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Planning a wedding from the UK

lauradean89lauradean89 member
100 Comments Second Anniversary 25 Love Its Name Dropper
in Nevada-Las Vegas
Hello everyone!

I have been looking at all your lovely reviews for around a week now and have found them all extremely helpful. Planning from the UK is exciting but I am a little apprehensive as I cannot see anything to aid my decision making (and I am horribly indecisive and anxious when it comes to big decisions). This forum has been the most helpful so far. I have also had a look at vegasgroom and that has been extremely helpful also.

Its nice to see a forum of people that get that a Vegas wedding can be an amazing thing (Im sick of people in the UK being like 'oh are you having Elvis then?' *face palm*)

Anyway enough of me rattling on. We are most interested at the moment in the Aria chapel or the Venetian. I am leaning more towards Aria as I really really like the style and ABSOLUTELY love the look of the bride and groom areas. 
I have no idea about anything else yet. I don't really have a plan for this wedding or a theme that I want to achieve. We are getting married in Vegas because we want to avoid all that and have a laid back day. Rough estimates of guests is max 20. 

Any info on good reception venues will be much appreciated and any tips from UK brides or brides also planning from thousands of miles away will be greatly appreciated. 

I am already in contact with both Aria and the Venetian via email :) 

Aiming for an August 2016 wedding so have plenty of time (so I hope) for all my research.

Thanks guys and everyone happy planning or congratulations if the big day has already passed.
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Re: Planning a wedding from the UK

  • aggiespartanaggiespartan member
    500 Comments 100 Love Its Name Dropper First Answer
    Do you have a budget for your reception and know what kind of feel you want it to be?  With only 20 people, you could make a reservation at a restaurant - it just depends what kind of vibe you're looking for.
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  • amelishaamelisha member
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    I'm having twenty guests so we decided to go with an afternoon ceremony and then have just made a restaurant reservation for a nice, laid-back dinner. With such a small group I didn't really like the idea of a dj or dances or catered food - I figured it might be nicer to get to just sit down together, enjoy dinner and wine and conversation, and skip all the wedding traditions that I thought would feel kind of awkward and forced with so few people.

    But I'm not into being the centre of attention at all, so I just want something easy, friendly, and low-key, which might be exactly the opposite of you, I don't know if that kind of thing is important to you or not. With a group that size it would probably be really easy to book a hospitality suite and bring in catering, music, etc if you are looking for a more traditional reception.

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  • nyhollydaynyhollyday member
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    It is great that you have time, because you can weigh options and you can choose things and have a better chance of getting it. I am in the same boat as you as far as date. Plus from what I have seen things book up quick so they gives more opportunity to get what you want.

    Smaller group you can get more bang for your money anyway. I think a nice dinner and then cake, mingling, and dancing in a nice room could be awesome.
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  • finallymrsrobertsfinallymrsroberts member
    Second Anniversary 25 Love Its 10 Comments Name Dropper
    Hi, I'm planning from the UK too, and I know exactly what you mean about the Elvis comments!!

    I must have researched every single wedding venue in Vegas and was getting extremely stressed out, until I found Mandarin Oriental. We are having the ceremony in The Edge, a private room in the bar with a stunning view of the strip.

    I originally wanted a restaurant reception but I was getting quotes of $3000+ for 20 people in private rooms. I enquiried at Mon Ami Gabi, Maggianos, Trevi and some other places I can't remember. I just thought it was too much money to just eat in a restaurant like any other day, and you could be anywhere, but I wanted to KNOW I was in Vegas. So I've gone for a Wraparound Terrace Suite at the Cosmo for the night, and I'm in the process of arranging room service platters for food and I'm going to stock up on drinks from Walmart! This works out cheaper than a restaurant and we have the room the whole night.
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  • finallymrsrobertsfinallymrsroberts member
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    Oh forgot to say we're having it in May next year, been planning since April this year, it took me four months to decide on a ceremony venue, then another two months to decide on reception! August will be very very hot! I'm having a tea length dress because the heat kills me!
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  • aggiespartanaggiespartan member
    500 Comments 100 Love Its Name Dropper First Answer
    The private rooms are always going to have a minimum.  If you only have about 20 people though, for most of the restaurants, you can just make a large group reservation and sit in the regular dining room with no minimum.
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  • lauradean89lauradean89 member
    100 Comments Second Anniversary 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    We haven't really decided upon a budget for anything yet as cost in the US is VASTLY different to the UK. Plus factoring in the exchange rate is a bit of a mare. You seriously get ripped off here for food and drink and its not that good quality so I am kind of just scouting around for venues that I might like and then going to decided which ones would suit us more for our wedding. When we have previously been on holidays to the US we were much more impressed with the standard of dining out over there then what you get in the UK. Also depends on how many people are going to be coming and I'm probably not realistically going to know that until about 12-6 months out.

    I was thinking about having a reception in a restaurant and perhaps not in a private function room as I like the atmosphere of a good restaurant and me and hubby to be are not that keen on doing speeches etc so no need to worry about disturbing other diners. Plus there is a potential for there to be 3 kids as part of the reception dinner ranging from 29 months up to 7 years by the time the wedding comes around so needs to be reasonably kid friendly.

    I also don't want things to be like an anti climax but have to take into account that mainly family members coming so needs to be child/grandparent friendly which is part of the challenge at the moment with planning the Vegas wedding, so perhaps from that point of view an in suit reception would be better. I just don't know and cant decide. I do know that we do want it laid back. Not fussed about speeches I don't want to be centre of attention I just want everyone to have a great time especially as they will be travelling so far and using this as a holiday as well. 

    Luckily my sister got married in Mauritius so she had a more informal relaxed wedding and I think she had a dinner with a cake in her resort and everyone just had a nice social evening in a bar (she only had 6 guests at her wedding).

    We have to do August cos of school holidays in the UK (bit of a drag) but I want to be able to give people the opportunity of coming especially as a few have kids and my sister is a teacher so has to take her holidays when the schools have their holidays.

    Thanks for peoples advice and opinions its a great help!
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  • spoon1984spoon1984 member
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    Hi thought I'd chip in. I got married in Vegas July 2013 and planned from the UK. Sounds like we were aiming for something; pretty laid back. We just had 11 guests and got married at the Juno Gardens at Caesars then used the Il Moro private room in Canaletto. Bouchon's might be a good option too if you're looking at the Venetian. Some of the private rooms at Aria looked lovely too I was just looking for something nearer Caesars.
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  • lauradean89lauradean89 member
    100 Comments Second Anniversary 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    How did you find the heat in July? I'm starting to panic a bit about that!
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  • finallymrsrobertsfinallymrsroberts member
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    Hiya, regarding the family friendly issue, we have a two year old son who is obviously going to be a big part of our day, and he is another reason we chose to have the reception in a suite because then he can run around and be entertained more than he could in a restaurant. 
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  • nyhollydaynyhollyday member
    100 Comments 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Anniversary
    @lauradean89 the heat in july is up there! it is very hot and dry
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  • spoon1984spoon1984 member
    100 Comments Second Anniversary 25 Love Its First Answer
    Hot hot hot! There was a heatwave that week so it was around 107 but I really wanted to get married outside. My husband is a teacher so if we want to the U.S. for a three week stretch we can only go in the summer. I've only ever visited Vegas in July so we knew what to expect. In an ideal world I'd choose to go early May or maybe April but we love going so July it is and we'll be back July 2015. My hair and make up stayed on perfectly throughout the day.
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  • amelishaamelisha member
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    lauradean89 said:

    How did you find the heat in July? I'm starting to panic a bit about that!

    It's a dry desert heat so as long as you stay hydrated it isn't terrible. I'm Canadian and I didn't find the heat in July too bad because it isn't humid and the air doesn't get heavy.

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  • aggiespartanaggiespartan member
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    The Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars is wonderful if you are looking for a buffet option.  
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  • laurenlozzylaurenlozzy member
    Second Anniversary 25 Love Its 10 Comments Name Dropper
    Congratulations! I am also planning a small wedding (8 guests) from the uk! We have booked the Aria for our wedding and the communication has been great any questions have been answered fairly quickly, I have changed my flowers that are included in the package from a picture I found online which I sent them they then emailed back a list of every individual flower etc and a quote they really are brilliant. We have also booked bently and wilson photography for a photo tour and will be booking a limo for transport. With regards to this photographs are very important to me so I actually emailed Todd before we booked the aria to double check he was free on our wedding date. I have booked Leila at sincity makeup to do my make up. Initially I was going to do my own but after finding her I knew I couldn't match the way she makes people look!! I've found this forum extremely helpful with the planning process and everyone is so friendly! Pinterest is also great for finding examples of things to show your wedding co ordinator!! Enjoy xxxxx
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