I don't know anyone who actually hired a wedding planner, they're expensive and you can really cover everything they do with maybe a couple of friends or family members. First thing would probably pick where you'd want to have it. Locally? Out of town or somewhere where you'll also be having your honeymoon? Resorts have packages to accommodate wedding parties, but if you want to invite a ton of people and have them attend, a location wedding isn't all that practical. As for local weddings, if you want to have it in a church or place of worship of some sort, contact someone from there and talk dates and what you have in mind. However if you don't really attend much or aren't a member, it can be tricky, they'll probably want you to start attending regularly for a while and may have classes that they require you to take. We did a justice of the peace deal, where we just went to the courthouse, got our marriage license and all in one quick deal. It's def the cheapest way to go, and requires the least hassle, but you can't really have your whole family in attendance. After you choose where you want to have it, picking a place for the reception would be another good place to start. Shopping around for things like the clothes, flowers and decorations, the catering and what not are also some things you can do here and there, but you'll have to put your orders in for in advanced.
