Lon Lanes Inspired Occasions

Lon Lane’s Inspired Occasions catered the opening of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Home Furnishings. What a treat to be part of this event, see all the innovative décor and share in the foods they created. I first tried the ceviche’ bar. They made me scallops with avocado & mango, cilantro and hot peppers. It was fantastic! My next adventure was bar-​be-​cue in a glass with polenta, burnt ends and slaw. And then there was the serve yourself cheese, fruit, and bread station. Yes… it all was good. But the best was the dessert station of ice cream on a stick, just the right amount, made while I waited. Then they put a cookie with it and I had a half-​sandwich. Oh my, it was wonderful! As I wandered the store they had wandering servers with trays of small bites, and drinks. It truly was amazing all of the wonderful tastes. I definitely would recommend Lon Lane’s Inspired Occasions for a catered event. They were professional, unobtrusive, and helpful when I had a question.

Everything about LLIO is professional. Their attention to detail, timing — «what do want this event to be»… they try to cover every aspect of an «inspired occasion».
We attended a December event where each and every item was covered — decorations were immaculate, the plating was with fine china, the food was magnificent (raw oysters, amazing entrees, and social interaction subtly provided for.)
We also were part of a November event with mostly desserts, again — they design the occasion to your wishes. And once again, it was memorable, oh wait, I should say «inspired».
They are not the «cheapest» caterer — but then again, if you want memorable or inspired, it’s worth it. I mean, how often do you do these types of things (wedding, special business event, special get-​together, coming of age…) anyway?

This caterer was recommended by someone who used them for an engagement party.
I contacted Lon’s Executive Assistant regarding a brunch to be held
early Sunday afternoon, 11−13−11.
She asked very detailed questions in order to prepare my estimate.
She asked if I was «getting bids».
I have been distracted due to the serious illness of the Guest of Honor and said in my answer that I hadn’t been able to do much party planning as a result. Was going with the recommendation from one of their previous clients.
This «caring nature”(d)event planner,~per the company’s website~
coldly ignored the gut-​wrenching news I had shared and responded,
» Does this mean you’re not getting bids or waiting to see to see what we can provide?“
I answered, «not getting bids». Her reply, «Thanks»
When I caught my breath, I thought maybe I should contact another caterer who understands that. yes, it’s a business, but it’s also a business about people and quite possibly once-​in-​a-​lifetime events.
An hour or so later I followed up with an email to the Executive Assistant merely advising that I was going to START getting bids…
I received a response the following day,
«We’re totally booked up for that particular date»
If that were so, why waste a couple of hours going through the 20 questions routine? Why ask if I was getting bids if the point was moot from the outset?
If Lon Lane’s Inspired Occasions is all it CLAIMS to be, seems like they’d have enough people and equipment to do a Sunday Brunch that would put any possible competitor to shame. And if they had proposed such a menu, I would have probably jumped on it despite the Assistant’s heartless attitude. However, once I mentioned I would start getting bids~didn’t say why~suddenly it’s:
Oops! we’re too busy that day.
«Little white lie»? Your guess is as good as mine.
But if an event planner touted for her“caring nature” dismisses someone distracted by a loved one’s brain cancer so callously,
then, as another reviewer observed,
you will probably encounter some rather stressful or simply «irksome»
communication issues.

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We used Lon Lanes Inspired Occasions (LLIO) for our Kansas City wedding. They did a great job, and everyone is still talking about how delicious the food was. Their presentation was impeccable, and they had more than enough staff to keep things moving as they should.
There were only a few things that keep them from getting five stars. Our wedding was during July, the peak of the wedding season, and in the months leading up to our event the staff at LLIO was understandably busy with many other events. In the planning stages there were just a couple of times that we didn’t get responses to questions, and when this happened we worried that this may be indicative of what our wedding day would be like. Luckily, this did not turn out to be the case. The wedding day was perfect! I can’t stress that enough. And this communication issue was by no means, the standard, but it did happen enough to bother us.
The other irksome event was that we didn’t get our leftover meat. It sounds so silly to write this, but it is a reason they don’t get five stars. In an effort to be fully honest, I wasn’t watching that closely, or at all, and there may not have been any left. But after the wedding several guests came to me and said there was a huge hunk of beef left when the food stations closed, and were asking where they could find it because they wanted more. It is great that they loved it so much, but I hated to tell them that it hadn’t been left as we requested.
Some of the great things about LLIO were that they were willing to tweak menu items, they tried to work with our budget, they offered great suggestions on other vendors to work with, and we didn’t need to worry about a thing the day of. Most important, the food was fabulous! We figured if we were paying for food we wanted it to be great, and it was. Like I said before, everyone is still talking about how good it was. They weren’t the cheapest caterer we looked at, but they really weren’t that much more expensive. Particularly when you consider the quality of food, and service.