WEDDINGS A mad rush to the altar for couple’s Las Vegas wedding

The couple: Health care worker Lauren Ricketts, 27, and assistant site manager Jason Ivins, 31. Lauren is from Pontypridd and Jason is from Clydach Vale. They now live in Llantrisant. The venue: The ceremony was held at the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas on April 24. How they met: The couple met in 2012, at the Wetherspoons Tumble Inn in Pontypridd. Their first date was in Cardiff Bay.

Lauren said: “I didn’t think it would work out as we only saw each other once a week for a year as we were both so busy and living in different areas. But we made it work.” The proposal: Jason proposed on Christmas Day, on their daughter’s first Christmas.

Lauren said: “I was very shocked. He asked for my father’s permission and proposed under mistletoe. It was a lovely way to remember her first Christmas.” The wedding: Lauren said: “My dress was a Martina Liana dress, we had 20 guests fly out to Las Vegas.

“However, there was a problem with our daughter’s passport in Manchester Airport. We ended up missing two days of the holiday and flying out on the day of the wedding. Landing two hours before the ceremony, exhausted after travelling for 16 hours, we didn’t have any time for hair, makeup or prewedding photos. It was one mad rush to the altar and most of our plans for it went out of the window. We were just glad to be there and make it in time.

“Our family and friends were waiting at the hotel for us, we separated an hour before the wedding to get ready and we had to jump in a taxi as we hadn’t had a chance to book any cars.

“Our family back home could watch the ceremony online. The reception was a complete surprise booked by my father and his partner, followed by a fabulous meal in the Paris Hotel, Las Vegas. The wedding cake was an actual cake made out of cheese, and our wedding song was Tom Odell’s Grow Old with Me, which we also walked down the aisle to.” The honeymoon: The couple didn’t have a honeymoon as they were already in Las Vegas. However, they are looking to take the children to Florida on a late family honeymoon.