Having a wedding without a ceremony?

So, my other half and I have been talking about a wedding for a while. We've gone back and forth over what to do etc (we're both from in UK but I have some relatives in the States that I am very close to) so we have finally decided to just bite the bullet and have a Stateside wedding and fly us/our UK families over to Tennessee.My main 'issue' is that, for me, the priority is spending time with everyone. My States family are amazing, they have always done so much for me. And as such, the main part of our trip will be for me and my OH to rent a large property for all of us for a week (18/20 adults and 4 children). It will give us all a chance for the families to meet/hang out/spend lots of quality relaxing time and create wonderful memories.However, most properties I've looked at have an 'event fee' for having a wedding on site. If we then have a ceremony on site I have to start adding fees and more costs, catering, seating etc as well as making decisions on things like officiants/planners etc without meeting any of these people.I certainly don't want to go behind the backs of the hosts and arrange something without telling them what we're planning, so that option is out.We contemplated just doing a courthouse wedding to make things official, but now I'm thinking that people are going all that way for a wedding event, but actually no wedding!Is the ceremony part important for people who attend destination weddings? I've been looking at small venue hires nearby where we could have a ceremony for a reasonable price. The reason I'm a bit wary about the money side of things on the ceremony side, is that the house I'm looking at is the vast majority of the budget (and totally worth it in my eyes!)Sorry for my long rambling post but looking for any advice from people who have had a similar type of wedding event! via /r/weddingplanning http://ift.tt/2sGmxoD