I'm talking about creating quick simple websites so I can put up a big image in certain areas and have text in certain places. Basically make the website a billboard.
GIMP (or some other image creating program) and a text editor - make a picture of what you want the page to look like.
Copy the picture and put highlights and numbers on areas that are dynamic. Use the text editor to describe what those area do.
Give those pictures and the text file to a good designer.
Any decent designer will give you the CSS and HTML to achieve the layout and look. Most of the work is trying to figure out what the fuck the client really wants
(I want a website that will make me a millionaire == dickhead client)
Creating a WordPress/Concrete/Joomla/CMSMS theme/template/style from that is trivial - if it's the sort of site that requires a CMS.
Likewise finding the appropriate extensions/plugins, writing UMLs, javascript, or PHP to implement the functions.
Tips: avoid anyone who thinks tables are a good idea - good designers will create fluid pages that will flow to suit the viewers screen, as well as advise on how to make separate layouts for mobile devices unnecessary.
Yes - WordPress/DreamWeaver/kits can generate pages quickly - but that doesn't make them fast loading or viewable by the visitors. Load speed, legal HTML and CSS, as well as appropriate tags, accessiblity, and internal links will be major factors in determining SE ranking.
Regardless of whether you outsource or do it yourself - I believe it's best to start with a the process I described above. How you achieve the finished product doesn't really matter - most time is wasted because people don't have a clear idea of what they want to achieve.
But what would I know? ;-)