Pros and cons of Vegas wedding?

eviliciouz

Hi Knotties,

Finally, my FI and I made sort of a budget for our wedding next year. Originally, we want to have it in Portland, OR where we currently live. Either that or Boise, ID where he's originally from. We calculated number of guests will be around 80-100 people if we have it in Portland.

A little about my friendship situation, I had a major fallout with my used to be best friend last year. Long story short, we are not friends anymore and I don't really have close friends any longer. I have "friends" who I occassionally meet at events and such but we don't really hang out or communicate often. Because of that reason, it got me thinking about having a simpler wedding in Vegas since I love the city so much.

So my questions are:

* Do you think we can do a ceremony & reception with budget of $5000? We will be the only people paying for our wedding.
* How do you invite your family and close friends, I meant do you pay for all/part of plane tickets and hotel rooms?
* How do you check the venue, do you make an appointment and fly out there or do you trust pictures from websites?
* Do you do formal reception or do you just have reception at one of the buffet places?
* What is the most affordable venue for ceremony (under $500) or reception (under $2000)?
* Also what do you think are pros and cons of getting married in Vegas?

I'm sure I have other questions, thank you in advance for all your answers. .

arrestclementine

* Do you think we can do a ceremony & reception with budget of $5000? We will be the only people paying for our wedding.  I'm sure you can.  But it all depends on what that $5,000 is supposed to include.  Like photography, plane tickets, hotel, food while there, gambling money, hair and makeup, nails, transportation, etc.  And for how many people would you be inviting to Vegas?  That would be a huge factor in just how much you're reception will cost.

* How do you invite your family and close friends, I meant do you pay for all/part of plane tickets and hotel rooms? No - I didn't pay for any.  Although I did opt to pay for my bm/moh hair and makeup and part of their dress.  The hotel and plane tickets are on them.  And we invited those by sending STD's 6 months prior, then invitations about 2 months before.

* How do you check the venue, do you make an appointment and fly out there or do you trust pictures from websites? We've actually never been to Vegas.  Just picked what we thought looked nice and figure we'll just go with the flow.  But there are a lot of past brides that do go and scout so they often share their pictures and information.

* Do you do formal reception or do you just have reception at one of the buffet places? You can do whatever you'd like.  Buffet, in suite reception with catering, a dinner reception with dancing in a private room.. We are just doing dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, as it was the most affordable option

* What is the most affordable venue for ceremony (under $500) or reception (under $2000)? Again it depends on what you want.  You could hire a officant to come to your suite and have the whole thing in one room if you wanted.  But I know that some chapels have ceremony under $500, such as Graceland and I'm sure there are others.  Reception depends on how many people.... But from what I've seen doing the in suite is the most budget friendly

* Also what do you think are pros and cons of getting married in Vegas? Pros for us was a smaller wedding, easier (because I feel like I don't have to care so much about decorations and stuff that I personally could care less about)  Cons is that it is definitely more than I ever thought it would be ....

AJF021410

*Absolutley! *Not at all, and if you did it would be more than generous. *You can fly out for a scouting trip or stick with us to read reviews and look at photos:) *There's so Many options here, you can really do anything you want! *Most affordable ceremony would be at a Chapel not in a casino. 702 weddings and little church of the west are my favs *A reception under $2000 would be most likely an in-suite reception *Pros and cons: this is the best city in the world....there is no cons:) Also, everyone wants an excuse to visit Vegas,

klsatlin

I agree with Amber0389 on most of her answers.


* Do you think we can do a ceremony & reception with budget of $5000? We will be the only people paying for our wedding. Since you're not doing the 100 people that you were planning in Portland, I think this is do-able.  We're having a 50 person wedding at the Paris in May.  I got the mid-range wedding package, which includes chapel, photography (and a small number of photos), music, floral credit and a lot of little extra goodies for about $1200.  Then we are having a private room at the Le Village Buffet at the Paris, and all in on that (including tax and gratuity) it's about $3500.  So right there it's $4700, and I didn't exactly book the cheapest place in Vegas.  There are so many options for you, especially at the non-hotel chapels.  I think your wedding could be amazing for $5000. 


* How do you invite your family and close friends, I meant do you pay for all/part of plane tickets and hotel rooms? No, travel is up to them, unless it's totally something that you have lots of money for.  We aren't paying for our friends or family, and the people who can afford to come are, the rest we totally understand and respect their situation.  The nice thing about Vegas is that accomodations range from very budget-friendly to ultra luxury, so people can stay where they want in their budget, or based on their tastes.

* How do you check the venue, do you make an appointment and fly out there or do you trust pictures from websites?  I've been to Vegas many times, but had never actually seen the chapels at the Paris, so I relied on recommendations, prices and photos online.  The Knot boards are actually great for this because there are all kinds of different weddings on different budgets, and you can get some ideas that you didn't know about.  We opted for a short engagement, but if I had had longer to plan I would probably have opted for a reception someplace else.  Tripadvisor is a good place to see photos, too.  Users upload their vacation pics, so you can pretty much find photos of just about anything.
 
* Do you do formal reception or do you just have reception at one of the buffet places?  Either, or you can create your own unique event, like an in-suite reception or a double decker bus tour!  It's Vegas, there's something for everyone in every price range.

* What is the most affordable venue for ceremony (under $500) or reception (under $2000)? That I don't know, since both of mine were a little above that.  But there are a lot of brides here who can recommend stuff.

* Also what do you think are pros and cons of getting married in Vegas? The biggest pro is that you can have a lovely ceremony (or reception) package for often a lot less than what you would have to book somewhere else a la carte.  I live in Los Angeles, and this is one of the most expensive wedding markets in the country.  Once I found that out, Vegas became a no-brainer.  The wedding I'm having in Vegas would have cost me at least $12,000 at home and probably wouldn't have been as nice.  Another advantage is that since it's a destination wedding, you don't have to invite as many people.  You can have a small, intimate wedding with the people you really want there, and not worry about having to invite your mother's cousin's college roommate you've never met.  As for the cons, I don't really see any downside to getting married in Vegas, other than some people stick their nose up at the idea, thinking it's still like it was years ago, a quick, tacky thing you did when you were drunk.  But those people suck, and unless they are going to give you $25,000 for a formal wedding, they should shut up. 

eviliciouz

Sorry knotties, I forgot to mention on the number of guests. We are thinking possibly around 40 people including people who are going to be involve in our wedding.

I've never heard about in suite reception before. What price range usually suites prices are?

You ladies are so helpful .

krisstyle12

My stats are very similar to yours. We are inviting about 40 people to Vegas and our budget is $5,000. Check out my planning bio for what we're trying to pull off.

In-suites were new to me too until I found this board and they actually sound like a TON of fun and more like what I wanted to do back home anyway.

For a ceremony under $500, we went with the Imperial Palace SilverSky Chapel (see bio below). I booked the ALA CARTE deal (not advertised--call them for more info) and I'm paying extra for my own photog and music. I believe the ALA CARTE was $125 for the ceremony in their pretty chapel, $150 for me to use my own photog and another $125 for me to use my own music for the processional, bride's entrance, background music during ceremony and the recessional (I hate that it cost me so much for 4 songs, but...). That's $400 total. I am then buying some of their flowers and paying the officiant so I'm looking at about $575.

For a reception under $2,000, we are going with an in-suite at the Cosmopolitan wraparound terrace. Mandalay Bay's Vista Suite was the original plan for about the same budget. Heavy apps by Masterpiece Cuisine $1500, our own alcohol $500 (give or take) and iPod music. The Cosmo also has a great buffet called Wicked Spoon where you can rent a private room for 2 hours, holds up to 50 people and they get to eat as much as they want of whatever they want. They have a minumum to book the room, but for our Thursday night party all inclusive after tax and tip it comes to about $1930. PM or email me if you're interested in more Cosmo info. I have a ton right now.  [email protected]

We are also throwing in a 2 hour bus tour on the DD bus and alcohol and refreshments.

I can email you my budget breakdown if you want, but for under $5,000 basically it includes: Ceremony, Reception + 2nights in a suite, Transportation from Ceremony to Reception, Photography, food and alcohol.

Things I haven't included in this are flights, hotel stays for the other 3 days we're in Vegas, meals, hair and makeup, my dress, rings, his suit, etc.

HTH--sorry so long...

eviliciouz

I signed up with groupon, living social, travelzoo, and other discount websites hopefully there will be a deal coming up. The price for the suite is not as bad as I thought, in my head I imagined $2000 per night. Lol.

SD210

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_nevada-las-vegas_pros-and-cons-of-vegas-wedding?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:91Discussion:ac521504-87e9-4f15-be22-ee0f13983c2dPost:d75d947b-8dbb-4e54-b79c-5a1e8962a8d3">Re: Pros and cons of Vegas wedding?</a>:
[QUOTE] As for the cons, I don't really see any downside to getting married in Vegas, other than some people stick their nose up at the idea, thinking it's still like it was years ago, a quick, tacky thing you did when you were drunk.  <strong>But those people suck, and unless they are going to give you $25,000 for a formal wedding, they should shut up.  :)</strong>
Posted by klsatlin[/QUOTE]

Ha ha, THIS, exactly!!! 

I'm in the very early stages of planning and the only "con" I see so far is the guilt I feel generally about having a destination wedding.  We live on the East Coast and many of our friends will be flying, getting hotels, etc., which can be expensive for a weekend.   Now, I understand that some won't be able to make it or may not be able to afford to go, and I'm OK with that (you have to be if you have a destination wedding - - I certainly WANT them to come, but I would never be mad if they couldn't make it).   But I still feel a bit guilty about it generally.  I'm hoping that will pass, as most of the response from our friends so far has been positive.

mizutamababy

* Do you think we can do a ceremony & reception with budget of $5000? We will be the only people paying for our wedding.  With 40 people it shouldn't be a problem as long as that $5,000 doesn't have to pay for everything like flights, dress, etc.

* How do you invite your family and close friends, I meant do you pay for all/part of plane tickets and hotel rooms? You don't have to do any of this unless; guests are responsible for their own airfare and travel.  That said, because they're making so much of an effort (time and monetarily) to be with you, best to throw a really good reception with full meal or enough apps to constitute as a full meal to thank them properly.

* How do you check the venue, do you make an appointment and fly out there or do you trust pictures from websites? We've been to Vegas before, but most of the things we planned we just did from our own research and from past reviews and helpful advice from this board.

* Do you do formal reception or do you just have reception at one of the buffet places? We had a BBQ buffet reception.  It cost us a little under $600 for 20 people and we had a ton of food leftover.  Then we did the double decker bus strip tour afterwards with drinks on board.  We had a blast!

* What is the most affordable venue for ceremony (under $500) or reception (under $2000)? We got married at Graceland Chapel which has under $500 packages and we loved our ceremony, but just a note their photography isn't the best and you'll be paying quite a bit for prints.  I think something all inclusive like Chapel of the Flowers would be good if you're on a budget or the newly renovated chapel at IP looks stunning and is very, very affordable.

* Also what do you think are pros and cons of getting married in Vegas?
Pros:  A good amount of our guests were going to have to fly in somewhere because we live overseas.  We went with Vegas over, say my hometown Dallas, because you can get on pretty well without a car, hotel is cheaper (at least downtown it is), and there's so much to do.  Plus my family is big on Vegas and goes at least once a year already- everyone was glad to have another excuse to go!  It also gave us free reign on the invite list without having to deal with any close family wanting to pressure us into inviting distant relatives/friends/acquaintances that we may not have known so well or wished to be there or pay for.  Also the trip can serve as your honeymoon, too.

Cons:  Not sure we had any really.  Everybody was really supportive and so excited.  A few couldn't make it, but it happens no matter where you hold a wedding.

krisstyle12

SD210~I hear you on the guilt. But most people are going to have to travel anyway and I'm sure you are checking off something on quite a few of your guests' bucket list!

eviliciouz

Krisstyle12, I will email you for the details on the Cosmo .

Mizutamababy, where did you have your bbq reception? That sounds wonderful as well.

When I started my wedding plan and thought it's going to be in Portland, my stress level is waaay high. I just don't want to deal with all the stress of dealing with checking out venues, contacting vendors, saving $$$$, and invite people who might not come. Now I'm starting my Vegas wedding, I feel better because I know people who are going to be there are important for me and vice versa.

Another question that popped in my head this morning is about the weather. We want to be in Vegas when it's not wayyy too hot or cold. We love to have some sunshine. Last year we visited Vegas on Halloween day and the weather was nice. It was in upper 60s during the day. For our wedding next year, we are thinking of mid September...do you think how's the weather will be like?