Late Night Reception

It is kind of odd. I've seen it before on an episode of four weddings where this chick had only cupcakes at her wedding because she loves dessert. But hey it could be really fun too and I think I would call it more of a cocktail hour than reception though

I definitely considered this.
But if you have a 7:30 reception, that's still dinnertime.
And if you have a 6pm ceremony and 730 reception, when will your guests eat?
I'd definitely be sure that you make it clear it's a "dessert party".
I've shown up for a 7pm reception to find they weren't serving dinner and I left promptly.

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Exactly this. While the concept itself isn't a "bad" one, you do have to take into consideration

a) telling your guests that there will be no meal served

b) making sure they have the time to get a meal somewhere in there.

Let's say your ceremony is at 6pm - I probably won't be thinking to eat a LARGE DINNER at 4pm before leaving for the event. So when 7:30 pm rolls around and the reception begins and there is no meal, I'd probably be pretty hangry and leave early lol.

But if you leave a larger gap (which, generally is "frowned upon" and whatever) and make sure your guests know to eat, then you may be able to get away with it.

What time does your ceremony start? You can only avoid serving a meal if both your ceremony and reception avoid a meal time. Your ceremony would need to start at 8, not just your reception.

I know catering can be expensive but heavy hors d'oeuvres are just as pricey in most situations.