First…congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Second…take a breath!! Relax a bit.

Here is my two-cents since you asked:

~ To be honest, for a guest list of 50 people, I think you have way too much food and a lot may get wasted. Why not go with just Italian (pasta, etc.) and add in some chicken? I would think it would be a bit hard to prepare Italian, Mexican, and Chinese for 50 people. Just my thoughts.

~ Ditto goes for the desserts. I think your intention is good in trying to provide a variety, but again, for just 50 people, I would stick with the cake (adults) and maybe cookies/cupcakes for the kids. Don’t try to provide too much. Many people don’t eat dessert at ALL!

~ The candy buffet? Again…your choice, but it seems like a lot of candy to purchase, plus the containers to put them in and the containers needed for your guests to use. Instead, for a fall wedding, why not go with an organza bag and put in chocolates in fall foiled leaf wrappers? Here is an example. (They are the first ones on this site):
http://chocolatefantasies.com/autumn.htm

Here are organza bags in every color possible:
http://www.nashvillewraps.com/.....39441.html

~ LOVE the idea of the Christmas lights everywhere. Just purchase them THIS year at Christmas time when they are on sale at low end retailers like Walmart or Target.

~ For the centerpieces. If you like flowers, go with flowers in a vase with votive candles on each side.

OR….go with lanterns (perfect for your outdoor wedding) like these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WEDDIN.....255b5b835a

Then….add some fall silk leaves around them:
http://www.save-on-crafts.com/leaves.html

Those are my ideas. You don’t need a wedding planner. That is what all of us are for!!

To keep confusion to a minimum, make lists. Carry a spiral or journal around with you. Or get a skinny binder to hold your lists.

You can make lists on the computer, save them and revise as needed. Print them out for your binder. Having that binder or notebook with you will save you from guessing about things. Measure EVERYTHING you want to put lights on. If you’re stringing lights around trees, put a rope or string around that tree the same way and see how much string you need. That tells you how long the strand(s) of lights need to be.

White lights? Be ready to attack the after Christmas sales on Dec 26th. You’ll get white lights cheaper. (HINT: figure out beforehand just how many strands of lights you are going to need. The number adds up quickly. And you don’t want to be short and looking for them next fall.) After loading your cart up with lights, start walking the clearance aisles. You might also find some gold sparkly decorations that would work for weddings. (Gold wired edged ribbon for bows, etc.)

BEFORE CHRISTMAS: As fall comes and goes, you can find fall decorations on clearance. Pick up silk leaves for tables decorations. Think about fall baskets filled with silk leaves the little ones can drop on the ground as flower girls. Fall table clothes will also be on sale, as will fall fabric if you are handy and can make items you want. (napkins, etc.)

If you want any paper goods, find them during this fall as well. When Hobby Lobby, Garden Ridge and Michael’s are getting rid of silk potted mums you can get them for very little money. Also, next fall, try Walmart for fresh mums in the colors you want.

Pine cones are good fall decor. If you’re around pine trees, start collecting pine cones this year. It’s a free decoration that works well with silk fall plants to give them more depth and fullness.

Although I love the red/gold idea, you might want to keep an open mind about adding a few other colors as accents. Light browns would be a great background color for your beautiful red and gold centerpieces, etc.

Enjoy the planning.

The cost will come from everything you put into it, so go easy. It’s only 50 people, so you don’t need a ton of food. Your buffet idea is cool but may not be very practical. You can always make your own food and do a reheat and serve to save money; otherwise, your catering bill will be expensive with such a variety (most have packages).

Sign up for TheKnot.com and check out their budget planner. It’ll help you a lot. Put in your budget, then figure out how you want to split that up. Don’t forget to find a minister or officiant. If you live in a place where the climate changes, have a contingency plan if the weather doesn’t hold up.

Plant flowers now! Beautiful fall flowers like chrysanthemums could be planted in pots and arranged closer to time.

There are a BUNCH of excellent websites for people who are doing their weddings without professional help. I found lots of inspiration on offbeatbride.com. There were others I used too, but I’ll have to look in my wedding book to remember what they were. I’ll try and remember to come back later and post them for you. Oh, speaking of which, that’s another helpful thing — carry a notebook around in your purse so you can jot down ideas as they come to you. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a stroke of inspiration at the grocery store, then getting home and not being able to remember what it was!

Edit:
I can’t find my wedding book at the moment so don’t recall exactly which sites I used. I know the Martha Stewart site has lots of bugdet-friendly DIY ideas for making unique invitations, centrepieces etc. ‘The Knot’ is good too. Otherwise just google specific questions.

I love your idea of lots of little lights; these
http://www.casasugar.com/DIY-W.....es-1551107
http://ruffledblog.com/diy-tue.....ry-lights/
are cute ideas you could adapt to your colour scheme. Depends what your taste is

One last tip: delegate! We asked a few relatives to make a dessert each, a couple of my younger brothers friends acted as ‘waiters’ at the reception for a much smaller fee than hiring from a catering agency, an acquaintance who’s a photography student at college agreed to do our photos in return for being able to use them in his portfolio. People are generally happy to get involved. If you’re on a budget it’s also worth looking up local beauty colleges to get your hair/nails etc done.

LED on the other hand are fairly expensive up front, use little power and almost last forever. You can also get solar models that need no wiring and will be brightest in early evening coming on automatically with very little maintenance but they will get dimmer as the night drones on until you’ll have almost nothing for early morning hours.