Choosing a BBQ Wedding Reception
Once you go to a few weddings you start to realize how boring they are in many ways. Wedding receptions often have the same decorations, processes, and unfortunately food. Few people are even interested in the food once you pass through the cocktail hour portion of the reception and are left with the dinner course. If you are looking to do something different than one option is to have a good old southern BBQ wedding reception.
What is Southern BBQ?
If you are thinking BBQ is burgers and hotdogs, then you don’t truly know BBQ. Southern BBQ involves cooking meats at a low temperature for a prolonged period of time which makes the meat more tender and imparts a smoky flavor to it with the use of various woods that add their own distinct flavors. Common woods used to smoke southern BBQ meat include hickory, apple wood, and cherry wood.
While people are often familiar with dishes like pulled chicken or pork, Southern BBQ includes smoked ribs, sausage, salmon and other smoked fishes, whole hog, and a whole accompaniment of sides from collard greens to bacon wrapped vegetables (asparagus, corn, and others). Bacon wrapped stuffed jalapeños and chicken wings add other options, and smoked beef tenderloins kick it up a notch on the fancy end. Southern BBQ can be a very home oriented food that is casual. In fact, Southern BBQ’s method of cooking slow and low was originally designed to make some of the cheaper less tender cuts of meat more palatable. However, Southern BBQ can also be dressed up into a fancier meal that is just right for a unique bbq wedding reception.
Why Southern BBQ at a Wedding Reception?
Southern BBQ may not seem like the perfect food for a wedding reception, but in many ways it is an optimal choice. Many weddings are held during the hot summer months and it is easy to serve large receptions of BBQ food outdoors in a designated area. BBQ is the quintessential outdoor food and great for enjoying on a hot summer day.
Southern BBQ is a cuisine that people love and often crave, but have a hard time cooking for themselves. As such, it is a unique treat that is drastically different from the food items that many people get from the typical wedding. Further, BBQ buffet tables can be set up relatively easy and accommodate a large group of eaters effectively and without massive lines being built up. People love to linger over Southern BBQ food and it helps to create a relaxed and enjoyable setting for attendees of the wedding reception who have a lot of time to sit and interact with one another.
How the Cost of Southern BBQ Compares
While caterers or whomever you bring in to prepare the Southern BBQ will need some specialized equipment for the meal, the cost often compares favorably to other catered food at a wedding reception. As such, a couple can often save significantly by substituting Southern BBQ food for their wedding reception from other standard and dull wedding fare.
A BBQ wedding reception may not be the obvious choice for a couple looking for an interesting reception food, but it may be the right choice once you explore what it involves, the cost, and how pleased your non-vegan guests will be at the idea of finally attending a wedding that doesn’t have the standard boring fare that is all too often served at these events.
