I'm with Fiona - I like 12x12 - it still hard to fit everything on the page with 12x12, so much smaller would be too hard for me!
I would start with an album (and take a deep breath before you look at the prices) - or you could just buy some card and buy the album later if you are unsure.
Cardstock - this is the 'pages' of the album if you get a toploading one (basically a top loading album consists of plastic page protectors, and you work on card and put the finished page into the page protector. You also use the cardstock for decorative elements - matting pictures, cutting out titles etc.
Glue - this is really important, you need to buy Acid-Free Glue - if you've ever put sellotape on a photo and come back to it many years later, you will have seen that it discolors the photo - acid free glue is safe. You can get lots of kinds of glue, some in a pen (Sailor Glue), some in a roller (I like Hermafix) or you can use photo splits - like squares of double sided sticky tape - you can get this in WHSmiths, or in a convenient dispenser from a scrapbooking store. I mainly use Hermafix and a Glue pen.
Acid-free pen - You just really need black, although eventually you will want every color under the sun. You can either get one from a scrapbook store, or check in your artstore or hobbycraft for Tombo or Zig pens - the are both safe - so are Zebra gel pens which you can find all over the place.
you also need some scissors - I used nail scissors for ages, but I've bought some better one's recently.
things that are nice to have but not quite essential would include
a paper trimmer
patterned paper
some templates for lettering (or you can print things off the pc)
templates for circles/ovals or a cutting system that can do circles/ovals.
stickers or other decorative accents
an idea book or a few magazines (but there is loads on the internet)
don't buy too much straight away - it's easy to buy a lot of stuff that you don't really need - some of my favorite layouts are just cardstock.
Also - and this is really important - don't start with your wedding pictures - your baby's birth pics, or anything else that is really really important to you. you will find your style over time and chances are you won't like your first page in 6 months - but you need to do that first page to move on. Too many people have started with important pictures and then regretted it.
I have a photo on my digital camera that I took yesterday (at a class) of some example layouts - ideas that are easy to copy and generally look good. When I get home I'll post it somewhere so that you can see it.
Bev