Hi there,
I'm new here and this is my first post. I am still ways out before my actual wedding we picked 9/7/2013 for our date so I am still in the early stages of planning my Vegas wedding. I'm trying to contain my excitement, but I'm not even gonna lie...I'm SUPER excited. lol. However, I already have tons of questions...can anyone help?
So, originally I was planning on doing a Valley of Fire ceremony and an in-suite reception afterwards. However, my mom quickly shot that down and these are her exact words, "Do you honestly think you are going to put me on a 45 min. bus ride to the middle of the desert, where I will then stand in the blistering heat for 10 min, to then just get back on a 45 minute bus ride for you two to take pretty pictures for 1 hour??? And what about your grandmothers...you want them to STAND???, they'll be dropp'in like flies from heat stroke!!!! Needless, to say this is not what I wanted to hear...but mother knows best! FYI, my FI great grandmother will be joining us as well and she is over the age of +85 no way to get her on the rocks, make her stand, and deal with heat. I had to put on the bride brakes.
So, these are my new thoughts: Do hotel wedding and afterwards in-suite reception at same location to keep it simple for guests. Again, still in early stages of planning but I'm thinking 40 family members are coming. Here's the dilema I fell in love with rooms at Planet Hollywood. They look hip and modern and that's important to me (I'm 24) and I want this occasion to be a fun party from beginning to end. However, I also wanted to get married outdoors rather than chapel. Now one other issue: in general my FI's family has a much higher income than my side of the family. My family is going to be struggling to pull this off so I need to keep the expenses down on their end for air fare and hotels (they are traveling with 3). I feel fairly confident I can cover most of the expenses on my own (with the right package) for ceremony and reception.
1. Does Planet Hollywood allow you to get married by the pool?
2. Which suite should I have my reception in Panorama, Boulevard, or Apex? (I would like to book the room for 3 nights) but please let me know if you think it is more reasonable to book a smaller room the first night.
3. I know Apex is hard to book can anyone who used this suite let me know how much they paid and the date they used it on? Just so I can get an idea if this suite is finacially feasable for me to use.
4. Do you think the rooms are going to be fairly affordable for guests the weekend after labor day? (For some guess that means under at least $125 a night and that's pushing it. However, I do have some guests in the party that will have no problem upgrading their rooms as I said before huge finacial gap between the families).
5. About how far out do I need to be from wedding date to start booking the ceremony and reception?
6. Packages: The Princess Bride- This is the package I'm considering the most b/c it includes Panorama suite for two nights plus Cocktail & Hors d'oeuvre reception plus cake, $275 floral credit etc. However, there are a lot of things in this package I don't want such as Rehersal, garter, welcome ammenities, breakfast in bed, gift certificate to spice market, etc. And the reception says it is for 30 where I'm thinking I'm going to have 40 cost $7500. I do not want to spend over 10K, but could probably stretch myself. My question is am I saving money by using this package or is it going to cost me more when all said and done b/c I am 10 people over.? Plus our families like to drink a lot I really wanted to just do the bar ourselves. Any suggestions, experience? (Aware of Twilight package and I HATE the idea of Red Carpet...it gives me anxiety, too long to explain my thoughts on that I will spare you the gorey details).
6A. Would it be more affordable in the long run to customize my own package and then use MasterPiece catering and do the bar myself.
7. And final question, sry bare with me I had more questions than I anticipated should I use the photographer that is included in package or am I going to get more photos and better quality for my money by hiring an outside photographer?
Sry this is so long...I told you I was excited!!! But in all seriousness I would really appreciate any advice anyone could give me. The more feedback the better.