Changing My Mind

[ngregory00]

Warning: long post. :)

After a month of planning I thought I'd figured out exactly what my wedding plans were: destination wedding / reception in Las Vegas for approximately 80 guests on 10/10/10. I'd even put a (fully refundable) deposit down on the venue and emailed my family the tentative arrangements.

But last night I was having a chat with a friend and I mentioned that, though I loved the location we'd chosen, the nearly $13K price tag was hard to stomach. She playfully made the suggestion that since we were in Vegas already, why not just skip the reception, hand out poker chips as wedding favors and let everyone have fun?

Then this morning I spoke with my mom who (1) almost had a heart attack when she found out how much the wedding would cost and (2) suggested that we have a smaller ceremony with family and then a reception for everyone else a few days later.

Both their ideas made me realize that the original idea I'd had, while beautiful, was WAY more than we should be taking on. Now I'm re-researching different locations on the strip that are a fraction of the cost. I wish I hadn't reserved the last location, but with our popular date we needed to make sure we booked the space before anyone else did.

The tentative plan now is an intimate ceremony then an informal dinner with our family/friends rather than an actual wedding reception. But the biggest change: since the wedding will be so much smaller, we're thinking of moving the date up an entire YEAR to 9/9/09! Let's hope the venues we like still have availability.

Even though this is a huge change of plans, I'm actually much more excited now than I was a few days ago. Mainly because I won't be twiddling my thumbs an entire two years until our wedding date. And we'll hopefully be saving enough to go on a really nice honeymoon. :)

[kgvettegirl]

The wedding chapel we used had some great packages and usually you can get your date. They have their own florist, photographer and limo service.

http://www.littlechapel.com/ this is the link It couldn't hurt to check them out. Then you could have your reception at one of the casinos.

[ngregory00]

Thanks for the link kgvettegirl!

Do you know if they also have outdoor wedding space at Little Chapel? Wait, I can just check the site. ;)

[kgvettegirl]

I seem to remember a gated rock garden but in January it was kinda cold! I know they have a gazebo and a little bridge over water where they take pictures.

[gwenshack]

Speaking as someone who has been working on a Las Vegas wedding, I bet if you book now you'll have your choice of venues. My wedding coordinator said that they won't book people more than 9 months out (this is at the Venetian) - most people who are having a bigger wedding book 6 months out, 3 months out is the average amount of time before, and they can throw it together for you in 2 weeks if they have to.
I suspect most of the chapels work about the same - so you'll probably get whatever you want.
Also, my MOH got married in Vegas last year on a very busy spring-break/March Madness weekend (actually the same weekend I'm having mine!) and they called the chapel (Little Church of the West) less than 2 weeks before and they were able to accomodate them.
Good luck! :)

[ngregory00]

Thanks Gwenshack! Definitely makes me feel less panicky since my wedding date went from almost two years away to not even 8 months away. Looks like this plan might be doable after all. :)

Figuring out where to have the wedding might be easier than figuring out how to handle the reception. We're planning to have the ceremony on a Wednesday with just our immediate family. Then the "reception" will happen that following Saturday. But I'm trying to come up with ideas for the reception that won't be as pricey as our original plan. I read on another thread that someone arranged a dinner cruise on Lake Mead which sounds kind of nice. But since we might be hosting 50+ people that may still get pretty expensive, right?

[ngregory00]

Hi Gwenshack!

You're getting married at the Venetian, right? I contacted the coordinator there and she sent me a list of rates for the various Venetian/Palazzo chapels. Which one did you decide to go with?

[gwenshack]

Hi Gwenshack!

You're getting married at the Venetian, right? I contacted the coordinator there and she sent me a list of rates for the various Venetian/Palazzo chapels. Which one did you decide to go with?

I'm getting married in the Venetian chapel - I booked the Fortuna package. :)

My coordinator is Caroline and she's been very helpful.

:) Gwen

[ngregory00]

Thanks Gwen! I really liked their "Lasting Love" package but to move the ceremony to the terrace is a $1,000 upgrade, which brings the total to $4,999. I wish I could go that high! But I might look into one of their smaller packages instead.

Now that I've made the decision to marry in 2009, the drama begins anew!
All of my friends are cool with the date change and still intend to be there. It's my mother who's worrying about things.

Her original suggestion was to make the wedding size smaller since most of our relatives would probably bail at the last minute. But now that I'm moving the date up, she's worried that our relatives might have needed that extra year to save money for the trip. But if they were going to bail out in the first place, that extra year wouldn't have changed anything, right? ;)

I do realize it's ultimately my decision but it would be nice if my mom could buy into the plan. I just want to have the date set so I can move forward with my planning already...!

[NOTKT]

Well congrats on your new date! It will be fun, now that you can plan with more of a goal :)

[ngregory00]

Sorry for the double post!

Has anyone heard of or had any experience with "Vegas Wedding Chapel"? Here's the website: http://www.702wedding.com/las-vegas-wedding-chapels.asp

I am thinking of going with their "Dream" package in their "THE Wedding Chapel" (as they call it). It's definitely much simpler and less frilly than some spots, but they offer tons of extras for the price. I think their claim to fame is that Nicky Hilton got married there...

[gwenshack]

Sorry for the double post!

Has anyone heard of or had any experience with "Vegas Wedding Chapel"? Here's the website: http://www.702wedding.com/las-vegas-wedding-chapels.asp

I am thinking of going with their "Dream" package in their "THE Wedding Chapel" (as they call it). It's definitely much simpler and less frilly than some spots, but they offer tons of extras for the price. I think their claim to fame is that Nicky Hilton got married there...

My best friend (and MOH) got married at the Little Church of the West last year (we're Vegas people, what can I say?) and we found the website www.aboutvegasweddings.com (http://www.aboutvegasweddings.com) to be super helpful - they have reviews of all the chapels. It really helped us pick a chapel for her that worked with what she was looking for. Like, for example, a lot of the Vegas chapels won't allow the guests to take their own pictures (so you'll buy the ones they take), and she wanted one that would allow people to take their own photography. This site breaks down what each chapel allows and does not and what they have to offer, along with reviews. Hope it helps! :)

[Bride2blanna]

I would rather bank that money! You have to think about your future, girl!

[ngregory00]

@gwenshack: AWESOME site! Thanks so much for sending the link. I'm finding other chapels with good ratings that I've never seen before. :)

[ngregory00]

So it *LOOKS* like I've settled on a location (finally). The irony is it's the place that I'd already reserved!

I'd originally booked my wedding and reception at Cili Restaurant (on the Bali Hai Golf Course) on 10/10/10. But the total amount for 80 guests turned out to be way more expensive than we could afford. So I started looking around at some of the chapels instead. Then I found out that Cili offered a 35-guest package and they have an opening for the day we wanted. I really loved this location and was sad at the idea of canceling our reservation but now it looks like we won't have to. :)

The next step is to help my mother wrap her head around the fact that the date has been moved forward a year. ;) That and getting my family members to 100% confirm their presence.

I'm also trying to figure out how many extra people to invite so we'll hit our full guest mark. Did anyone invite extra guests just in case?

PS -- thanks for everyone's help and info!