So...after my worries and fears...it went PERFECT!
It poured all day and night Saturday, but, in the hours before our wedding, the weather miraculously cleared. When I say miraculous, I mean that, according to all weather reports, it should have been pouring, but instead, it was beautiful. We went ahead and had our ceremony on the beach as planned.
My FI was a mess with nerves and forgot several things, but it just didn't matter. His parents had some issues and complaints, but again, nothing major and nothing that mattered. I walked barefoot in the sand to him and we both got very emotional as we said the affirmations we had written to each other (vows are problematic in our religion). After it was over, there were few dry eyes and we were all so happy. We all made it back to the house for the BBQ, which we kept indoors. At some point during it all, it began pouring again, but we were all enjoying time together. Because we had so few guests, we were able to spend some good time with all of them. Our son (8 years old) even got up the courage to make a toast, which was so sweet!
We spent last night alone together at a local hotel, which was wonderful. We don't have a honeymoon until July, but I'm still floating back here at work. Overall, I don't think it could have gone any better...it really was everyting we wanted it to be.
As far as MIL telling everyone that we'll have a bigger wedding later, for now, we just let it go. We didn't want to disappoint her right now. We will likely invite her to join us when we do our religious ceremony because it would mean a lot to her and my husband's (love saying that) stepfather, but that will be small and private, even more so than this was.
As soon as I have pictures, I'll post some of the highlights. Thank you all for being there through this journey...it definitely was worth everything we went through, just to make it to that moment where we were looking into each other's eyes and becoming man and wife!
Good luck to all of you with your plans and with your futures!