Deck railing options

Help!

I just added a huge deck to the house (5000+ sqft) and didn't really consider what I was going to do railing-wise. I got bids for various component railing systems that range from powder-coated aluminum to stainless steel with different infills depending on view, windblock, and stairs. So far, low bid for material only is about $18,000 which still has me with sticker shock.

I am now considering using a wood system in order to reduce costs and still infill with cable, glass, and pickets depending on location/application on the deck.

Has anyone ever worked with the hardwoods (iron wood, tiger wood) and know comparitive expense, how they hold up to weather, and maintenace requirements, etc.?

I am willing to explore any and all options.

Thanks in advance for your input.

IMHO people around here are gong insane spending huge bucks to overbuild lake homes....but here's a couple of links to the forum. These are two totally different decks but shows a couple of different or unusual ways people have put railing on their decks. If you want a more economical and very long lasting "fence" around your deck then you might want to look at the vinyl products available.
http://www.smithlakecommunity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=319

http://www.smithlakecommunity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=448