Consider a morning wedding with a breakfast buffet. The hotel we were married at had 3 or 4 breakfast menus, ranging from Continental all the way to a brunch with several different salads & meats. Of course they want you to want to pick the fancy brunch, but we stuck to an American breakfast/business meeting type meal with eggs, sausage, potatoes, toast, pastries and fruit and it was less than $10 person including champagne mimosas. (Not claiming that is the cheapest amount possible but it was a good value.)

Guests seemed satisfied to have a nice breakfast, and likely drank less champagne Than they would have had in the afternoon/evening. And it's kind of neat to get married in the morning and have your whole wedding day in front of you after the Ceremony.

We had our reception at the hotel and then a house party with close friends and family that included a big snowball fight, dancing (rather than hire a DJ we took the opportunity to add to our CD collection and used a stereo with a 3 CD changer on random), various party platters and beer & wine. We were trying to avoid all the work and stress that goes along with having family and friends prepare and serve a bunch of food or decorate a house for a wedding, and we succeeded.

Keep in mind that a lot of what a reception is very similar to what would be at a nice company party or seminar. Instead of asking for a "wedding" package, ask what options are available for a daytime or evening event for x people. Get the basics set up and then add in the extras that will make it special to you. I.e. if you start out asking about how they will set up the cake table then you will be chalked up as willing to pay "wedding" prices just because it is your special day.

When planning your table decorations, make sure to ask what decorations the hotel has available for centerpieces.

Maybe they will provide a mirror with candle and you can just add a wreath of flowers or a blooming potted plant (which is then nice to send home with guests). If you want background music for a reasonable fee they will set up a stereo system and even operate it for you.

Another note: If you are getting married at a non-peak time of year, you may be able to negotiate the set-up costs for a morning wedding. (These are the costs for staff to arrange the tables, chairs, etc. and are sometimes called a room rental fee.) If you can arrange for your reception to be the first event of they day, ssk if the fees can be reduced or waived since staff will already be working in the room to cleanup the previous night's event. This is especially likely if you are able to hold your wedding on a Sunday morning (of course not possible for those who attend church Sunday mornings).