My fiancé and I have decided to set the date for a Vegas
wedding in April of 2015, and I'm doing as much research as possible to find
what I'm looking for, but I'm also very specific and after asking the other
Vegas-goers at Trip Advisor, I was referred to this forum, so I thought I'd see
if anyone out there can help us make this a perfect event! For perspective, you
should know that we’ve been together for over 10 years already, have always had
a very strong, stable relationship, and have (finally) decided to take the next
step!
First off, I must say that while we want to wed in Vegas, we
by no means want a tacky, drive through, or Elvis-themed ceremony. Nor do we
want a quick courthouse marriage, as we'd just do that here at home and save the
money altogether. On the other hand, we're not looking to do a big,
traditional, ballroom-style ceremony/reception at the Bellagio either, so
really just trying to find some common ground here.
Here's where it gets tricky. What we don't want is anything
with the word "chapel" in it, if we can help it, which looks to be a
tall order if you're on a smaller budget. Silly concept I know, and I may have
to deal with it anyway, but we’re just not the chapel type. I'm actually
thinking of an outdoor setting, in the evening, at a nice small hotel/casino
venue or in a gazebo/garden type setup that has room for a decent size group of
people. Almost all of our primary family members will be coming, as well as
several friends, so it'll be approximately 20 to 30 attendees, maybe more. I've
already been advised on the money savings for having a midweek wedding, but our
date is on a Saturday, so everyone traveling from out of state doesn't have to
miss too much work.
I already know the legal requirements of getting married in
Vegas, but the problem I'm having is trying to find the right place to book
things. We're on a budget and using our tax returns to pay for it, so we figure
we'll have about $2000 for the whole thing, and that needs to include the
ceremony, hotel stay (for about a week), and probably most of our meals while
we're there... We're good at sharing meals, using BOGOs, and I'll look into the
Groupon thing too, so we're not overly concerned about the non-wedding stuff.
Okay, here's the breakdown: I want to do the whole ceremony
for $500 or less, if possible, but we're also having a dinner celebration
afterward at a restaurant nearby (not a reception, but a gathering to
celebrate, and going Dutch with it). Ideally, the ceremony site would be in the
same hotel as (or very near to) the restaurant, which is also undecided. I've
looked into some Las Vegas wedding services, which mostly use independent
chapels or other locations, but they don't seem to be on the strip. They have
cheaper service packages that tend to include a limo service for the couple to
get to and from the wedding site, but what about all the guests? I don't want
them to have to deal with walking very far or driving to and from the ceremony
to meet up with us at the restaurant for dinner if we can help it. I don't want
anyone to have to walk more than out of one hotel and into an adjacent one, if
even that much, since they can be very far apart sometimes.
I did get a suggestion about possibly getting married AT one
of the restaurants to avoid moving everyone, but I don't even know if they do
that in Vegas, or if I'd want to go that route anyway... I would love some
feedback on that if anyone has any experience with it, from any perspective!
Either way, we're looking for a nicer restaurant that has excellent food, a
good variety, great service, and room for a large party reservation - but isn't
too expensive either.
Also, we would like to find a hotel on the strip or downtown
that offers discounts to people who're getting married there - or even if
you're just bringing a large amount of customers together for the event (like
if we don't necessarily get married at that hotel, but want to get the best
deal for ourselves and our guests).
I think that’s everything that I wanted to ask about here,
and sorry for such a lengthy post, but I’d appreciate any feedback I can get -
so thanks in advance!