Weddingbee boards
Have you considered doing a courthouse wedding and a restaurant reception? Skip all the 'traditional' stuff like cake (and cake cutting), dances, toasts, etc., invite your 20 nearest and dearest and spring $500 for the check.
I know you said you can't afford both a reception and a honeymoon, but $500 isn't much; see if you can find a local restaurant that you love with a special separate room you can use. If you're worried about the price, make menu recommendations to your guests, or give them 2-3 choices (like they would have for a traditional reception) to pick between. Hopefully that'll leave a nice amount for your honeymoon, but still leave you feeling like you were able to celebrate with those you love, at least a little.
I don't want a courthouse wedding but we will likely use a civil officiant and get married somewhere pretty. If it was just the food it wouldn't be an issue but my two daughters are standing up with me and of course we would like to have at least pretty dresses on so there is that expense. Photographer to get some nice shots because I know that I will regret not having that and our hair/makeup. It's going to be simple but not just another day type of simple if that makes sense?
Ok, so what about a restaurant reception following your small wedding?
Receptions don't HAVE to be big or fancy or expensive.
Or have you considered a potluck reception? It's definitely a more informal route, but some brides have found it to be the most effective way for them to be surrounded by their family and friends. 2000dollarwedding.com is a website by one such couple, if you'd be interested.
I totally understand that you would choose the pretty ceremony over the reception! I feel like the ceremony is the most important part, and since you really want to have your family there, you might regret not having them if you elope! It's your wedding and you really can choose how you want to do it -- it's a sacred moment, I say go for it and have the beautiful ceremony you want, surrounded by loved ones! I think people will really understand.
From my understanding, usually inivitations say "reception to follow" or something like that, or they have a separate reception card included. You could just not include any language like that. Additionally, you can make the invite say something like, "Jane and John request the pleasure of your presence at their wedding ceremony..." Just put "ceremony" in the invitation wording rather than just "wedding" -- that way people have no reason to believe it is a big wedding with reception. If invite says "wedding ceremony" then there is no reception wording, I think people will get it. Beyond that, just spread the word! :)
There's also always the possibility that someone will offer to host a little reception at their home or pay for it or something like that.
I think that it's only proper to provide at least a little something for your guests. That doesn't mean it needs to be lavish though, even just cake and punch or a celebration picnic would be more than appropriate.
Then again, that's just how I've been raised, you don't invite anyone to anything without expecting to feed them a little something.
Whether or not you put it on the invitiation, people will expect some type of sustinance at your ceremony if you are inviting anyone aside from you, FH and your daughters. I agree ith FutureMrsDuff that it wouldn't exactly be polite to not provide anything.
Do you have a budget? Why not create a budget with how much you have to spend including honeymoon and see how you can divide things up?
For example, you said your daughters need pretty dresses, but pretty doesn't equal expensive. You could do a tea and cookies or lemonade and cookies thing after the ceremony. Make the cookies yourself (and recruit help), and then have a little celebrating following the ceremony.
Or, if it's just you, your FH and your daughter, you could just send a wedding announcement afterwards and maybe host a potluck at your place? My cousin did this. It was her second wedding and she didn't want to make a big deal about it, but she did send announcements to everyone which included a photo from the day of.
HTH
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FH and I are seriously considering eloping - mainly because we have to make a choice between a wedding and a honeymoon.
We would like to have our family present but cannot afford to do the honeymoon AND a reception so we are thinking about getting married quietly in a picturesque location. We would like to send out invitations for our ceremony but I am not sure how to word it to say that there will not be a reception of any kind following.
How do I do this? Is better to just not bother inviting anyone at all? I guess that I kind of want to do something a little nice when inviting people hence the invitations... it is my wedding day after all :)