Where to hold small ceremony prior to postponed reception?

We are going to hold our mini ceremony in a park by the river and then we will just be having a BBQ catered dinner at my FH's parents house. The only people attending will be us, our parents, and FH's sisters. Overall the dinner, our outfits, and marriage license is only costing us about $400. Since we are still doing both the larger ceremony and reception in May 2021, we didn't really want to spend a lot for this one.

We are having a small family and wedding party only ceremony at our local high school theatre. This is where me and my fiancé met and the theatre teacher who is also my best friends uncle will be our officiant. Afterwards we are going to my house and having a pizza party reception. I think we are budgeting 300 for everything.

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Both ideas sound great!

I guess I forgot to mention that two of the families attending are coming from out of state since they are in our wedding party, plus they will be coming for the reception next year. I feel like I need to do a little more for the dinner portion.

We’re renting a beautiful historic home (gorgeous photo opportunities for whether the ceremony is inside or outside) and having dinner catered at the house. My mom, sister and I will stay there the night before and then my fiancé and I will stay there the night of the ceremony and the next night.

We're using my parents back yard for our 15 person ceremony/mini-reception. For just dinner food we are budgeting $50pp. If you have or can borrow a space that's large enough for your guests, you know you'll be able to have it regardless of what the COVID restrictions are on your wedding day. But, if you're trying to stick to a strict budget, it might not be the best way to go about it because you'll probably have to pay to bring other things in. For example, we rented a tent, tables, chairs, linens, etc. and are decorating with flowers-arch, centerpieces, etc. Your best bet might be to see if you can use a private room at a restaurant. A lot of restaurants won't charge a venue fee, you might just have to agree to spend at least a certain amount on food. If you're okay with that for the dinner but don't want to get married in a restaurant, and you live somewhere with decent weather, you can pretty much get married in any park/public space without having to get a permit since there won't be a large group with you.

View Quoted Comment Update: We found a beach house on my favorite beach with a massive back garden, perfect to accommodate our group for a casual BBQ. This works our perfectly because I had always wanted something laid back EXACTLY like this set up. So now I get my chilll beach wedding AND a more formal wedding in the spring! #silverlining

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That's perfect!