Mine was done in 6 months and was a fairly traditional do on a budget.
Registry office with just family and any guests who had come from abroad etc as that was the size of room we could get. That was around 30 people I think.
Family came back to my mum's house for picnic type lunch.
Then reception was in a community hall. Not the prettiest but cheap and functional and most importantly BIG for the ceilidh later.
We greeted people with homemade cakes and a glass of fizz. There was mingling etc. A friend of dh's plays the harp, he did the music for the registry office then took his harp to the reception and played while people arrived and chatted.
Dinner was a buffet done with a local caterer and was very, very good. We looked at their menus and then picked and chose what we wanted so we had nice cold meats and salads and things instead of all the random shite you get offered. Pudding was fruit salad and our wedding cake which was the traditional French stack of profiteroles so we saved money there :)
For table decorations we had small bunches of flowers which were done by a friend so at cost because she got all the flowers from a flower market not a shop then we scattered the favors over the tables which looked fab. We had flying saucer sweets and those finger fright things and some of those foam gliders. We used candle numbers.
We set up the hall ourselves. Tables etc were booked by us through various suppliers. Harder work but you can shop around more. We used our own table cloths as between my mum and my MIL they had enough big white cloths. YOu can always borrow, everyone has a big white cloth at home somewhere!
Then we had a ceilidh. The band were our wedding present from FIL.
We didn't have a photographer. We just asked all the guests to upload their pictures to a snapfish account and made sure those with digital SLR cameras were bringing them.
My mum made my dress.
I had bridesmaids but since there wasn't really a theme I told them to wear whatever they wanted, I wasn't at all bothered about matching so they culd just wear whatever they would have worn had they not been a bridesmaid.
There is a lot to be said for finding out what skills people have. Everyone will know someone who can do something. If you plan for this summer then in the spring you can sew a load of flowers for cutting and have really natural bouquets for the price of the seeds. Ask your respective parents if they would mind buying part of your wedding as a gift (the cake or the band or the decorations). If friends have skills they can contribute then see if they mind doing it as a gift, music, photos whatever.