Just a thought…

Your family may say that they would be fine with it, but they aren't. My sister gets backlash and she is told often how incredibly rude and tacky she was to have family and friends provide the food for her wedding. That was nearly 25 years ago now, and it is still on the top of the "what not to do" list.

Yes, because she treated the ones she loves and supports poorly for expecting them to pay for her party. She also had no issues spending over 10K setting up her apartment before the wedding, so her priorities were very visible. She also never sent out thank you notes, another one that is on the tippy top of the "what not to do". Your family is your most loved people, They aren't your personal servants. Just because you are getting married doesn't mean you get a pass on proper manners. If you were invited to someone's home for dinner, would you be expected to provide the meal? No. Same concept. Your family will more than likely not tell you directly to your face that what you are wanting to do isn't right, but 9 times out of 10 they will tell everyone they know that what you did isn't right.

Agreed. My family cooked all the food for my brother's wedding and it wasn't weird or rude at all.

As someone else stated, if you decide to get married before school I would like to suggest something. My future SIL actually did the reception the day before at a park--they rented a shelter and had a pizza party with cake. Then they did an intimate ceremony the next day with just them, the officiant (which is my other future SIL ), and a friend who did the photos. Could this be an option? I know it's non-traditional, but it's also low key/low stress/low cost. You guys can always do the "dream wedding" after you're done with school or feel you are in a better spot financially and do a vow renewal!

This is a much better plan. It just is better than relying on everyone else to host your party.

I loved how low key it was! People were there dressed casual, kids had a place to run around. They set up a sound system for music and still had their first dance, but it wasn't expected for everyone to get up and dance if they didn't want to.