New Bride-Las Vegas-need help!!!

amandakate8814

Hello brides!! I am newly engaged and will be getting married in July 2014! We are planning for July 2014 and have decided on Las Vegas, but have yet to decide on a venue! EEEKKKK! I know! We want something small and simple, with no reception! Any suggestions are more than welcome. I want the good, bad, ugly, and honest from your experiences. I won't be able to take a trip to see or plan anything so I will be planning everything from my couch and on the phone and online so please give me all you've got. Please help with all the advice you can give! I would love to pick a place that could also be a place we could stay and my guests could stay too since we won't be having many guests come along, but I don't know how realistic that is. Someone, please just give me some advice here! I don't have much time, but I am open to suggestions. Like I said I am looking for as simple as possible. We want the least formal as possible as I don't want to do a formal gown and him in a tux, no reception, just a small ceremony, little flowers, some pictures, that's about it! Go!!!!

hollystar13

Hey I'm getting married July 26th 2014!! So excited! I'm getting married at the Mandarin Oriental and reception and Joes Seafood. Look into the Mandarin Oriental. Contact them tho. The website shows prices but trust me they will work with you. I'm having a ceremony for about 40 people but they have this great place in their bar for small ceremonies look at this website. Ron Dillion does the photographer for then but you can have your own. https://m.facebook.com/RonDillonPhoto?id=323922456685&refsrc=https://www.facebook.com/RonDillonPhoto. Ali is who I have been working with and she's great! At first she old me about a few packages that they had but I was able to change it since I wanted my own photographer.

johannaandcraig2014

I am a July 2014 bride too July 19. I am getting married at the Tropicana and having a simple cake and champagne reception immediately after the ceremony in the chapel. I am having 45 people. They have different packages from very basic to fancy. They also have different locations on the property that you can get married at, both indoor and outdoor. The chapel can seat up to 70 I think but if you are having a smaller wedding and wanted to do it outdoors, the arbor is pretty and intimate (I believe up to 30).  I didn't check out many other places because I fell in love with the Tropicana once I saw it but pretty much any other hotel on the strip has a variety of packages and will also typically offer discounts for your guests who are staying there as well. Although I didn't check it out in person, the Flamingo looked very nice too and we were looking into that one online prior to our last Vegas trip! 

jaime85120

Flamingo or Mandalay bay has some really neat options for ceremony s. 7 /21 at the Bellagio here but there are lots of nice options on the strip

a13049

We are getting married July 23, at the Aria.  I am in love with the chapel and everything has been super easy thus far.  We arent doing a traditinal reception, we have reserved a regular table at Wicked Spoon and then doing the DDB later that night. 

samlovvesyoumuah

a13049, we are also doing our reception that way! We are getting married July 8 at the Plaza Hotel Chapel on Fremont St. Afterwards we are having lunch at Hash House A Go Go and a DDB later that night! I love the setup for the day and feel like I will not be super stressed. Yay for all the July brides, we will all hit the 6 month mark at some point this month yay! :]

sarjhawk

Samlovvesyoumuah I am also doing my lunch at house hash a go go in march! You are the first I heard doing the same. What's on your menu? How many people will you have? Doing anything else fun there?

vegasgroom

amandakate8814 said:

Hello brides!! I am newly engaged and will be getting married in July 2014! We are planning for July 2014 and have decided on Las Vegas, but have yet to decide on a venue! EEEKKKK! I know! We want something small and simple, with no reception! Any suggestions are more than welcome. I want the good, bad, ugly, and honest from your experiences. I won't be able to take a trip to see or plan anything so I will be planning everything from my couch and on the phone and online so please give me all you've got. Please help with all the advice you can give! I would love to pick a place that could also be a place we could stay and my guests could stay too since we won't be having many guests come along, but I don't know how realistic that is. Someone, please just give me some advice here! I don't have much time, but I am open to suggestions. Like I said I am looking for as simple as possible. We want the least formal as possible as I don't want to do a formal gown and him in a tux, no reception, just a small ceremony, little flowers, some pictures, that's about it! Go!!!!

Since it sounds like your wedding is going to be a few people total, perhaps hire an officant to come to wherever you want instead of wasting money on an 'official' chapel.  Rev Roland, for example, will come marry you anywhere, http://www.themobileminister.com  Lots of options of course, up and down the strip like Bellagio, Paris, Venetian, TI, etc.; off-strip, Red Rock, Grand Canyon, Palms has a few interesting spots, etc.

samlovvesyoumuah

Sarjhawk, we are going to have about 30 people. Umm the manager emailed us a few different options & we chose the lunch menu that is $13.95 a person. It has 3 lunch entrees and 3 breakfast entrees. I thought that would give people a good variety, and even though its going to be around 3ish, I am definitely going to get breakfast haha. We ultimately chose this location because the food is sooo good, the portions are HUGE, and even though we have not eaten at the location in Vegas we used to eat at the location in San Diego all the time so its always kind of been our thing. I cant wait! No not really doing much else besides the DDB tour that night. What about you? What is on your menu??

ejbahn

We're using the Luv Bug in March, they can meet you anywhere and are super cute! Better in my opinion than the wedding wagon which we thought about using originally. 

wrigleyville

Congratulations!

We toured quite a few of the smaller chapels and really liked Graceland Chapel, Little Church of the West, and Chapel of the Flowers. Even though we didn't get married there, Chapel of the Flowers was our hands-down favorite. They have all kinds of packages in all price ranges, so it's really easy to tailor it to your budget/needs. Their chapels are really pretty too; they have a nice outdoor chapel that I loved, but the interior chapels were nice too.

I know you don't want a formal reception, but you should still take your guests out for dinner afterwards. I've seen some cute wedding pictures at places like In-N-Out. It doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. Even pizza would be good.

Some of the smaller chapels have really nice cake and punch (and/or sparkling wine) receptions built into their packages. That would be nice too, but then I'd probably recommend having your wedding at a non-meal time so people aren't hungry and expecting actual food.

We had an in-suite reception (or party, if you prefer) that was lots of fun. We fed 43 people for under $1000, so if you only have a few guests and don't want to spend a lot, that's an option too. You could host people in your room or suite (if you only have a few people coming). We used Masterpiece Cuisine.

samcintyre

Hey @wrigleyville ... Where did you do your in-suite reception? Glad to see how inexpensive you were able to feed people! We have that many guests too, if not more. Our original plan was to host a reception at a restaurant but once we learned it would be $6000 plus we reconsidered! What kind of food did you have?

CowboysRavens

My brother did a great wedding at and reception at the Oriental Bar but it was not inexpensive   Hash House a Go Go is fun and cheat and what you miss in quality you make up in quantity.    Truthfully I would have loved to have my reception there because I didn't mind the food  and drinks were super cool - future hubby on the other big time vetoed it.

I think we are doing our reception at Carmines in the Forum Shops - cost for 50 with open bar for two hours is about 5,500.00.   Most other places we priced came in about 110.00 a person or lunch with full bar but - I am finding there is not such thing as a cheap Vegas wedding.   Venetian was quite a bit more expensive across the board - but beautiful.

A couple other thoughts you could do in suite reception and ceremony at MGM in one of their two floor terrace suites.  We are going to have a night before cocktail party in one of those.   Also you can go to vrbo.com and rent a suite at the Palms although not directly on strip they have some beautiful suites - some with pools and hot tubs.  I really thought I might save some money getting married in Vegas but I realize everyone wants to come and I can't cut deals unless I chance more last minute planning.  

Oh and though it seems overwhelming I am hoping it will be fun in the end.

Congratulations though very exciting!

amandakate8814

Thank you all so much for your replies! Sorry it took me so long to respond, I've been swamped with work on top of figuring the wedding stuff out! Now, we decided on the tropicana for the ceremony! We ended up figuring out there will be about 40-45 people bc more family will come than we originally thought, so one I am working on figuring out a after ceremony dinner reception. Again I want it to be simple, can y'all fill me in on this hash house a go go? I'm going to research it after I finish this response, but I saw a lot of recommendations for it. We want a simple restaurant that isn't too expensive, and offers alcohol. Please just give me some ideas! Thanks again for all the help!!!

vegasgroom

amandakate8814 said:

Thank you all so much for your replies! Sorry it took me so long to respond, I've been swamped with work on top of figuring the wedding stuff out! Now, we decided on the tropicana for the ceremony! We ended up figuring out there will be about 40-45 people bc more family will come than we originally thought, so one I am working on figuring out a after ceremony dinner reception. Again I want it to be simple, can y'all fill me in on this hash house a go go? I'm going to research it after I finish this response, but I saw a lot of recommendations for it. We want a simple restaurant that isn't too expensive, and offers alcohol. Please just give me some ideas! Thanks again for all the help!!!

Hash House is a fun place.  They basically serve enormous portions of some very unique items and also have booze.  I guess I'd kind of describe it as similar to any chain restaurant but triple the portion size and make it taste better, then add booze.  The interior is casual, typically metal polished tables, wood chairs, a lot of farm-inspired stuff on the walls.  The menu has a breakfast all the time portion and a more traditional lunch/dinner portion.  The menu is not extensive though, so I'd check it out before you commit to it.  For example, I go there pretty much every time I'm in Vegas or Orlando, but there's only three things on the menu I like.

tcnoble

What vegasgroom said. I may be in the minority but I'm not a huge fan of hash house. I think it's overpriced and all about the presentation. Huge portions, extravagant garnishes, and not on the cheap side. There have been other posts about restaurant receptions... Wicked Spoon at Cosmo, Maggianos, Hard Rock Cafe on the strip... Just look around

spoon1984

I was disappointed too, it didn't taste great. I'd say it was the meal I enjoyed the least on my three week trip. Coming from the UK I was looking forward to visiting some 'man v food' type places.

tcnoble

Anyone coming to Vegas NEEDS to try Lola's Louisiana Kitchen off Charleston. She was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives with Guy. AMAZING food. One of our favorite spots and we are thrilled she is opening a new location in Summerlin. It's a small place but Lola is always there and the food is AMAZING!!

futuremrsrobinson2014

Look at Maggiano's.  We have 34 people with an open bar for 4 hours and we are looking at around 3 or 4 thousand.  I have heard the food is excellent!!!!

 

 

[Deleted User]

Hi ejbahn

I just saw your comments Wedding Waggon or Luvbug...i am on defense wedding and now i saw your comment im swaying to luvbug - what does it for me is with luvbug there is more options and photo options....

You said you were going to use Wedding Waggon at first, can i ask what changed your mind?

Also if you used luvbug can you give me your review? finally what package did you use?

Thinking of 199/299 and photo tour package: if i did tour id do Grafiti Art (lv sign/bellagio we can do ourselves)

Would LOVE your take 

Thank you