by Beks
We had our 3rd annual Pig Roast party yesterday. My husband and my brother invited family and friends over to celebrate the new year while enjoying an excessive amount of pork, appetizers, and outdoor fun.
They charge $10 per adult to attend the party and I always feel a little weird about it. The money goes to cover the cost of all the food you can eat and all the adult beverages you can drink. The total cost to throw the party is around $600 – which we split with my brother. When people chip in, we still pay around $100. Without people chipping in, we could never afford to do it.
I considered asking hubby if he’d think about cancelling the shindig this year – not because the expense to us, because I hate asking folks to chip in – but decided it’s best to let hubby have his fun and let guests decide how they want to spend their money.
Judging by the turnout, there are lots of folks who don’t mind pitching in 10 bucks.
All day, guests came up and said how much they look forward to the ‘pig party’ each year. Each guest left with a full tummy and a goody bag filled with leftovers. I would upload photos, but I have a feeling I’d tick off lots of vegetarians out there.
It’s definitely the most awkward party of the year for me since I’m so sensitive about money, but hubby (and his guests) love it so I have a feeling we’ll be welcoming in 2013 with a giant pig again.
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
$10 for all you can eat and all you can drink, count me in! Make sure to send me an invitation next year! 🙂
Happy 2012!
Ooo… If I lived in the San Diego area I’d gladly pay $10 for roasted pig! It sounds delish!
10 bucks sounds like a great deal to me! I agree with your husband–if guests had a problem with paying the $10 then they can choose not to come. Plus it’s almost like a potluck but instead of having to bring something you’re just pitching in for the groceries.
Totally agree with Newlyweds, view it as a potluck where your guests bring $10 instead of a dish…..I would love it!!! 🙂
All you can eat, all you can drink AND a roasted pig?? FOR $10??? That is a bargain! In NYC, i went to a dinner at The Breslin which showcased a whole suckling pig – and that was $120+ per person. No joke. http://thebreslin.com/i/menu-chefstable.pdf $10 is a bargain especially if you are having a night/day full of fun with friends and pig 🙂 I say kick back and enjoy the fun!
Too bad I missed it lol !
PLUS…all the leftovers save your food budget!
Your intuition is correct – charging people money when you are the host is tacky and improper etiquette. Miss Manners (and lots of others manners writers) have addressed this topic. What’s appropriate is hosting whatever you are able to host, be it a tea party, a lemonade party, or a full-blown dinner party or pig roast. Hosting means providing everything. The recent trend of charging people for things or expecting them to furnish or pay for their own food or drinks is painfully tacky. It’s also a symptom of how so many Americans want to live beyond their means, so they have an open bar wedding but make their guests pay for the drinks or they ask for cash from guests to pay for the wedding or they charge money to attend a party. It’s all tacky and not really hosting.
Margot, I TOTALLY disagree with you on this one. The people know up front what the cost is (which is a bargain for what they get!) and apparently everyone enjoys themselves. More than likely, none of them could afford to do this on their own, but if they all like doing it all together, then pitching in seems fine to me.
Beks, I wouldn’t do this on a regular basis, but for a once a year fun time was had by all thing, it seems great and totally acceptable to me. It’s not everyday that you get to go to a pig roast. If we were in your area, I would totally beg you for a chance to come, money in hand.
I don’t see a problem with this at all. It would be different if you guys were wealthy. But a young couple with a baby? Who cares? My friends and I do this sort of thing all the time. If it’s going to be an expensive event, we all pitch in. And a pig roast definitely qualifies as an expensive event. It would be different if it were just a big BBQ (which, typically, you are asking people to pitch in for if you ask them to bring sides).
You set out the price when you do the invite. If people didn’t want to come, they wouldn’t.
Oh my goodness, I could have written your concern myself, Beks! This will be our 3rd year of hosting the annual pig roast. It used to be a clambake, but when we got up to 100 people and over 1,000 clams cooked in 8 steamers, it was time to look for another fest! The concept of charging started when we were kids and our parents of 3 families went in together on an annual clambake. My parents bought the fixings and scrubbed about 200 clams and everyone pitched in. Well now those three families have grown and extended and we have the annual bash at my boyfriend’s house, and charge–with everyone’s insistence. The problem is when I want to extend it to my now boyfriend’s family they don’t believe they should have to pay to come to one of our “parties,” even though this isn’t our typical weekend party when we would never charge–although most of our friends will bring a dessert or appetizer. They come, but we’re hearing that they think they should pay (we never do charge his mother; well, because it’s his mother). SO, the problem comes in when you want to extend the invitation to friends beyond the 3 core families. We want these folks there because it is such an awesome event and they want to be there–like yours ALL is included–food, tons of apps, a hot soup (it’s in October in Ohio!), “top shelf adult beverages”–which we can do because none of our friends tend to drink to excess where they can’t drive, etc. But I hate charging!!! But with a minimum 50#+ pig ordered from our caterer at $6/lb this year (up from $5 last year), cooked and we carve it, the pig alone runs about $350-$375, not to mention the liquor, soft drinks, wine, sides, a room reserved for all the desserts, etc., it would be nice to share some of the cost. Last year we even had prizes for those that kissed the pig’s snout! So everyone tells me I should absolutely charge (in fact they always throw in extra). We never break even, so this is not a money making event, we just want to defray the cost. If I don’t charge our friends, it wouldn’t really be fair to others who are paying. I’m told, if someone is “offended,” they just won’t come. Yep, but I don’t like being talked about. I know, I know, who cares–but I do. SO, are you still doing your event? BTW we do not charge for our weekend parties–where there is also tons of food, and inground swimming, open bar, etc. Fellow Hostess.