Hy-Vee Food & Drug Store cook Sean Burger, prepares artichoke dip for an upcoming event. The store offers catering for special events, including weddings.

Maceli's Catering, 1031 N.H., offers sushi as well as other finger foods. Suzanne Cotrel Doyle, marketing and sales manager. says buffet dinners are more popular than full-service meals for weddings in Lawrence.

Ken Warren has been around weddings enough to know he won’t be expected to prepare anything too crazy for reception meals.

“If people are going to have two buffet options – two entrees – they usually want a safe option, which is always chicken, and maybe another option like pork or beef,” says Warren, kitchen manager at Hy-Vee, 4000 W. Sixth St. “They’re looking for something that generally has a little uniqueness to it, but not enough that people say, ‘What?'”

Caterers say food options should be among the first things a couple thinks about when planning their wedding. Once the church and reception venue are lined up, it’s important to get a contract with a caterer – especially if the wedding is during the peak summer months.

Some reception sites require their own kitchen or a certain catering company to prepare the food. Others allow off-site caterers to come in.

Suzanne Cotrel Doyle, marketing and sales manager at Maceli’s catering, says buffet dinners are more popular than full-service meals for weddings in Lawrence. And some couples look to cut costs by bypassing china in favor of disposable plates.

“A lot of people don’t realize what they’re eating off of, as long as the food is good,” she says. “People would rather spend their money on other things.”

Some tips from Warren and Cotrel Doyle on working with a wedding caterer:

¢ “Some people assume something simple like cake-cutting utensils are provided by the caterer, and that’s not always the case,” Cotrel Doyle says. “Read the contract very carefully and don’t assume anything.”

¢ Likewise, pay attention to additional fees – such as mandatory tips – that might be included in the cost.

“Some caterers might say it’s $10 a person, but then they have a 20 percent tip on top of that,” Warren says.

¢ Talk to your caterer well in advance if people attending your wedding have special dietary restrictions.

¢ Always overestimate how much food you’ll need, especially when it comes to light appetizers like fruit and vegetable trays.

“If you’ve got these people over the dinner hour, they’re going to treat it as a meal,” Cotrel Doyle says. “A light appetizer buffet isn’t enough.”

¢ Choose foods that will look good on a buffet for hours.

“Some restaurant food looks great for only 10 minutes out of the kitchen,” Warren says. “The wedding that starts on time, and the reception that starts on time, is rare.”

¢ Shop around, and determine your budget.

“It’s kind of like shopping for a car or house,” Warren says. “They can shop based on what they’d like to have all day long, but they still come back to what they’re able to afford.”

The bottom line, Warren says, is couples should think in advance about how important food is in the big scheme to their wedding and reception.

“Some people want to spend more on the honeymoon or the big event,” he says. “Food maybe isn’t THE thing they want to spend money on. Some people have told me they don’t even care much about food. They’d rather make sure people are having a great time with an open bar and that sort of thing.”