reception or not

First start with your budget. Even a micro wedding needs a budget. That will let you know what is realistic to plan for. It could be as simple as a courthouse wedding followed by dinner at a local restaurant.

Your title and text don’t seem to mesh, but to answer the title, you must have some kind of reception if you have any guests. You owe them hospitality for coming to the ceremony. It can be something as simple as cake and punch or going to a restaurant for dinner.

I'm also answering the title. A reception, no matter how modest, is a thoughtful gesture to thank your guests for attending. It can be as simple as a small gathering with light refreshments or a casual meal.

You'll still have to plan it out, like Jack said you'll have to still have to make a budget, you'll still have to make a guest list, etc. Micro or Big you'll still have the same tasks you'll need to put together. If you don't want spend so much for your reception I would suggest a early ceremony that way you could have a afternoon reception which would be great for a light refreshments/meal as Jacob said. Do you want to have a reception or did you want ceremony only?

We invited 25 people to our reception. At the wedding, there will 4 of us (the groom & I, his son & son's gf) & the officiant. We'll have the wedding then a 2 hr break until guests arrive for our reception. This allows us time for photos, to relax a little, & to get the bbq going. It also allows us to do any last minute set up we didn't do the night before. During that time, we'll set our apps & set up drink stations. We'll have beer & champagne, water, soda, & iced tea.

We contemplated just having a micro wedding & no reception but we liked the idea of having our very nearest & dearest come celebrate with us. We are both pretty private people & we didn't really want to be in the spotlight with all of them present for the wedding though, which is the reason for the tiny ceremony & bigger reception.