Broke College Student Wedding

Does the church have a reception area? Most usually have some kind of little function area.

A cake and punch reception is what it sounds like. It's best to host this at an "off" time - essentially so that the reception doesn't happen at a typical meal-time (so avoid 11-2/lunchtime, and 5-8/dinnertime). A good time for this kind of wedding is 2:30-3:00pm ceremony, putting your reception around 3-3:30pm. This means guests will have eaten lunch at normal time, and will be free to get dinner at a normal time after. The timing is crucial in this.

You also should notify your guests - just in case anyone doesn't realize by the timing that a full meal won't be served - with a simple line on your invitation. In place of "full reception to follow" or similar wording, go for "light refreshments will be served immediately following the ceremony."

You can go the simple sheet cake route, which can be done very inexpensively by your local grocery store usually. Or depending on your guest list size and local grocery offerings, you may be able to get a little fancier round cake. Then get some gallons of iced tea, water, lemonade or punch if you'd like, coffee if you'd like. Everyone mingles for a little bit, has some cake, and then they leave.

If you'd like a photographer, see my advice above that you can look into either your local college photography program, or do some hunting in local photography groups on Facebook. You can sometimes find inexpensive budding photographers trying to get work for their portfolio.