Planning a Wedding, especially on a small budget

First and foremost, plan the wedding for you and your soon-to-be spouse, not for everyone else. If your parents or his contribute financially, they do have some say-so in the guest list, but the overall wedding should be what you want. In planning, pick the couple of things that are most important to you and let someone (or several someones) do the rest. For instance, the music played at our reception was important to me so I took the time to research and download every song. However, the decorations, while important, were not my thing at all. It's not something I'm good at or something I care that much about. My mom is wonderful at it so I told her the colors and let her do everything else, which she very much enjoyed. This sort of thing will make the planning your wedding time so much easier. Also, don't believe the "it takes atleast a year" blah, blah, blah. We were engaged mid-September. I had the major things planned and in place in 2 weeks, officiant, flowers, photographer, location. It took longer to find a dress only because I didn't want to pay $650 and up for a dress for one day. I just think that is silly. I do believe if the marriage is meant, you can get it done in very little time. For us, everything just fell into place. We were married Dec 1 and everything was planned and done a month before.
When searching for a location, look at state parks. They often have a chapel and some kind of rentable room for a reception. The cost at a state park is 10x cheaper than a hotel or some such place. It cost us a grand total of $225 to rent the chapel and reception hall. Of course, they usually have some rules about using their catering, which is just fine if the food is good because that is one less company/person you have to deal with. For our 50 people reception, the food cost $800 total (without alcohol) and we had tons left over. State parks are great.
When buying decorations, dress, veil, suit, whatever....internet! I bought my veil, new and beautiful with a double layer, rhinestones, and hair comb for $2.15 on Ebay. We bought my husband's hand-tailored, 100% all weather wool, Italian suit for $125, brand new. Be creative and flexible and you will find it much easier to obtain the things you want without spending 10-20K. We spent all told, including our rings, $4000. We had a beautiful weekend at the park with friends and family, a beautiful wedding day, and we don't have any debt to pay off afterwards.
Some great internet businesses are Ebay, Amazon, Affordable Elegance (fabulous silk flowers, bouquets), and the local bridal sites (such as Bama Bride here in Alabama). Spend some time surfing the internet to find good deals for what you want. Also, your local craigslist could be helpful if you are lucky.
Involve as many people as you can to take the stress off you. We had numerous family members take care of things, such as cousins for music during the wedding. I told them to play pretty wedding music, gave them the one song for the unity candle, and left the rest to them. If you are not lucky enough to have talented people in your family, hire people, but tell them to use their professional judgement and take care of things instead of asking you 100 questions. Not having to decide on every minute detail will make you much more relaxed. For an officiant, consider your local probate court judge. Many of them will perform the ceremony for a cash donation and if they do it and you obtain your marriage license in their court, you will be processed and have your paperwork in record time. Our judge was the nicest man, did a great job at the wedding, and we had our official marriage certificate in 5 days so I could start the name change process (see other posts).
I know it's been said, but remember that you should have fun and enjoy your wedding day (or weekend in our case). Try not to stress, even when your photographer is 1 hr late. As long as the day ends with you and your spouse married, that is all that matters.

sometimes medication is worth the risk

First, let me explain that this is about my dog. I love my dogs as if they were my children. My littlest one, a 45 lb golden retriever mix, has recently developed severe allergies, at 3.5 yr old. She's always had some dry skin and itchiness that was mostly taken care of with a good bath in oatmeal shampoo and some Benadryl. In the last few months, it has gotten much worse. We tried changing to higher quality food without wheat products, a low side effect medication Atarax, baths, etc and nothing worked. The vet recommended Prednisone, a corticosteroid, to control the itching. However, I did not want to give it to her because it has alot of side effects and has been shown to cause liver damage. Granted, the damage usually occurs in dogs who have taken the medication at higher doses over long periods of time, but I didn't want to take the chance that my little girl would get sick from medication I gave her. With the terrible itching my girl was having, she was scratching awful welts on her stomach and sides and biting sores on her back and scratching sores around her neck and head. She is normally a very happy dog who smiles all of the time and bounces around the house, playing with the other dogs. With this last allergy attack, she was miserable and not smiling and not playing. I came to the conclusion that quality of life is sometimes more important than worrying about some possible side effects and gave her the medication. After two days, she was back to her normal, happy self. The vet says the low dose we are using over short periods of time will be ok. I really hope so, but I also want my girl to enjoy her doggie life and the benefits outweigh the risks in this case. In everything you do in life, there are risks whether big or small. Sometimes you have to ignore the risks and do what is in the overall best of interest of everyone.

rescue a dog and spay/neuter your animals

If you love animals and want a dog (or a cat), don't buy from a backyard breeder. While I must state that reputable breeders are ok and a good way to get a good dog, I feel that rescue is the best way. RESCUE! You can go through a rescue organization or your local shelter or the humane society. Millions of animals are put to sleep every year because no one will take care of them. Millionss! That is outrageous. And largely because people do not spay/neuter their pets and let them "breed just this once" and produce more babies than the humans are willing to care for. Many states have low-cost spay/neuter programs so that it will cost you very little to have your animal fixed. Also, if you adopt an animal from a rescue organization, they are usually already spayed/neutered, which is included in the cost of adoption. Most rescues make certain the animal is up to date on shots and in good health. Some even microchip so you won't risk losing your new family member. I adopted one of my dogs from Adopt a Golden Atlanta, a fabulous organization, and she is the sweetest little dog in the world. She was a stray that was about to be put to sleep at a shelter when, luckily, someone who knew someone at AGA called and got her rescued from the shelter. Rescuing from a shelter is a great way to get a great pet, too. Often, an owner will turn in the animal for some stupid reason and the dog/cat would make a great pet but it's put to sleep within 3-7 days. You could save a life and obtain a great pet just by visiting your local shelter or http://www.petfinder.com/.
For a soapbox moment, I must also state that if you are not able or willing to take care of an animal for the remainder of it's life, do not adopt one. No matter what happens, unless you are too physically ill to care for yourself, you have no excuse to turn your pet into a shelter where it will be killed. If you do, you have killed your pet. You might as well just shoot the poor thing. Or better, stop and think about what you are doing and that you are killing your pet because you don't want to take the time to care for it or find it a better home. That is on you. Animals may live up to 20 years (sometimes even longer) and it is your responsibility to care for one until it dies a natural death once you decide to take one home. Ok, soapbox moment over.
If you do not have the ability to take in a dog or cat, you can still help homeless animals. Rescue organizations are in constant need of help with picking animals up from a shelter, transporting to their new home or to the vet, making house checks for potential adopters, paperwork, etc. Contact one near you to see how you can help. The AKC website has a list of breed rescues, but you can find a rescue group just by going to your local pet store, like Petsmart. They always have contacts. Also, you can help your local shelter by going over to play with the animals and volunteer.
The benefits you will reap by adopting a homeless animal or by helping homeless animals find a home are enormous.