Looking for cheap/free venue ideas for after courthouse wedding celebration in Oklahoma.

The restaurant is probably the cheaper option, unless you get a really good deal on catering/alcohol.

We were planning on going with something cheaper, probably BBQ since most everyone in the family likes it. I will look over numbers more and see.

I hate to say this because it is over-said, but you should consider cutting your guest list. I think a community center with BBQ catering is fine in general for a celebration, but I get the feeling you may be more happy with inviting 15- 20 of your favorite people and having it at a restaurant as something nice for you and your FH. Just the way you worded your post made me think that.

We feel kind of like because we aren't having the 'traditional' wedding that some of our friends or family would feel quite offended if they weren't invited to the event which is why we were thinking everyone.

Well, you can't invite everybody to literally watch your vows in the courthouse, can you? Just invite the people that are there for the vows to come to dinner with you afterwards.

But if you are set with the larger guest list, I think what you are proposing is fine for a casual celebratory party.

Have you checked Yelp for restaurants with private rooms? You can sort by price, cuisine etc.

https://www.yelp.ca/search?find_desc=restaurants+with+private+dining+rooms&find_loc=Oklahoma+City,+OK&start=0&attrs=RestaurantsPriceRange2.2,RestaurantsPriceRange2.1,RestaurantsGoodForGroups

I tried but it was throwing options I know don't have a private room so I quit trying.

Second wedding for us as well. Guest list is 50. We are renting a community center for it all. We are doing a noon time buffer style reception. There is a lot of family we haven't seen in awhile so we wanted a family reunion type setting. I say go with what you can afford.

Becca, no-one thinks she has to go "fancy". We're helping her examine her options.

BBQ is fine at a wedding, but the OP may like the idea of an officiant coming to a private room at a nice restaurant.

@Becca No one here thinks you need to go "fancy" and everyone suggests BBQ and Italian as affordable food options.

You can absolutely rent a community center and get it catered, but remember that after decor and other things like plates/utensils/linens, you may not come out cheaper than you would if you were to stick with the restaurant idea. Are restaurants with a private room in your area places that have a catering menu? Our food ended up being very cheap at the restaurant because we were able to create a menu based on their catering/event menu as opposed to their regular menu.

Which part of OK? I may have some suggestions.

I don't think it is a problem to have BBQ in the community center. It is a low key casual reception, but that sounds like what you want.

You may be surprised once you price it all out. I've been to wedding receptions at restaurants where the whole restaurant was closed for the private event.

Sara D we are in the Oklahoma City outskirts.

Thank you all for your opinions. We are going to edit the guest list and see if we can do the reception at the restaurant and if not I'm glad it doesn't sound super tacky to do it at the community center.

Thank you all for your services replies and if anyone else has any ideas or suggestions we will love to hear them!!

What time of day were you planning on doing this? If you do your ceremony at 12:00pm, pictures until 1:00 or 1:30, you can arrive at a restaurant around 2:00. That is a very slow time of day for restaurants, so maybe you don't need a private room? They might be able to give you a space in the main dining room for 2-3 hours since they really won't have many regular patrons coming in at that time.

Yes., BTB, many restaurants will be willing to close between say 2-5 for public patrons. Also, I would be concerned that many community centers will not allow alcohol, not even wine or beer. And just because sometimes people sneak stuff in, does not mean you will get away with it.

Have you checked with your local VFW Post? Ours is open to the public most days, has a big backroom you can reserve and they can cater onsite.

I would try wedding-spot, I feel like they have good pricing structures for this kind of thing. I would look at hotels or restaurants, many restaurants will give you a room for free if you meet a certain minimum.

https://www.wedding-spot.com/wedding-venues/?page=1

Also look at community centers: https://www.okc.gov/departments/parks-recreation/recreation-centers