need suggestions for budget friendly vendors

Wedding date is set for 2/17/13 at Westbury Manor....got the catering hall booked, got the dress, now I need to find vendors! Trying to stay under 5k for all the extras.

DJ
...anyone know of a decent dj that will do ceremony, and 3 hour reception for 1k or less? FH and I are not too picky on music, just looking for a basic package that includes someone MC'ing. Don't need lighting because its a daytime affair.

Photographer
I don't know where to begin with prices on these...thoughts ladies? the only ppl i've talked to START at like $2-3k which scares me. I don't need video. just a nice digital book and hard copies of my proofs.

Flowers
....it really does kill me to spend hundreds of dollars on flowers because they DIE (and yes i know you can get silk at some places but cmon how long are you going to keep those bouquets??). Just need the basics. Bouquets, boutineers, and 10 very simple/cheap centerpieces. Ideas? Recommended vendors?

Officiant
any advice on questions to ask? everyone i've seen is approx $400-$500. is that avg or are there any cheaper?

I appreciate any words of wisdom you could throw my way. Really tempted to get a package deal from the wedding center in commack but the reviews scare me.

It's very hard to find an affordable photographer. I did an extensive research and found only 2 that are budget friendly and yet still give professional result (seing from website only though).
1. www.photophilosophies.com.
I think they are the cheapest in their class. PM me if you want to know the rates they gave me. But it was from February so they might have changed it.

2. monikarphotography.wordpress.com
She is a freelance wedding photographer and her rate is unbeatable. She's also very flexible. I chose her to be my photographer. However she doesn't provide insurance so if your venue requires one, you'll have to work around it.

For flowers, it really depends on what kind of flowers you'll be using and how many. If possible, search around for centerpiece ideas that require less flowers. I suggest you google around some ideas and go to local florists near you. Ask them if they have better suggestions and see if you like them. One florist quoted me $300 just for bridal bouquet and that's the moment I decided to do my own flowers. Again after extensive research I found the cheapest online cut flower distributor. I saved almost half of the original flower-related cost!

Hope I help even just a bit. All the best!

we're using VERY reasonable, yet AMAZING vendors...

lovemorephoto (photography)
oberle's in east meadow(florist)
rev joe (officiant)

for video try couped up

Photo-shop around but it does get pricey.
Pastor/Rev-$400 and up seems to be the norm
Flowers-Shop around. It depends on what you want. Try Numa Florist, Hidden Essence, & Burtons
DJ-FM Entertainment

HTH!

Here are my vendors and I've spent about less than 2000 for each:

DJ: Sound Connection ( I booked them when they were running a promotion which they always do, try around labor day or one of their showcases you will def get a good deal.) $1850 for DJ + MC+ Cocktail Hour Music + Basic Lighting

www.soundconnectionmusic.org

Photography: Haris from Photo and Me $1000.00 will get you all day photography, no travel charge, has an assistant, engagement shoot (no time limit), 400+ or more proofs,editing.

www.photoandme.com

Flowers: I'm using Flowers by simply elegant and for $1500.00 we are getting 10 low centerpieces, 5 bridal party bouquets, 8 boutonnieres, 4 Corsages and flowers for the cake. www.flowersbysimplyelegant.com

Officiant: Rev. Phil which I think is an official vendor here charges $425.00 with $100.00 to book and the rest of the balance will be paid on the day of. HTH, good luck!

Photo: Ken Hild
Flowers: try your local florist. I got crazy quotes, am using my local florist and saved about $1000 compared to other quotes. I'm all the way out east or else id recommend mine!

Photography - our friend is doing it for us, he's a professional photographer and he's great and has reasonable prices. He works out of CT but travels a lot for photography jobs, and is doing more and more weddings, so he may be interested in doing another LI wedding if you're interested in an affordable photog. http://josephmarthur.com/
if you're interested, let me know i can ask him if he wants to do some more liweddings.

Flowers - DIY for me because it's too much $$$. Doing it all the day before with some help it shouldn't be too bad. Did some practice, doesn't take long to make a centerpiece and you save a lot per each stem. Or if you're not into DIY at all - SUNY Farmingdale has a horticulture program and the students study floral arranging - they might do weddings sometimes, maybe call someone in the horticulture dept. to see if they do flowers for weddings - many colleges do things like this, even catering for weddings by hospitality students.

DJ - we're thinking of Absolute DJ's - they list their prices on their site. They have a package for 4 hours, for 900. They have good reviews and are one of the only affordable ones we've found. http://www.absolutedjs.com/packages/entertainment/weddings.aspx

Officiants - that is the average, we were shocked at how much officiants are. we're going with Pastor April because her prices were the norm, but her services exceed her price! Watch the videos of her marrying people and you'll want to book her like so many of us on here. She makes your wedding so much more personal that the officiant fee feels more worth it for the amount you spend than an officiant who doesn't personalize the ceremony like she does.

DJ: We used FM Entertainment and Frank was great, and is price was fantastic!

Photo: Photos were really important to me, but we didn't have an unlimited budget. We spent more than we wanted with North Island Photo but it was the best decision. They are amazing. Other less expensive photographers I reccomend reaching out to are LoveMorePhoto, Jadore Love Photo, and Duet.

Flowers: Please go see Designs by Rose. We had a very small budget lefover by the time we got to flowers. What I originally wanted was going to be out of budget so I just told her how much I could spend on centerpieces and what I wanted, she provided the nicest, fullest piece from the other florist I met with. Rose and her mom are total sweethearts!