Way to go Team!
I had a local farmer/sandblaster do it for me. It cost $75, and that is with a break. It has so many angles and nooks and crannies that it took him almost 2 hours to blast it. Take it to your powdercoater the same day, as moisture will bring surface rust in a jiffy.
As for powder, If you go with a standard white or black that a coater does daily, they just run it through with a typical run. That cost me $100. well worth it in my opinion.
If you want some wacky color (the sky is the limit) I think a coater would charge about $50-75 for setup, then whatever to actually coat it.
Do it!
Take a look at my post of how I used 3 hooks and 65ish inches of chain to build a hammock for the kettle. I can post pics, if I had not of closeups of the chain dealio.
Rock on!