A Wedding Adventure in Las Vegas

I do not believe in church wedding and I do not conform to most norms generally.  However, when my husband and I took a vacation in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, I made it a point to insert in our itineraries that since we did not experience having a real wedding ceremony, I would make it happen in Vegas in a unique style.  This was how our wacky and cheesy wedding began.

I wanted a drive thru wedding as this was how some of  Hollywood stars had done it in Vegas and I wanted it where they’d done it.  I had set my eyes at the Little White Wedding Chapel.  

The famous drive thru window of the chapel

So, before lunchtime on that memorable day, we went to their office to book for the wedding which should happen in the afternoon on the same day.  Booking for a wedding here is like ordering your foods ala carte.  They would give you a “menu list” so you will tell them how you would like your wedding to be.  I should have gotten the  Elvis Presley wedding but man, Elvis  would cost us an additional $200 but he would sing 2 songs before and after the ceremony.

While I was negotiating with Esmeralda, the wedding assistant, 

the  Manager named  Roseanne was busy  attending  another  client.

The girl on the counter asked if I want make-up - $25; bridal bouquet - $35; gown rental -$200.  What??? A whooping $200 for a gown rental?  I am borrowing the gown not buying it so I declined and went for Plan B: no gown rental.  We ended  signing up for the package with the limo - $179 ++ taxes. We signed a contract that everything should be over by 6:30 PM as we had the  dinner reservation at the Top of the World Restaurant in Stratosphere Hotel by 7:30 PM courtesy of our major sponsors a.k.a. instant “Ninong and Ninang”.

"So, we ordered this and that.  Where do I sign?"

So, it looked like everything was set already except that I do not have the white dress yet as I do not want to borrow a gown for God knows how many girls had worn before for $200.  Our quick solution:  go to ROSS Dress for Less Department Store.

You see, ROSS is famous for its below the rack prices.  It carries famous brands  the styles of which had gone out of the fashion dictionary.  In short, this store is the last stop for unsold out-of-season and out-of-styles clothes.  Usually when upscale store like Nordstrom changes their inventory according to season, their unsalable dresses would show up in Target, another budget department store.  Then from Target, these clothes would retire in ROSS. Hence, the prices are cheaper by  30%-40%. Here in Manila, think about Rustan’s, then Shoemart or Robinson’s and finally Starmall or Ever Department Store.

Anyways, after an hour of sorting through several racks of formal clothes some of which were too big or too small, while some were too funky or only good for our grannies, I hesitantly ended up snapping the gypsy style white long dress as it was already 1 PM.  That cost me $17.  But wait!  What about the pair of shoes to match?  No problem; the store has them as well. I got the  Roman-looking sandals for $16 which I think my daughter can use after.  And to complete the look of the bride, I needed a necklace.  I made a bad decision because I decided to get the bead necklace which was worth $27 so it turned out that my necklace was way more expensive than my dress which was just $17.  How’s that for the wedding attire?

After eating our lunch at Pinoy Pinay Restaurant (canteen style restaurant offering purely Filipino foods) we informed our sponsors and entourage that they need to be at the lobby of the The Wynn Hotel by 5:30 PM. 

With our major sponsors in the lobby of The Wynn Hotel

We hurriedly drove back  to the hotel and quickly fixed ourselves. My husband had forgotten to bring a necktie and his formal black long socks were nowhere to be found.  My problem was my face which got sunburned when we went to Grand Canyon the other day. My quick fix was the facial cream which made me looked I came from a funeral parlor make-over. 

No tie and short sports socks for my husband

The limo picked us up on schedule.  The turban-wearing limo driver was nice and brought us, together with my five young adults entourage, to the chapel. He should be. He must have been expecting an additional tip/gratuity from us. Our sponsors followed us in their Escalade.  Everyone was so excited!

The limo driver in full costume

Relaxed and feeling rich atmosphere inside the limo

But lo and behold, when we reached the drive-thru, a lady emerged in the window and told us to wait awhile as they only have one minister at the moment who was at that time attending another marriage in the chapel.  The lady promised that we would be next in line but I know she was lying as there was another couple in a car ahead of us and some group of people inside looking like they were anxious of getting wed. Indeed, there was queuing, as they call it in the call center's own language. This chapel is making a killing out of this quick marriage business.  I hope you can spot the car in front of our limo.

Queuing for our turn to be served

 My generous sponsor got pissed off and berated the girl in the counter on  why they had to book us for the specific time while in fact they cannot accommodate us. Remember, our reservation in the restaurant was at exactly 7:30 PM and would be cancelled if we would not show up on time.  The faces of wedding participants in the pictures below need no further description other than being bored...bored...bored.

Bored participants trying to look excited

My sponsors and their son trying to lighten up the boring moment

Would be husband and wife again awaiting for an update if the ceremony would push through or not

So,to avoid aggravating  the situation, the lady  proposed if we could come back later at 10 PM after we have our dinner.  On our part, as we did not want to spoil the event, we conceded but only after they promise to send us to Stratosphere Hotel and pick-up us later for the ceremony and then send us back once more to The Wynn after the wedding. Oops! By the way, the lady had previously handed me my stemmed roses  and took them  back because the ceremony would not push through yet. 

Reception first before the ceremony

 Have you attended a wedding where the dinner reception preceded the actual wedding ceremony?  I know you have not and neither did we. But our little disappointment was washed away by the superb and expensive dinner we have at the Top of the World  Restaurant in Stratosphere Hotel.  It was a revolving restaurant and fine dining at its best. Remember how I describe my sponsor as generous? Well, she footed the bill for $735 ++ taxes. That’s how generous she is.

Where's the waiter?

Yummy dinner courtesy of our benefactor, Dr. Nida Rioga-Relativo (in pink shirt)
and his equally generous husband, Kuya Randy (not in the picture)

We could hardly move because of the hearty dinner which made us fully bloated.      Then we  remember the wedding ceremony.  We called up the limo driver and after 15 minutes he was already in front of the lobby of Stratosphere Hotel.  This time, for the second time around, our young wedding entourage and us took time taking pictures of each other while hip-hop music played in the background.  Yeah Vegas! Here we are! 

The stretch limo that brought us from and to the hotel

The Entourage (Michelle, Ol, Tan, Ade and Abby) 

When we reached the chapel for the second time around, everything was already set so our limo started driving through the infamous tunnel of love and stopped precisely at the drive-through window. You know how it looks like when you order in McDonald Drive-thru.  Well, instead of a young and bubbly counter-girl, a fully made-up, respectable lady in her 60’s emerged in the window and asked if we were married before and when.  We said yes and gave the date of our wedding. She asked for the rings. What? We forgot our wedding rings but the lady minister said that was alright.

Yes, Reverend! We understood that we need to give you the gratuity so let's proceed.
(Double-click the picture to get a better and bigger  picture of the lady reverend)

One-by-one, she gave us pieces of papers; some we had to sign while the other we need to read.  Surprisingly, she handed us the finale which was a small envelope  with the typewritten note on the face: $40, $70 or $100.  The lady minister reminded that we may give her a small gratuity after the end of the ceremony which we are going to put inside this envelope. We said we understood. Alright already! Let’s proceed!

She started the ceremony like a priest and she did very  well in delivering her memorized “script”.  The words she said were pretty like a homily and pieces of advice  rolled into one and our sponsors said those thoughts were very good to hear and listen to. However, I was only able to understand some of it because I find it hard to really focus on what she was saying.

You know, I need to stare at her  intensely while she was speaking at my left side then I had to look at my husband on my right side whenever she prompted me to do so. My husband sounded nervous while repeating what the minister had told him to say.  Maybe,  he has still have second thoughts after all these 18 years. Nyah! It was just nerve-wracking for him to talk that way in front of his friends.

Not a perfect picture but it captured the moment...giggles all the way!

On my part, I was giggling most of the time.  It was not because I was not taking the ceremony seriously but everytime I glanced at those people inside the limo, I cannot control myself.   The stretch limo can comfortably accommodate only 8 people but because all my all of my four  sponsors got in as well to witness the grand event, we ended up with 11 passengers plus the chapel’s official’s photographer. You could only imagine how cramped it was inside that limo.

Camera was not able to include all of the 11 people who squeezed themselves inside the poor limo.

The view from the inside of the limo did not look like those pimped-out ones that we see in MTV videos but now it had become a cramped jeepney with everyone trying to fit their butts and the wooden bar on the opposite side becoming an instant  extended passenger seat.  I saw one of my entourage acting as if he was paying his fare to the limo driver who remained seated in the front. Every time I glanced at them, all of them,  except my husband, were trying to control their laughter while the ceremony was going on. 

The rite was over in less than 30 minutes. What do you expect?  It was a quickie wedding and we did it in Las Vegas! Every minute counts. Besides, the lady minister has to retire already.  I guess,  she must have been very tired performing her act since morning.  And so, after the photo of  the kissing of the bride scene and handing off the envelope with $40 to our beloved minister, the limo sped off back to The Wynn Hotel.

Thanks God it's over!

By 12 midnight, we were already in the casino floor trying our luck in those stingy, controlled  and previously been programmed slot machines. We may had lost some money but the cheesy wedding itself offset everything.  

Quite cheesy

The experience which turned into a wacky adventure  in that Little White Wedding Chapel in Vegas was our take-away for that day. What happens in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas, at least that is from my point of view, because what happened that day were unforgettable.  It was a day of fun and became a perfect way to celebrate our 18 years of coping up with each other’s snoring and arguing but  staying with each other during the good days and most importantly during the bad days.  

If you are dreaming of a boring, expensive and picture perfect wedding, this quick wedding is not for you.  If you are as adventurous and fun-loving like we do, try to experience this at least once in your lifetime. Just make sure you invite equally adventurous friends. And my FINAL WARNING: Do not take it seriously!  I mean it, seriously.

Life does not have to be taken seriously.

Postscript: Thanks to Abby,  who acted as videographer although the actual ceremony was not captured because of our videocam's insufficient memory; to Oliver who acted as our photographer   but was  sometimes clueless on how to focus his newly-bought DSLR; to Michelle who added glamour to the event; to Ade and Tan for completing my entourage; to Dennis and Lyn who became our sponsors against their will and most especially to Dr. Nida Rioga-Relativo for footing the bill for our dinner reception at the only revolving restaurant in Las Vegas and Dr. Randy Relativo for letting us use and abuse his several days old Cadillac Escalade as our everyday transport. Oops! Thanks as well to the Little White Wedding Chapel for being the venue of this very wacky experience.  OK...now the story is complete.