#2: bbq? really?

since this is a forum (a-hem, MY forum) with the ultimate purpose of carving out real ideas over a (really long) period of time, i think i'm going to start turning the wheel by talking about food. oh yes. i heart food.

food options for weddings seem pretty straightforward.

1) style: seated or buffet
2) type: lunch or dinner
3) venue: hotel or church rec room or...somewhere else

and then it's like a matchup free for all. go ahead and choose! and while you're weighing your options, you will also be able to guesstimate how much it's going to weigh down your walleto. for instance, seated+dinner+hotel = NO WAY JOSE for me. with that option, $10,000 probably wouldn't even cover the food.

oh yeah, i should mention here that i intennnnd (fyi i'm happily unmarried and not even engaged *see first post*) to have a 200 people max wedding. 200 is not an extraordinary guestlist but it isn't small, either. kind of just SOUNDS like a good number...hm. uh, getting sidetracked already...MOVING ON! so exnay on the multi-course dinner at a hotel idea.

which then begs the question...hows about a buffet? for some reason, i'm so open to this idea. no really, i am. because have you ever been to a sit down wedding dinner that just totally blew you away? i haven't. it's all been the same shtuff. like...steak or chicken (mostly steak) with a salad starter and cake for dessert. i'm not saying it's bad...but it's definitely not what's remembered. so what's the point in spending $50+/head to serve a less than stellar meal? and what's the point in me writing about this when zee budget can't even cover it? alright, so back to the buffet scenario which is...i am down with the buffet.

so then...what kind of buffet? one of the posts today on weddingbee talked about an outdoor bbq. mr. bee called it ghetto. i call it...workable. btw, when i said 'bbq', did you immediately think about that scene where steve martin is daydreaming about a backyard bbq wedding for his daughter? ME TOO! but no, that is not what i'm envisioning for a bbq reception. i'm thinking along the lines of...a brazilian bbq station complete with carvers, various salads, yummy carbs, and chests or tubs of ice cold brewskys. you'd have good food, you could provide lots of it, and it's a unique idea.

the things i'd have to consider: would the venue support a cookout and bbq grills on their property? who would man the grill? would there be lots of bugs (i hate bugs)? daytime or nighttime? would the smoke be too stinky?

as for..."what about the vegetarians?" - is it weird that i don't know a single vegetarian?

carnivores. yeah.