A dear friend of mine had a civil ceremony at the Markhan civic center. It was a beautiful ceremony, much like going to a church/chapel.
They ensured they had invited some people to attend, and had someone take professional photos and they did photos at a park afterwards also...we had a small dinner After.
They then Applied for inland sponsorship and had no issues.
Like someone else here advised, it is a special day and a big deal so treat it as such...get a dress, a bouquet, have him wear something nice...I think it was extremely helpful for them to have people in attendance. They included a Letter explaining that they did not have a big wedding because they did not have a lot of extra money and rather invest that cash into a new home (which they did and showed proof of that also).