My first wedding was the traditional 300 - 400 guest home church, reception, dinner and dance event and my mother and I planned it all.

My 2nd wedding was a destination wedding, and my husband and I planned and paid for everything ourselves.

I never entertained the idea of a wedding planner, other than the service offered by the wedding chapel at our destination wedding. You are on the right track...the internet is your friend here. Forums are a great place to get idea's and advice. You also have a place to sound off and get comments on your plans and idea's. In planning my 2nd wedding I visited more websites than I can count, and that is where I received all of my information. I did not belong to forums at the time, but it would have been a plus.

I have a website and you are more than welcome to visit there for any information you might find useful. It is a destination wedding website, but much of the information applies to all weddings...I just added some updates. Todays Destination Weddings - Planning - Suggestions
Best of luck!