Help make my idea a reality? Please?

Hey guys,

I am interested in starting a new website and I need a little direction with how to get it started.

My plan is to create it and market it to my fellow college students. I would like to make a a site in which members create a page for themselves. On this page, they will list their talents and what sort of jobs they can do to help other students out. Users would be able to upload a picture, add a short bio, and contact information. Maybe somehow I could incorporate a messaging system between users too?

For example...a person who plays piano creates a page on my site and they make it known that they are available to accompany other musicians for live shows or studio recording. Ideally, a singer who needs a piano player would come to my site, search for "piano players" and see all the people who have listed themselves as piano players. The singer finds said piano player and feels that they would be a good match for the style of music that he/she sings. The singer contacts the piano player and they meet and play awesome music together!

I have a few sites running Wordpress right now and am somewhat experienced with that CMS. I am a Web Programming major, and although I still have a ton to learn, I know a bit of HTML and Java...I don't know any PHP or other languages like that. It would be great to use Wordpress, because I love all the plugins and things that are so easily available.

What steps would I take to get the ball rolling on this project? I am aware that there are plugins available for membership sites and am wondering if I should look at those in more depth?

I'm willing to spend a lot of time to make my idea a reality. Thanks in advance for any responses!