1. find kickass venues that do everything for you
2. let woman take care of colors and decorating and crap
3. find photog/caterer
4. have wedding
easy as crap
1. Did it
2. Doing it
3. How much do people typically spend on this? OK Cat? / Don't need a caterer because it comes with the place.
4. In about a year.
if you're in kc there's a guy named jim powers who does engagement/wedding session for $850 total. my coworker used him and he's awesome. I booked him about a week ago. he gives you a two hour engagement session anywhere in the metro area. for the ceremony he shows up at 8 AM and doesn't leave until midnight. takes great pics...just an older dude who doesn't charge much because he doesn't need to.
my coworker said that when he was done at the end of the night, he just handed them a DVD with 4400 pictures on it.
obviously pretty basic service but you can save a ton of money by just taking his copyright released pics and making them into albums, frames, etc., using online services.
he's also super laid back. asked him if he needed a deposit and he was like, "naw, just pay me on the day of the wedding, it's whatev." I get the sense he just loves taking pics and would do it for free if asked.
http://jimbobp.com/