Vegas wedding takes the cake
It was time to be married, and what to do. A white wedding with all the trimmings? Amy Glass just wasn’t interested.
Dreaming of no-fuss nuptials, I considered a registry office. We could sign the papers and be done. No white dress, no stress. It was the marriage I wanted, not a wedding.
But my future husband Mike thought we could try a bit harder than that. What about Las Vegas? Glamorous, cheesy, and seedy, all at once. We were Elvis fans, and America fans. It felt right for us. And flights to LA were on sale.
A few clicks on a keyboard and the most spontaneous thing we’d ever done was booked for six weeks’ time. We were eloping.
First decision: the venue. Google searches revealed the amazing range of weddings on offer – from a drive-through service to elegant, pricey affairs at the city’s plush hotels. We knew we wanted Elvis at our service, but we also wanted a quick, simple wedding.
Initial email contact with the Graceland Wedding Chapel quickly won me over. It turned out being New Zealanders posed absolutely no barrier to a Nevada wedding. We easily booked our ceremony via email, and the chapel advised me to apply for our wedding licence online too. We would only need to stop at the Las Vegas marriage licence bureau with our passports to collect and pay for the licence US$77 ($108) on the way to our ceremony. Easy.
The weeks rolled by with stress-free wedding outfit preparations. The bride chose a gold Kate Sylvester dress from Ballantynes, the groom went with an existing suit.
We booked leave, and awkwardly fibbed to friends and colleagues we were having a week off work for a ‘‘stay-cation’’.
And then it was Friday night and time to get to the airport. Mike finally presented me with an engagement ring as we walked out the door. I had been wondering when I was going to get my hands on that (the only wedding tradition it seemed I was interested in preserving).
I had been worried about the phone calls to our family from the airport, fearing those wedding dramas I had hoped to avoid. But the news was received graciously – mostly with laughter and disbelief.
Our arrival in LA involved the usual torturous wait through US Customs, when even the exhausted Customs officer asked why anyone would voluntarily suffer this treatment. He brightened up a bit when I informed him I was off to Vegas to get married. He was also interested in the job market in my home country, and the salaries.
After a night in LA where we caught a Dodgers match and ate the best Mexican food of my life, we hit the highway to Vegas in our yellow Mustang.
After a five-hour drive through the desert, we made it to Vegas and theMGMHotel. We’d chosen to get married two days after arrival in the US – in hindsight I might have given myself a little longer to shake off the jet lag.
Our ceremony was booked for 6.30pm the following day, and our wedding chapel had arranged for a hair and makeup stylist to come to our hotel room. So after a leisurely breakfast and morning float in the pool, Mike went shopping while Vegas local Cheryl turned jet-lagged me into a beautifully coiffured bride.
The chapel’s friendly limousine driver Steve took us to the marriage licence bureau (open 8am until midnight, seven days), and we were quickly issued our licence. During the busier summer months, hundreds of weddings take place daily, and the wait can be much longer. We applied online in advance but it’s also perfectly normal for couples to roll up and be issued a licence on the spot.
So, onwards in our white stretch limo to the Graceland Wedding ChapelAs the earlier wedding party streamed out, we were ushered into the elaboratelydecorated chapel to meet our minister Jonathan, photographer Abe, and our Elvis impersonator Harry.
We had a quick discussion about our ceremony and vows before Abe – the most enthusiastic photographer of all time – posed us for photos I’m not sure will ever see the light of day.
There was no time for any nerves or second thoughts. It was a slick, well-oiled wedding machine.
Before I knew it, Elvis was walking me down the aisle singing Fools Rush In. Everything felt fun and light-hearted, and I giggled my way up to the altar, because, really, the whole scene was very comical.
After meeting Mike at the end, our vows were speedily exchanged. This was the only intense moment of the ceremony as we stared into each other’s eyes and promised to love and honour one another.
To me, this was the crucial part. It doesn’t matter where you do it or who’s watching. The vows and promises are what your wedding is truly about, everything else is just detail.
After some more serenading, Elvis walked us both back down the aisle, as we all sang Viva Las Vegas. Then we were back outside, blinking in the twilight, elated with the ease and the fun of it all. Married! Ha!
A fortnight after our wedding, we logged back on to the website to order an official copy of our wedding certificate. For US$16, they send you the document in the mail. It is recognised as a legal document in New Zealand. A Vegas wedding is also a Kiwi wedding.
‘ I giggled my way up to the altar, because, really, the whole scene was very comical.’