We're having a DW in Las Vegas with a guest count of 18 people not including us. Our ceremony would be at 11:30AM and we will be having a 2-hour brunch reception at 12:30PM at a hotel buffet (Wicked Spoon). That's literally 3 hours and I feel horrible, because who want to go to a DW for that short amount of time? Not to mention that it is a DW, but we are actually pretty nontraditional when it comes to reception activities as well since we're not doing any dancing and no toasts. We just wanted to at least give our guests a meal that they could choose whatever food they wanted to eat and how much they wanted to eat with the hotel buffet. Not to mention, Wicked Spoon is actually one of the top buffets in Las Vegas so it's not too shabby.
After reception, he and I are going on a 2 hour photo shoot tour on the Las Vegas Strip. I didn't want our guests waiting forever while we got our personal photo shoot done especially if they had to get up early for our wedding.
We're planning having an optional 'after-party' that would start at 5:30PM for all of guests to make up for our short reception. We would be taking them to a pizza joint (Flour & Barley) on the Linq Promenade for a 2-hour group reservation (we are paying) and then we would take them on 3.5 hour Vegas Strip tour via limo coach to see and explore some of the light shows like the Bellagio Fountains light show, the Fremont experience, and the Las Vegas sign. We would actually be able to get out and check out the places during the tour.
I guess what I'm trying to get to is that I know this doesn't actually follow proper etiquette for a wedding timeline, but would this be a bad add on for a lackluster short reception since it doesn't have the usual reception activities?
There's a couple of things I wanted to address: time and food/beverage.
1) TIME.
There will be a 3 hour gap between reception and the after party. I will be including 'Things To Do' ideas for timeframe if they didn't wish to go back to their hotels to freshen up, relax, and maybe get ready for the night. Wicked Spoon is at The Cosmopolitan and The Bellagio is next to it (15 min walk). They can hit up the casino at The Bellagio and the Flour & Barley is in the Linq promenade that has the Linq and Flamingo close by, where there are casinos there in both hotels. The Linq promenade is a shopping area with the High Roller and bowling as attractions.
2) FOOD/BEVERAGES
We can only afford to do the minimum food and beverage package (which means no alcohol, but they'll get unlimited non-alcoholic beverages) for both the Wicked Spoon and Flour & Barley if all 20 of us happen to attend. There are 2-hour bottomless beverage that we will let people know about if they wish to drink, but we don't mind that there is much alcohol involved. We will be having champagne in the limo tour though.
Feedback and input would be nice. Thanks!
