What it’s really like getting married in Las Vegas

Elvis, drunken I do’s, and tigers in hotel suites are probably some of the things that come to your mind when thinking of weddings in Vegas. Well we hate to disappoint but we experienced none of that when we tied the knot in Las Vegas last October. Vegas was our dream wedding location because it represented us to a tee. It combined our love of traveling with our desire to be a little bit different. So here is our guide to what it is really like to get married in Las Vegas. And as a side note it is nothing like what you see on TV.

Wondering is Las Vegas worth visiting read this post.

Arriving in Vegas

We arrived in Vegas 3 days before the wedding. It gave us enough time to settle in and have our families meet for the first time, before we exchanged vows. Dave’s family flew in from Ireland and mine from Australia so we also wanted time for the jet lag to calm down as well. We checked into our hotel, and I decided to play the wedding card to see what it would get us. Long story short – nothing. We were soon to learn that every man and his dog gets married in Vegas.

Preparing for the big day

Planning a wedding in Vegas is not actually as easy as you would think. We booked our venue in advance, and to organise anything you had to ring them. They did not respond to emails, Facebook messages, or Twitter DMs. I know this because I tried. Eventually we gave in and rang them to sort out the details, and a £94 phone bill later things were starting to come together.

We left a lot of tings to the last minute as well. It can be hard arranging things like flowers or hair appointments from a whole other continent. I didn’t really know where all these places were or how far away things were so this was left to the few days before. I should also say I had so much help from our hotel concierge who gave us tips on literally everything.

Picking the venue

So as I mentioned before we picked our venue months before. But it was difficult trying to narrow it down. There are so many places to get married in Vegas. You can say your I do’s in one of the more traditional chapels, or see if you can get a deal with your hotel as most of them have chapels too. Alternatively you can get married on the rollercoaster at the New York, New York hotel, or in a helicopter flying over the city. Literally if you think of it you can probably get married in it. Viva Las Vegas, right!

We decided to get married in the Little White Wedding Chapel, because if it is good enough for Britney’s 55 hour marriage, it’s good enough for us. Ok maybe that wasn’t exactly our rationale. In the end we just liked the look of the chapel. The chapel has several packages you can chose from for your big day, including having Elvis officiate. We drew the line at Elvis, and went with the a la carte option where you could pick and choose exactly what you wanted. We ended up getting limo transfers, hire of the chapel, photos, and a DVD of the ceremony.

Getting the license

So if you listen to Hollywood they would have you believe that you can just walk into a chapel in the middle of the night, drunk as anything and marry whoever you want. That isn’t entirely true. You first of all have to head down to the Clark County Marriage License Bureau. You have to have your ID, fill out some forms, pay the $77 and sign some documents. Then you wait in line for someone to check through the forms to make sure it is all legit. It is a very strange experience as you sit in line waiting to be called among several other brides and grooms, some of them in full wedding attire.

The Wedding day – Getting to the Chapel

The wedding day itself was one of the most nerve racking moments of our lives.  My mum helped me get dressed, and I remember just babbling at her at 100 miles an hour. Eventually our guests all arrived in the room and we sat there nervously waiting for our limo driver to call and let us know he was downstairs. Because we didn’t have US phone numbers we had to just wait in the room, which was slightly awkward with everyone squished in. Dave and I were not bothered about the tradition of not seeing the bride before the wedding so our two families went to the chapel together.

When we finally arrived at the Chapel we had to walk over to the front entrance. We happened to do this at the same time a hop on hop off tour bus was driving past. We were met with everyone shouting congratulations at us and taking photos. It was a very surreal moment.

In the chapel

We arrived at the chapel and left our guests in the waiting area as we paid off the final balance of the wedding. Once this was done we just waited. We met a lot of other couples who were also getting married. Some like us who had brought an international entourage to see them through the day, whilst others were eloping and worried about telling their families once they got home.

When it was our turn we were introduced to our minister (who you have to tip by the way) and in a matter of minutes I was walking down the world’s shortest aisle with my Dad at my side.  Our vows were short and sweet and in less than 10 minutes we were married and being shoved around awkwardly getting wedding snaps taken.

The photographer

We had a few photos at the chapel which were included in our wedding package, but we also hired a professional photographer to take some photos for us after this. This was probably the most stressful bit about the wedding – finding a photographer. Wedding photos can be really expensive as we all know so I was worried that we would be paying a fortune. We actually ended up finding a photographer called Joey Allen, and never looked back. His prices are so reasonable and he is really good at what he does. He spent 2 hours with us, but you can arrange to book him for the full day as well if you wish.

We told him we wanted quirky photos and he suggested we meet in Downtown Vegas to get some shots. When he started taking the pictures you can see that he knows exactly what he is doing and has a really good eye for photography. When the photos arrived we were thrilled, especially because we are awkward as anything and don’t smile in photos.

The wedding meal

Dave and I wanted something that would be easy for everyone, so we opted for a Buffet wedding meal. We did some research and Caesars Palace had one of the nicer ones, so we went with it. The frustrating thing was that you could not book a table in advance, no matter how much we broached the subject. And no they don’t care that it is for a wedding. We had to just turn up and wait in line like everyone else, but we did get seated pretty quickly so it wasn’t too bad.

The cake

We got our cake from Carlo’s Bakeshop, after watching way too much Cake Boss. You put the word wedding in front of anything and you will be paying a fortune. Instead we picked a Vegas themed cake and put a plastic bride and groom and some wedding rings on ourselves. The problem we had was actually trying to find somewhere to cut the cake and eat it. In the end we finally got to eat it 1 day after the wedding with plastic forks and hotel napkins.

The end of the evening

The last thing we really wanted to do was to go up the replica Eiffel Tower with our families and watch the Bellagio Fountain show. It was a great time to reflect on a perfect day. Because Vegas is so showy and glitzy you really do feel like the whole of Vegas is celebrating with you.  We definitely wouldn’t have wanted our wedding to be anywhere else. and we are so glad that we got hitched in Vegas. After all it makes for interesting conversation.

The next day as we were meeting our families for breakfast, we passed another bride on her way to get married. I guess it was just another day in Vegas. Oh and in case you were wondering, the marriage is completely valid in the UK. You will need to order your marriage certificates online if you are wanting to change your name and whatnot, and there is a charge for each copy.

Want to know where we spent our honeymoon? Checkout this article for more! 

And if you need any more inspiration to get married in Vegas here are 10 good reasons to do it.