We're back home and married! Huge piece of advice for all you upcoming brides…stash some protein bars in your purse, your man's pocket, dad's pocket…anywhere! I made the mistake of thinking I would have time to grab something to eat between my hair and makeup and leaving for the chapel and I thought wrong. By the time we sat down for dinner, my blood sugar had plummeted so low I was feeling faint and super nauseous and could only manage a few bites of the dinner and we ended up cancelling the rest of our plans so I could lay down. Otherwise everything went great! I have absolutely no regrets about running away and doing a super tiny wedding with just our parents!
Chapel of the Flowers: I was so happy with them!! Robyn, my coordinator was great. Always very prompt to respond to any emails with questions I had and helpful. We did a basic ceremony - I just used the stock bouquet that came with my package (red roses) and they were fresh and gorgeous. I made a little girl's night later on when I gave them to her after she was excited about seeing a bride 
The chapel was what I was expecting and I have had a lot of compliments on what a beautiful wedding it was. Our minister Rob walked us through the ceremony beforehand and made sure we were able to wish my Grandma a Happy Birthday. We had a LOT of people watching online which did lead to a bit of technical trouble - some people had no issues, others had sound and no video or vice versa and some weren't able to watch it live at all. My sister in law called right away in a panic that she could only hear us and they were really speedy on getting it buffered to try and sort it all out. I am pretty sure we just overloaded the server. They took a TON of pictures. We had hired our own photographer for afterwards but we had 14 candid shots of the ceremony included in our package. I had forgotten my phone in my hotel room, which had the song I wanted to walk down the aisle too. They were able to find it so I was still able to use it which was the one and only time I almost cried! The one and only thing I didn't like was their photo pricing…As I said we had our own photographer after for posed shots but they did get some really great ones too. Our mom's both wanted some of the one's they had taken and to buy individual pictures was $10 per 4x6 or $20 per 8x10 (there was also a 5x7 option but I forget the price). We ended up paying almost $150 for 7 pictures. Wedding photo's are here for anyone interested: http://photos.littlechapel.com/2014-12-29/1070432
Maggiano's - As I said earlier, I was feeling pretty ill by the time we got to eat. However, everyone else was RAVING the entire meal about how good it was and when I ate some leftovers the next day they were delicious cold so I can only imagine how good they were hot! Our waiter was fantastic - as soon as he heard I was feeling a little woozy, he had my orange juice rushed over and throughout the night offered me ginger ale and brought me some to go boxes so I could at least eat once I was feeling better. We ordered family style and you definitely get the bang for your buck! We had SO much food. Our starters were caesar salad, spinach and asparagus dip and calamari. Even my dad loved the dip and that man flat out refuses to eat both spinach and artichokes regularly! For our main dishes we did their famous Rotini, which was my favourite (the next day haha), a country pasta - penne with giant meatballs and veggies, linguine with clams in a red wine sauce (I have an allergy so wouldn't have been able to eat this anyway but my husband said the clams were delicious and everyone else really enjoyed it as well) and chicken parmesan, again it was delicious. Dessert was cheesecake and an apple pie blossom thingy, again both really good. My mom found the pie on the sweeter side but she doesn't eat a lot of dessert. Hubby ate a whole one to himself and said it was delicious haha. There was a lot of leftovers. We had 6 people (including myself) and we could have easily fed 10. We filled a large size to go container with almost an entire full bowl of rotini to hand out to a homeless person as well as a large size container for myself for the next day, and there was still a lot left over.
Keith Kaplan Photography: Keith ended up throwing his back out last minute and sent his cousin Aaron. I had a mini panic attack since he wasn't who we had booked and he looked kind of…unkempt lol. And then there had been miscommunication between Keith and I so they were under the impression it was just the two of us, not 6. Since we only had a couple of blocks we needed to go, we all piled into his car (7 of us in a 5 seater). At the beginning of our 3 hour block, I wasn't impressed…but my attitude changed very quickly. The "clown car" ended up being hilarious and a great story to laugh about (we even included some pictures of us all crammed in), Aaron was really funny and was pushy but polite, getting people to move so we could get shots. The Venetian frowns upon wedding parties shooting inside, but he was sneaky enough that we were able to get a lot taken. I haven't seen the final shots yet (should be ready any day now) but based on the unedited ones on the camera, I think they will be amazing. I'll edit this once I see them! One of my biggest things was "we're getting married in Vegas and I want some really awesome shots to reflect that!" and he had some fun ideas - My hubby was on a pole in a bar while I tossed dollar bills and at one point we ran into the middle of Las Vegas Blvd in between lights to get a shot of us with the boulevard behind us. We only had a few seconds to get the shot and our mom's were screaming at us from the sidewalk that cars were coming so we definitely had to move fast. I am SO hoping they turned out because I think that is the shot I am looking most forward too!
Tuscany Suites and Casino: We had all been to Vegas before so to save a little money we stayed off the strip. This place was about a 10-15 min walk from the strip, or a $6 cab fare from the Flamingo. The room's were HUGE. Never once did we feel crowded, even with everyone in one room at times. Check in was so fast compared to strip hotels as it wasn't as busy and the staff were beyond friendly. I was greeted by every staff member I saw, every time I saw them, every day. Each suite comes with a kitchenette and they are able to send up microwaves if you need one. However there are no dishes/cutlery and since most to-go containers are foil or styrofoam, that was of no help lol. Luckily I'm not picky and will snack on cold leftovers. The casino was smoky at times, but not nearly as bad as a lot of the bigger casino's…which again, likely because it wasn't as busy. We ended up winning some money - I got about $35 before I cashed out (I'm chicken and don't like losing money haha. I started with $1.75 so I was happy with what I got!) and my in-laws won $100 each. The best part of the hotel had to be Marilyn's Cafe. We ate every meal there (besides the wedding night) in the 4 days we were there and my in-laws would even walk down from the Flamingo to join us because they enjoyed it so much. The prices are SUPER affordable and you get TONS of food - I don't think my mom ate lunch once because she was always so full from breakfast. As a bride to be, right after Christmas, I really appreciated the "fitness menu" which served healthier options. I also really enjoyed that when something was advertised as having turkey on it (turkey omelette, sandwiches etc) it was real sliced turkey, not the lunch meat style most places have. The ham on the eggs benedict was quite thick as well. Everything we tried was great, I don't think they had anything bad on their menu!
Glam Squad - I can't for the life of me remember the name of the guy who did my hair and makeup (he kinda looked like Lenny Kravitz lol) but he did a great job. I felt very glamorous. He wasn't very chatty - very serious and focused, but the assistant he had with him was social and it was nice chatting with him. I'd recommend them for sure.
I think those are the main players….any other questions, feel free to ask!