We have a reception site in mind but really want an outdoor ceremony. We want to keep the cost to a minimum, park suggestions maybe? Looking in the Clearwater, largo, (Pinellas county) area.
I'm in the same boat as you. Sunken Gardens was my first choice. I don't know what your budget is, but for me, it's a little too expensive. And there are many many parks you could hold an outdoor ceremony. Go to stpeteparksrec.org. Also, Weedon Islands Preserve. Other than that, I've been having a hard time finding anything else not beach related for an outdoor ceremony.
I had an outdoor ceremony at Tampa Palms Golf and Country Club, I also held the reception outdoors, but they do have indoor options as well. They typically use there veranda for ceremonies, but I did it on the lawn with the fountain behind us and it was gorgeous!
We just visited the Lake Mirror Complex in Lakeland. All of the ceremony and indoor reception buildings we looked at we're around $500 initial site fee and only $28/hr. You have until midnight to get out of there which is nice since some other city owned spots like Tampa Watch stop at 10pm. The link has proving and capacity info and most have pictures available.
http://www.lakelandgov.net/parkrec/whattodo/facilityrentalpage.aspx
Re: Outdoor (non-beach) ceremony location?
http://www.jakesgrotto.com/
The pictures were pretty! It's outdoor and in Largo. No clue on pricing but if you find out, let me know! Thanks!