Just for your information I went with my sister to look at venues for her 40th anniversary vow renewal and we saw 2 rooms at Clarion Hotel Waterfront on the west side. She is having a smallish ceremony and reception, about 50 to 70 with an afternoon dessert buffet, no dj or meal. I was pleased with the rooms, especially the ballroom (not the grand ballroom, too big) and was blown away by the price they quoted her.
For the ballroom for the whole day (even though she only wanted it for 4 - 5 hours) and the mini dessert buffett ( bite size) coffee and iced tea, a server, the tables, chairs, table cloths and napkins, a mic for the ceremony, set up and tear down, (I mention this only because several other places charged an extra $100 for this) for 70 people was under $1000!
I thought this was so reasonable that I had to let all you who are looking for a cheap venue know about this. The only draw back I could find is that there is no real "ambiance" its pretty generic looking hotel conference style.
The other places we looked at (all parks dept ones today) would have been that much just for the rental; black metal folding chairs, no linens; no set up and no food!
Just wanted to share the info!