to throw a winter BBQ party?

[flatbread]

We are FINALLY getting the renovation of our South of France completed. It has taken five long, painful years! We also have our 15th wedding anniversary in December. So, I suggested to DH, why not have a nice winter BBQ around 17th or 18th of December?

OH thinks it is a very bad idea and we should wait till summer. I think it is brilliant because-
*The people who come will be ones who want to celebrate with us, and not just looking for a free holiday (as will probably be the case in summer)

• It can get very cold, but people will be expecting the worst weather-wise (it can get down to minus 7), so any sunshine can only be a bonus. Unlike summer where people are expecting sun and may instead get rain on the planned day.
  *There is something very naughty and celebratory about a winter BBQ, and frankly after a few glasses of wine, how cold will people feel in any case?

We would be inviting 50 or so guests, around 35 would be from overseas. The celebration will cost us a fair bit, so really want to make it a success!

AIBU and just plain mad to consider an outdoor BBQ in winter?

My DH just said that he really thinks no one will come . He agrees with the posters who say do it at a warmer time of the year, preferably next May.

But I think what is the point then? It will be just another outdoor meal in summer

I think it might be more the travelling so close to Christmas & needing to get back for it-unless you´re hosting that as well!

I think the idea is great but the dates would be nightmarish for most people. If I was hosting Christmas for my family for example, I would be loathed to go away for 3-4 days then and arrive back completely unprepared for my own Christmas.

How well-off are your friends? If I got an invitation like this I'd be reluctant to spend large amounts on travel just for a weekend - couldn't/wouldn't do a long weekend even as kids still at school. That would apply whatever time of year, though I guess at other times we'd be more likely to make a holiday of it, either with you or elsewhere in the area.

Diddle, you are right, I meant to add that people will probably not want the complication of extra travel during the run-up to Christmas, or the expense of peak-price flights.

No, we don't really plan to host Christmas celebrations - we don't do much anyway and just cherish that as quiet family time.

So am AIBU and in la-la land...and the only guests I should expect are the MNers who have RSVPed

Oh god I have always wnted to travel on a sleepre train!

Can I come? It sounds brilliant! :o

Really, if you want to have houseguests and they have to travel some distance at that time of year, you have to make it 'elite' for them (which it will be) by making it a special invitation to a ?smaller number of people.

Banging out '50 or so' invites sometimes just courts disaster because people will drop out assuming you won't really notice. Then everyone drops out and it's all a damp squib. And unless you have ways of getting them there and back overnight, don't bother asking the people who can't get themselves on the A3 let alone out of the country.

But I'd come. It sounds a brilliant Christmas trip to me.

I don´t think there´s anything wrong with a Winter BBQ per se though-but difficult when in another country!

Halloween?

Nov 5th?

It's their wedding anniversary in December. They had a saturnalial wedding.

Any school kids to be invited as many would have just or not even broken up yet. They won't come.

Of course you can!

I am in the arctic, and we even have outdoors bbq's in the snow!

All the neighbours get together for a street party bbq on 23rd december and again for new years eve. We have bbq food, mulled wine, Jagermeister, cognac, red wine, etc. The kids are out playing in the snow, sledging, etc. (We all dress like the michelin man though, in several layers of merino wool, downjackets, skiing trousers, heavy boots, etc and cant hope to also be stylish).

It is not unusual to do a february icy snowy beach bbq either.....

I think it could be a nightmare to be honest. If you think back to the last couple of years, the weather in the UK has been dreadful, and that seriously affects travel. So many people would be reluctant to get caught up in that so close to Christmas.. additionally, it would be a serious expense to get to you, and again, wrong time of year for that sort of trip.

My stepdaughter got married a few days before Christmas last year, and it meant a lot of people had to turn down the invite, mainly due to the costs, and on the day itself quite a few didnt arrive because of the heavy snow and closed roads in the UK.

I agree that it's a lovely ida, but I really do think that if you want to celebrate your anniversary at the right time of year you'd be best to do it in the UK.

Host another party in the summer to celebrate the renovation of your house in France, and only invite people that you'd really like to be there so that you don't get loads of people just going for a cheap holiday.

Looks like you're going to have to have an mumsnetter BBQ OP

I can make it

chaoticangel

sounds fab - count me in

Sounds fabulous.

Naysayers are party poppers who inevitably spend the winter complaining they are cold, while never actually fastening their coat up!

That was a joke, by the way

Too close to Christmas, I agree with your husband.

However, why not have a housewarming bbq in late Sept. early Oct.?

I think it sounds wonderful, I keep thinking about a winter barbecue to celebrate my birthday and I love the idea of bonfires, mulled wine etc.

But as the others have said, I think the dates will make it difficult for a lot of people - it's not quite close enough to Christmas for people to be off work but too close for people to take extra holidays and make a 3-week break.

Unless you can charter a plane to go out from the uk on a Saturday and come back on the Sunday I would go for either November or January. Send out a 'save the date' card now to give people the opportunity to book cheap flights asap. You can still have it as an anniversary celebration.

Whichever date you choose I will be free and look forward to meeting La Famille Flatbread. Merci!

My DH celebrated a 'big' birthday in December.

I organised a hog roast, large pot of chicken and chickpea stew, baked potatoes, large trays of roasted veg etc. We then had trays of eve's pudding, rhubarb crumble and jugs of custard. This was all washed down with lots of cold fending booze.......warm mulled wine, schnappes, cranberry vodka and lots of wine!

The weather stayed dry (thank goodness) but I simply had the food served from a small gazebo.

I left the french doors to the garden open to create an inside/outside feel, roaring fire inside, bonfire outside, as many candles as I could find all over (start saving jam jars etc now) lots of cushions and blankets over the garden furniture gave the guests something to snuggle with.

We had a fab time, and although we are not in France, we did have many guests traveling 1000mile round trips to attend.

Go for it! x

I'd love to come for the party and stay til after Christmas! I'm a very good houseguest and won't outstay my welcome, honest.

we normally have a BBQ in november for bonfire night....i say BBQ are better in the winter as it is too hot to cook on the BBQ in the summer

Lamb on a spit. Seriously.