cloth decor (tangerine & turquoise) centered with a variety of glass and mosiac vases plus the tent lighting provided a soft night-light glow. We all loved the Martini bar made of lighted glass block ! When the groom requested KK donuts we pared them with colorful cupcakes on the Cupcake Tower . Talk about flexibilty ! All the staff was very attentive taking care of the tables with all smiles . I know their friends are still talking about their ECC wedding because it " set the bar high " for weddings yet to be eclipsed by their peers. I coudn't have been happier or more at ease walking into that magical evening last summer . It was a memory that will last a life time. Thank you ECC for making us all feel so special !

WOW! That is all we can say about Emerald Coast Catering! It started off with them recommending the Pineapple Villas in Laguna Beach to us, then went right through the reception. The Villas were a perfect setting for everything anyone can imagine, and they were so accommodating. Then managing the tent and the baker, took so much stress off of us; since there is not enough on a bride and groom already. Our wedding, we would like to call perfect, perfect in any way imaginable. Angela and I truly enjoyed the pleasantness of their staff, the food, and helpfulness. TOP CLASS. We wish that we could have another wedding, just so we can enjoy some of the wonderful food ECC prepared.

I had a destination beach wedding at a friend's beautiful beachfront home in September. I was initially very pleased with Gary and ECC because they were responsive and affordable, and offered a 'one-stop shop' for all the rentals as well as catering, which for me was a big plus. I was working full time and, with my fiancee Todd, we were doing all of the planning ourselves from Atlanta. First, the pros: The food was good. I had a lot of people tell me that they really enjoyed the food; the menu was good and it was prepared appropriately. The service staff were very nice to me. I have one issue that I will comment about below. Having all of the arrangements go through one vendor was really huge for me. I was overwhelmed as it was, with so many decisions to make, so the fact we could get the catering, tent, furniture and linens all from one vendor helped a lot. Negative issues: whew... where to start. When we first met Gary he seemed nice enough and had a lot of experience, and he offered a lot, especially for the price. That they also had the ability to help with some design/layout to create our vision was great. Jan, Gary's wife, does the design work. Todd was the one who spoke with her more; I think I only had one conversation with her but she talked the entire time often even interrupting herself, and I had a very difficult time expressing what we wanted to do. She did offer a lot of ideas, and often seemed disappointed with the direction we wanted to go with and would repeat that we should do it a different way. Ultimately, we thought the service was to help guide us and carry out our vision, but it seemed like there was an underlying agenda... and I have no idea why. We had a pretty simple event and wanted it to be that way. That said, there was some good guidance that we got from Jan and Gary and we did often take their advice -- as you may well know planning a wedding is stressful and overwhelming and we were doing it for the first time on our own, while working full time, 6 hours away. One of the main things we had to consider was that we were having our event in a residential neighborhood, and there was a noise policy/curfew that we knew about, that the party had to officially end at 10pm. However, we made it explicitly clear to Gary, and it was in our contract since February, that none of the furniture, linens, tent, etc would be taken down until Sunday. We knew they would pack up their kitchen stuff and their staff would leave, but if we wanted to stay, I wanted to be damn sure that we could. Turns out, the night of the event, they started to take down all of the furniture at 10:30, and when I stopped them, and got on the phone with Gary, he said that it wasn't in the contract and then the staff proceeded to take it all down. Still to this day, he hasn't apologized for stopping my wedding dead in its tracks at 10:30 which was blatantly and clearly stipulated in the contract not to happen until Sunday. This was a huge disappointment for me-- in addition to the fact that at 10-10:30 on my wedding night I was standing in the house frantically looking through my wedding folder rather than being with all of my friends and family (some had traveled from Europe). Jan was really nasty to me. I came outside during the day while everything was getting set up at the house (we were staying at the house where the reception was in the back yard, so I was there all day). I came outside briefly around noon and there was some d

ECC has a lot of good reviews and thats why I chose them but I was not impressed and I was sadly disappointed. I felt like they nickel and dimed me to death. I was only using them for catering and not equipment rentals and I told them that. Yet the chef and his wife kept trying to sell me crap I didnt need. This was frustrating, not to mention the bill was expensive enough. Other things I was not happy about was the guests complained their food was cold and had sand in it. And I feel like I didnt get the amount of food I paid for and I cant help but feel ripped off over the whole experience. my friend just had a wedding and they catered it themselves, spent thousands less than me and had better and more food than this over priced catering company. Thinking about it hurts my head, my heart, and my pockets. I do admit, the service was excellent. The guys there were great and did everything they could to be of service. That was the highlight. Overall, this place is totally over rated and overpriced and not worth it.

Emerald Coast catered my wedding reception. They were highly professional and obviously very experienced. A tropical storm hit the beach the day of our wedding, so a lot of plans had to change quickly. They did an excellent job of shifting plans, and they also helped to calm and reassure our families and me that everything would still be wonderful...and they were right! The menu selection was great and I was very pleased with what we chose. Everyone commented on how wonderful the food was. And the presentation of the food was very impressive as well. Job well done and much appreciated.

Gary and his team at Emerald Coast Catering did a wonderful job for our reception dinner for 125 people. Everyone raved about the food and enjoyed the entire dinner! He was flexible and fun to work with. He worked well with my wedding planner and just helped make everything easy!! They are excellent for catering at a good cost!! Thanks ECC!!