I started early too.... wish I hadn't since I'm so impatient with everything!
I may just be bitter right now with my travel agent and Sunquest, but beware that if you start looking at tour companies too early, they are likely to change their dates, prices, and flight schedules closer to the date. I started looking a year ago, settled on my resort, and I'm still waiting for flight schedules for all of the tour companies (we leave in January..still 8 months away), and it's driving me bonkers since I was so over-prepared!!
I would start by chosing a resort. Once you find a travel agent they can help recommend good ones that fit your requirements ( ex all inclusive, allows children if guests are bringing them, 24 bar, room service). Also look for how much the wedding package costs at the resorts. I was torn between 2 resorts, and then I found out that one resort charged $55 PER GUEST for the wedding package, on top of a flat fee!
You will need rough numbers eventually but it is pretty early and a lot of your guests might not have any idea. And when it comes time to book, you may be surprised by the number of people who didn't initially show interest and now want to come.. This makes it dangerous to buy things too early (ex if youre bringing favours, chair sashes, fans, etc)... I has 64 people initially show interest, and now have nearly 90 coming, and we are still 8 months out..!... We bought 100 of everything, so we will see what happens hehe.
Hopefully this doesn't sounds too negative, I'm feeling quite flustered with myself for trying to force everything to happen! I will be in my last year of law during the wedding and want everything planned before summer ends, but it looks like most things need to be done closer to the date. If I could go back in time, I would have tried to not plan so early and save myself the worrying!
