* Kelly , Wedding Blogger , Writer and World Traveler & Mike, Gamblin’ Man * Photographer: Ryan Jackson * Soundtrack for reading: “ Hold My Hand ” by Michael Jackson and Akon *
One sentence sum up of the wedding vibe: A no pants party that went into the wee hours, Vegas-style.
The Info—Photographer: Ryan Jackson / Venue: Gardens Arborteum at Springs Preserve / Reception Venue: Border Grill at Mandalay Bay / Afterparty Venue: Media Suite at Mandalay Bay / Cadillac Rental: Beverly Hills Rental Cars / Wedding Dress: The cheapest silk gown I could find at a rather traditional dress shop / Custom Shrug: Bonzie Designs / Second Dress: From a market in Bangkok / Neon Pink Custom Fascinator: FeatherFlair / Jewelry: Vintage / Kelly’s Shoes: Calvin Klein / Mike’s Suit: Bespoke from FanPlusFriend / Mike’s Shoes: Prada / Mike’s Ring: Boone Titanium Rings / Makeup: Did it myself! / Hair: Makeup To Remember by Veronica Robles / Floral: Enchanted Florist / Afterparty setup, bartending and staff: Culinary Pros Las Vegas / Cakes: Whole Foods / Cake Topper: Made by me! / Rentals: RSVP Party Rentals
Other cool stuff we should know about: Las Vegas is one of our most favourite places in the world, and with people coming from all over the globe to join us, it seemed like the most central place for our little destination wedding. I felt like I wanted it all—an outdoor eco-friendly ceremony site, delicious food, high friend and family attendance rate and a crazy ass party after. We got that, and then some! Vegas was so good to us.
Despite a litany of errors on the day (working on ceremony programs the night before the wedding, my makeup artist being a no show, Mike realizing he had forgotten his pants minutes before the ceremony) the entire day was amazing. Special shoutout to my best man and woman for fetching said pants from the hotel in record time.
We also got so lucky by having my co-worker at the time not only shoot the day, but the events leading up to and around the wedding. He was the one who told me Mike’s pants were missing, and was a little too gleeful to capture my reaction, if you ask me. I was a newspaper photo editor at the time, and he let me have full control over all my raw images, and well, if you are a photo editor, editing shots from your own wedding is like…well, it’s heavenly. I made full use of my Polaroid, too, for the guestbook and for the day of. Many of them are my favorite images of the day.
Our co-best friend Kenny officiated the wedding with a very personal ceremony, and the groom’s processional song was the theme to Star Trek: The Next Generation. I surprised my parents by having a tiny chair that had lived in my Gran’s house for many years until her death brought down to Vegas by my inlaws, and I used that to stand on and kiss Mike. I also shared the news we were moving to Japan (I had gotten word that morning) with everyone post-ceremony. We cruised in an old Caddie around downtown Vegas before the reception and took photos at the Neon Museum.
We got to see everyone more than we might normally by hosting a variety of events with various sized groups all around Vegas at all our favorite restaurants and bars over the course of the wedding week. It was a dream come true, and the most fun we could have asked for, and for us it was way better than buying forgettable favors for everyone.
The best move of the night, though, was renting a really sweet suite and bartender for an afterparty, setting up food n’ music n’ booze and just letting everyone do their thing. At four in the morning we finally had to kick people out to take the party elsewhere on the Strip. I left a hefty tip for housekeeping. HEFTY.
Favorite thing about the wedding: Seeing all our favorite people who took the vacation time and expense to come to our shindig and make it the event that it was. We both really treasured that.
Editor’s Note: For more awesome from Kelly & Mike, check out Kelly’s tale of proposing to Mike featured earlier today.
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