Very nervously posting about our relaunched website - http://www.themissinglist.co.uk. The initial version was custom built in asp classic (don't ask) 2 years ago and went live 6 months later. The remake is the first site I have made in Drupal and PHP and my first public facing project - my previous experience was in installing and using WordPress & E107 for personal use. I know there are some things which may make you more experienced developers go "WTF!" and "OMFG why did you do that?!" if you could see the source, but I had 2 months and no budget so had to make some sacrifices - but not in stability or security.
A lot of modules were used - CCK, Contemplate, Views, ImageCache, GMap, Location, MagicTabs, to name but a few. With more time and experience I would have used less, but I'm also of the opinion that you shouldn't have to re-invent the wheel every time you do a website.