CathInfo.com

Considering I have 6 girls, and I'm not rich, I hope my future sons-in-law are looking for a good old fashioned backyard type reception...hahaha

Seriously though -- no one needs to rent a DJ to play suggestive and worldly music. Nor do they need to pay for overpriced catering. And why would anyone step into a whole different economic bracket for a wedding reception? For example, a fancy dinner proper for rich people, when the family is middle class? Or a middle class catered meal when the family is poor?
That's just stupid. No one is comfortable, and money is wasted.

And coming back to what I said earlier -- if you know someone with land (like the bride's parents, for example), you can host the reception there and save a lot of money. Depending on the land, it could actually be quite beautiful, natural, special, etc.!

We could have a bonfire for example, light fireworks, do a hayride around the yard, etc.

That's the other thing: doing a more old-fashioned reception on private land accommodates children, which should be a consideration for most families. What percent of couples are barren. Can we agree that it's not the majority? (if we're talking about Traditional Catholics at least) How artificial is it to send your kids to a babysitter, so you can go celebrate with "parts of" the extended family because someone is getting married? Why not celebrate with the WHOLE family, if a celebration is called for?

I would actually prefer fried chicken (about $7) to most expensive dinners I've seen/had.

We did a wedding much like this for our second daughter.  We even did the meal as a pot luck, so we weren't providing all the food.  Everyone had a wonderful time.