Regular readers may have noticed a bit of a lull around here. Let’s just say that your friendly neighborhood Wedding Decorator went on assignment — to the Big Island of Hawaii!

However, I was not decorating — just attending and taking pictures. So maybe I should simply call myself the Wedding Attender at this point. At any rate, the wedding was a tiny, very intimate affair at the Fairmont Orchid on the Big Island’s Kohala Coast.

I know I’ve mentioned before that destination weddings, though they look lavish, tend to be cheaper than weddings in your home town simply because fewer people can attend. That basically translates into buying dinner for fewer people. The expense for guests to travel to destinations like the Big Island can be great, but most people make it a vacation — like I did.

And by the way, another thing about destination weddings is that you’ll be dependent on one vendor giving you a package deal (usually the resort where your wedding will take place). For brides who want to have every detail be just so, this is unacceptable. But for brides who simply want a memorable wedding, this is a headache-free way of getting married. Most package deals, like the ones offered at the Fairmont Orchid, provide everything: flowers, photography, officiant and ceremony. If I’m not mistaken, this wedding opted for the package that cost less than $5,000, not including the expense of the room or travel. That’s not bad at all.

By the way, here’s a closeup of the arrangements used to decorate the Fairmont Orchid’s Turtle Point Gazebo. I was particularly impressed with the orchid ropes — I seriously wanted to take one as a souvenir. Considering the flowers used in the arrangements, bridal and maid of honor bouquets — which included Hawaiian orchids, casablanca lilies and white anthurium — the cost of the package was a deal indeed. I am pretty sure that flowers alone like these would cost $5,000 or more on the mainland.

By the way, dinner was excellent. We got our own private table decorated with all manner of colorful tropical flowers, surrounded by torches. Talk about ambiance. You really can’t decorate better than nature. And the menu they devised for our party was wonderful. My husband Trinity raved about the bacon-wrapped pork loin he selected. If there’s anything that is always good in the Hawaiian Islands, its pork.

So, let’s recap — amazing location, beautiful flowers, photography and ceremony for just $5,000? Less than $5,000? That’s a deal. No. That’s a steal.

And, without all the headache of planning your typical wedding, this couple ended up with the same result — married. Soon, they’ll be off on their European honeymoon. I kid you not. See what saving money can do?

For a few more wedding details, you can check out this slideshow.

*I’ve been told later that the salon appointment and dinner cost was not included in the package, so if you want to get technical, the total cost of this wedding was probably closer to $10,000. But that’s still quite good.