From left: Tiffiney Portee and Tina Hunter-Davis.
Two friends soon will open an events studio in Harrisburg, setting up in a key location along the 6th Street corridor.
Harrisburg residents Tina Hunter-Davis and Tiffiney Portee intend to co-own and manage their new events business, Élevé Event Studio, at 1500 N. 6th St., occupying the first-floor retail space of the 1500 Condominium building.
They plan to host wedding receptions, bridal showers and corporate gatherings at the more than 4,000-square-foot venue, which features an expansive dining area, flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows and a wrap-around bar.
The space’s in-house kitchen will allow them to cater such luxury events in-house, Hunter-Davis said. They plan to open in February or March, currently waiting on a retail license from the state and a zoning and occupation license from the city.
Portee emphasized that she hopes the business can be a space to elevate Harrisburg’s events scene.
“Harrisburg is an amazing place to live. I have no desire to live anywhere other than Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My goal is to see us elevate to the next level,” Portee said.
“We’re just hoping for the support of the community,” Hunter-Davis added.
Élevé Event Studio at 1500 N. 6th St.
Hunter-Davis and Portee have only been friends for three years, but describe their relationship as a sisterhood.
“We’re able to be transparent to each other,” Hunter-Davis said. “And if I have a weakness, she has that strength.”
Portee echoed the depth of their connection.
“I feel like I’ve known Tina my entire life,” Portee said.
As partners in business, they bring vastly different professional backgrounds to the table.
Hunter-Davis retired from a 33-year career with the state of Pennsylvania in March. She previously conducted investigations of people and businesses suspected of violating state tax laws.
“It kind of seasoned me for this particular job,” she said, noting the work required her to be very detail-oriented.
Portee, meanwhile, is an investor, a real estate agent (brokered by Joy Daniels), and already a business owner, who manages New Beginnings daycare on N. 3rd Street.
“This is a startup business. It’s right in my wheelhouse. It’s what I do,” Portee said.
She expressed interest in becoming business partners with Hunter-Davis—who started her own event planning company, Tina HD Designs, immediately after her retirement.
Hunter-Davis said the business was a spinoff of her longstanding hobby of organizing events for family and friends—and while she started with just this base for clients, she was not prepared for how quickly her hobby-turned-business began to grow.
“Every event I have, there’s three or four people that attend that event that call me,” she said.
She added she felt relieved to have Portee join her. After the pair rebranded and established Élevé in November, they began splitting up business tasks, making it more manageable.
“We balance each other out.” Hunter-Davis said.
A table at Élevé Event Studio.
As luck would have it, the pair stumbled upon the old Cafe 1500 space when Hunter-Davis was working an event in the same building at the restaurant Crawdaddy’s.
“We came the next week to look at the space, and kind of fell in love with it,” Hunter-Davis said. “When it was Cafe 1500, I had only been in here and had brunch once. Tiffiney had never been, so when we came in, it was kind of like seeing it with new eyes.”
The space can seat 125 people for events that use a dance floor and has room for 170 people for cocktail hour events, according to Hunter-Davis. A lounge off the main area provides additional space, if needed, she said, and street parking is easily accessible.
They plan to employ family at Élevé, including Portee’s mother, a professional caterer, who will serve as the chef for the event studio’s kitchen.
Both Hunter-Davis and Portee think think that offering food in-house will set them apart as a luxury events space within the city.
“I believe that we are offering something that is not the norm and is not offered currently,” Portee said. “We’re a one-stop shop. We have our in-house catering, we have our bar, we have our in-house decorator.”
Hunter-Davis pointed out that, other than at a hotel, it’s hard to find all of that in one place.
“We’re both going to be at the forefront of doing everything,” Hunter-Davis added, noting one caveat where she alone takes the lead: decorating.
Portee nodded in agreement.
“She’s the creative of the two of us,” Portee said of her business partner. “She has an eye. She sees everything.”
“We call each other sissy,” Portee added with a laugh. “She’ll say, ‘Sissy, just put these chair covers on these chairs. That’s all I need from you.’ And I play my part.”
Élevé Event Studio will be located at 1500 N. Sixth St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit its Facebook page.
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