You can rent a home/condo directly from someone - not only will you have tons of privacy and the comforts of home (fully usable kitchen, etc), but this is cheaper than hotels!
I found a beautiful wedding dress there for less than half the price of the same dress in a bridal shop I saw it in - I don't think it had even been worn before.
Great photographer at an awesome price. She loves what she does and her joy is contagious.
Everyone raved about how good the food was at our reception! Encourage you to have a tasting at Cossetta Eventi - it's free and you will go home with bags full of leftovers, which is nice, too! The best dishes we served were the Garden Fresco Salad, Mushroom Ravioli, Lasagna Al Forno and Stromboli
Our guests loved the beautiful bouquets on the tables - all of our flowers were from the Farmer's Market. They were fresh, gorgeous, local, and much less expensive than using a florist. It did take time to do the arrangements ourselves the day before.
At Gale Woods, we could bring in our own beer and wine. Trader Joes was a great place to get the wine - they have good wine at great prices.
Great place to rent decorations - they are awesome to work with and they have the best prices.
In lieu of favors, we contributed to Kiva start-up loans for seven people across the world to realize their dreams and financial independence. Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending web site, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.