Stressing over details

Set a realistic budget and stick with it. Also, depending on the amount of people/venue, making your own food may not be a possibility. Most venues will want a licensed caterer doing the food. Also, there are practical concerns on cooking for a large number of people/keeping that food to temp. Granted, if you are having a microwedding with 10 people in your backyard, that's a different story.

What I would do now is just research the cost of things in your area: look at venue prices, photographers, catering, etc. and work on a rough guest list so you can get a sense of how big a wedding you will have. The smaller the wedding, the cheaper the cost typically. Then, set a budget that is reasonable based on the realistic amount you can save in your timeline and what things cost in your area. Other strategies for saving money is having the wedding on an off day (not a Saturday evening) and/or not during a meal time (cake and punch reception).

Overall, being prepared is probably the best way to combat stress. If you know what to expect and how much to allocate to each vendor, it should make the process less stressful.

Hey Shealyn! Welcome to the community!

As Hannah mentioned, the first thing that you should definitely do is set a realistic budget that you and your FS will be able to afford over your planning months. You can then divide this up into how much you can spend on each aspect of planning, e.g. venue, catering, decor, etc.

DIYing your decor is a great way to save money, especially if you are a crafty person!

I came across a really great article in the Ideas section that you might be interested in checking out - How to Plan a Wedding on a Budget