planning a wedding - where do I start???

[samvegas]

I'm starting to plan my wedding which will be in vegas next fall. Where do I start? I don't know if I should go with a hotel chapel or a chapel on the strip. I'm also thinking of renting a gown. Does anyone have any experience with this? Any info or websites would be really appreciated!

[HoyaHeel]

There are quite a few recommendations in other posts in this forum. You probably aren't seeing them; I think the default is to show the last 20 days and this isn't a very active forum. If you go to the drop-down box in the upper right corner and change to "View All" you'll find some great chapel reviews, pictures from other weddings, Vegas wedding websites, etc. Good luck!! And congratulations.

[vegasbound]

There are so many wedding choices/possiblities here in Vegas. You need to decided what type of ceremony you want and how much you are looking to spend. You could be married at a free standing chapel, hotel chapel, red rock, grand canyon, mt. charleston, or (of course) by Elvis. I'm sure you'll find a place that will be a perfect fit for your special day.

I will be married at Mandalay Bay in April. Their chapel was a perfect fit for us. Their packages were cheaper than Bellagio or Paris and we like the convenience of having the Mandalay properties joined by tram...providing accomodations that would fit all of our guests' budgets.

I will also be using www.picturemeinvegas.com (http://www.picturemeinvegas.com) for a photo tour after the ceremony. Karen is highly recommended by past Vegas brides (on www.weddingchat.com (http://www.weddingchat.com) and her prices are very reasonable. I've been very impressed by her photo's and I'm anxious to work with her.

I forgot to add, I found that the dress rentals cost nearly the same amount as purchasing a gown. You may want to research it, to see which way would work best for you.

If you need any help, let me know smile.gif

[ August 01, 2003, 12:52 PM: Message edited by: vegasbound ]

[gayle]

I totally agree that dress rentals run almost as much as buying a gown. Also, there are lots of great sources to buy gowns very reasonably. Ebay has amazing options on really wonderful gowns, David's Bridal, also prom dresses and bridesmaid dresses often come in ivory, silver or white and make lovely informal gowns.

As to the chapels, it would help to have a bit more information about the size of your wedding etc. If you are having a larger group, with transportation issues, I would lean in the direction of one of the Hotel chapels. Mandalay Bay is stunning, as is Greek Isles (and it's reasonable) also, surprsingly, the Excaliber has (IMHO) the MOST beautiful hotel chapel in Vegas and it is quite reasonable.

If you have a smaller party I would go with one of the strip chapels. My personal faves are, Little Church of the West, Graceland Chapel, Little Chapel of the flowers, and Week Kirk o the Heather.

There are some HUGE benefits to using one of the Free standing chapels VS a Hotel chapel. First of all price. You will find they are much less expensive than the Hotels. Freedom of choice on other services. The Hotel chapels make you purchase everything from them (flowers, photography, cakes, video etc.) and they have a huge markup. The free standing chapels will let you bring in your own flowers, sometimes your own photographer (and when they won't, their packages are really reasonable).

I just had a vow renewal in Vegas in June and we used Graceland Chapel, and I could not have been more pleased. It's absolutely lovely, and their staff is wonderful. Also they are super reasonable.

If you have a small group, you could do a wedding at a nice chapel, then have a small, dinner reception at some neat place.

I would suggest Pamplemousse if budget is not a problem. It's a wonderfully romantic restaurant with excellent food. It's on Sahara Blvd. Or, again if price isn't a problem, you could dine at Top O The World in Stratosphere, or Eiffel Tower at Paris. Mon Ami Gabi, also at Paris, is more reasonable than Eiffel tower and affords an amazing view of Bellagio's fountains. More moderately priced reception food can be had at Fellini's in Stratosphere, or Ricardo's at MGM Grand.

Another fairly resonable Gourmet room is The Great Moments Room at Las Vegas Club. A lovely dinner in a very romantic environment can be had there for around $25 a person, with a glass of wine.

For flowers I would suggest the Las vegas School of Floral Design. They are right behind the Palms and they do beautiful work for about half of what you would pay a regular florist. And for a cake, skip the pricey bakeries and use Albertson's on Sahara and Maryland. Their cakes are really reasonable and they do a beautiful job, much better than you might expect from a Market bakery.

After dinner I would suggest going to the Fontana Bar in bellagio and having a drink on the patio that overlooks the fountains. They have dancing in there as well, and although drinks are pricey (about $10 each) there is no cover charge. It's a great place to see the fountains, dance and have a romantic close to a wedding day.

All the stuff I have mentioned have websites so do some searching and you will be amazed with how easy it is to make all of your arrangements right from your computer.

[hfpieratt]

We started by calling all of the chapels and asked them to send us the info and pictures. Most of them have free '800' numbers and are very happy to mail stuff to you. Most arrived withing two weeks. Then you can compare pictures and packages. We then went to vegas on a 'research' trip to see in person the chapels we were interested in.