Seconded! I'm going to have a backyard kegger with steaks. No expensive dress, no place mats or flowers, no ridiculous venue. The average Canadian wedding cost $28,000 and I think that's absolutely abhorrent.
My husband and I did research on a backyard wedding and for the venue we were thinking of (his grandpa's tiny house with huge yard), it would likely have cost MORE to have it in the backyard than to rent a historic venue in a small city. One tiny bathroom and a tiny kitchen to accomodate 60 people just isn't enough...
Food is always the most expensive thing at a wedding. We went "cheap" at $30 a person for what we got, which included really great tri-tip and chicken, but it still adds up. Don't even get me started about alcohol. I'm lucky that none of our friends/relatives are big on drinking, so we just got a few cases of wine and beer at Trader Joe's and called it a day.
If you're going to DIY the food, you're going to need A LOT of help. If it's only like, 15 people, great, but how are you going to cook good steaks for 50+ people at once? We elected to get affordable catering so we wouldn't have to think about that stuff. It's like a lot of things - you choose what's important to you and let go of the rest. I cheaped out on my dress and veil - "rented" it on ebay for $30, meaning I bought it for $60 and sold it back for $30, so go me.
Good food and a casual, stress-free day/process was far more important for us, so we paid for that.
Yelp found us the delicious affordable catering and cake. Huzzah for Yelp!
We went with the first caterer we tasted with, and the first baker I found. Food tastes great, prices are good, booked!
I may be the only bride in existence who enjoyed planning her wedding and didn't stress about it at all.
As long as you use a house that has more than one bathroom, at the very least. 
Some of my pushy relatives invited themselves, but paid their way and then some, so it wasn't a total loss.
