First, double congratulations on the remission and the wedding. I am a two time cancer survivor myself- 21 years and counting since the second round- and I know how precious it makes life.

I can understand why the parental units are anxious, it is a novel idea, but it can go VERY well with planning and forethought.

First, this is a perfect time slot for this type event; everyone ate lunch, it is too early for dinner, and people just want to visit and nibble. In fact a dessert only reception would be completely appropriate; one reader on a very tight budget had a December wedding and what she did was start baking and freezing Christmas cookies every weekend from July, and have Christmas cookies and bars, coffee and teas for her mid-afternoon reception. Guests commented that it was one of the pleasantest and most relaxing receptions they had ever attended. Just make sure to have plenty of chairs set around so people can sit and visit.

Second, a bread and... event is about the least expensive way to delight and impress the guests. I do this monthly for some starving artist friends for their monthly opening, and their event is the favorite on the local art walk.

So this is my suggestion:

2 enormous 4 pound 4 braid challah, served with 2 bread knives each, guests to slice their own.
about 5 pounds of block cheese for folks to whack off little chunks. 1 pound soft butter. spreaders for each.

These breads are fun to make, can be done day ahead with Rhodes frozen dough, if you don't have a bread making person to do them for you.

3 pound loaf or 2 2 pounds loaves of some ridiculously sweet bread, the favorite here is either my king cake (recipe on this site) or my chocolate chip and raisin bread with the buttercream oreo frosting.

Really good crackers, about 4 pounds.

2 pounds cream cheese with one or two of those interesting jams poured over for color and flavor; I like apricot and sour cherry spreaders for each.

spreads- how about both crunchy and smooth, but add an exotic, such as almond butter or nutella, and egg salad? About 8 pounds nut butters, 3 quarts egg salad. Maybe also hummus, about 3 quarts, look for Cortas canned at any Middle eastern market.

Jams and jellies and honey, about 5 pounds.

cupcakes- 1 each plus 10 if one flavor, if 2 you need to do 1/2 plus 10 for each flavor.
cookies and bars- 1 each flavor per person, up to 3, but these should be small, 2-3 bites.

iced tea- 6 gallons, at least 2 unsweetened, do look at the new flavored teas available
lemonade- 8 gallons, some could be lite. Some left unless it is hot. Alternative would be hot cider if you get a cold snap.

a fruit display- watermelon is the money saver here, but do look around for a produce outlet, or watch for sales week of. See the fruit tray page. Do 3 trays for 25 or 3/4 the deluxe tray for 100.

a veggie display - skip it. put out a couple of bowls of olives and crunchy pickles near the cheeses

Lunch meat? How about cocktail meatballs or smoked sausage bites in a crock pot or electric frying pan instead? With toothpicks. About 8 pounds of half inch meatballs, or cut up smoked sausage, non-tomato sauce.

Nobody would complain about this spread...