Amps: Denon, Marantz, Sony Speakers: Mission, Tannoy, JBL Turntable: Project, Sony, Rega You will definitely have to look around but there's always folks shifting things on for cheap.
Wimpy at Codonas? Seriously though, what sort of vibe are you looking for? Could you hire Cellar 35 and put on a band or two? Function room at Portals? Depends what you're after really I guess.
Hog was the photographer at my brothers wedding, his stuff was pretty good. Paul Mackie from Pallas did both my wedding and my best mates and his photos were very good.
It's not just direct that do it though, re-sellers like John Lewis do stuff too. Anyway, $40 to send in the itunes store is better than not getting $40 to spend in the itunes store.
But there's still an agenda. It doesn't matter how big or if it's a conflict, it's still an agenda. It's like saying someone is a little bit racist, they're still racist.
If some of the money is not ending up in your hands for whatever reason, it's a cut in my opinion. Regardless of semantics, both are driven by agendas.