These days I get quite a few emails from readers asking for advice, but I still clearly remember one of the first couples who wrote me. Neal and Bobby had a tall order: they wanted to have a midnight wedding ceremony during their short layover in Las Vegas before flying on to Asia. The date was significant, and midnight was the only time it could happen. They wanted help finding a suitable officiant and a photographer who could capture a certain style of another elopement they saw on LVW — could I help?
I knew right away who to recommend, and I did so, with great enthusiasm. I didn’t hear anything about how it went until recently, when I saw the photos of Bobby and Neal’s midnight elopement and I nearly keeled over from the romance. Their ceremony was simple, meaningful and it made me really happy to see that everything came together just as they had hoped. A beautiful reminder that it’s not necessarily where a wedding is or how it looks that holds the power, but rather who is there and what is said.
Why Neal and Bobby Chose Las Vegas:
We wanted a lightning trip where we could get everything we wanted with minimal stress or fuss. Also, we had already booked our flight out for Indonesia from LA for the next day. The wedding plans actually grew from there. We realized that if we got married at midnight on 4/11 we could lock in the date of our 10 year anniversary and still fly to LA Â in the morning. Where else could you make that happen but Vegas?
We chose Aria because we were attracted to the modern, classy look of the CityCenter area and wanted to capture that vibe in our wedding.  We had visited it before, and also checked out more pictures online, so we had a good idea of the space. We knew our way around Vegas, so it was easy to plan without actually being there. We’re very happy with how it all turned out.
The Ceremony  — Outside Jean Georges Steakhouse at Aria
We scouted out Aria and a few other CityCenter spots the night before to hone in on a specific location. We found a beautiful spot outside of Jean Georges restaurant there and had our officiant, Angie, and the photographer, Brandon, met us there at about quarter to midnight. It was an iffy proposition because we didn’t book the spot or anything—we just thought we’d do our thing and hope we didn’t get the boot. Our back up plan was to use our suite at the Cosmopolitan if that failed.
Angie did a great job presiding over the ceremony and we each wrote our own vows…which were of course only revealed to each other at that moment. After 10 years together and planning the event together, we wanted to keep a few surprises to keep things fun. We also didn’t see each other all glammed up until the night of our wedding. Although the ceremony was brief, about 10 minutes, it felt very intimate, as if the moment and space were truly ours only.
Reception — Secret Pizza at Cosmopolitan
Our whole honeymoon was a celebration, but at around 2 or 3am, after our photographers left, we headed over Secret Pizza in the Cosmopolitan and grabbed a slice. That was our first meal as husband and wife!
Favorite Wedding Memory
The best part was definitely the ceremony itself. We felt great and ready for our moment. Putting our feelings into words and making a statement of love and commitment to each other was a truly special moment. It felt intimate, special and authentic — despite literally being outside of a restaurant. Gladly, we were not shooed away, and given the late hour, there were no distractions. Everything went off without a hitch.
VENDOR + VENUE DETAILS :
PHOTOGRAPHER . Gin & Sake Productions, memberss of the LVW photography directory
CEREMONY VENUE . Outside Jean Georges Steakhouse at Aria
RECEPTION VENUE . Secret Pizza at Cosmopolitan
OFFICIANT . Angie Kelly of Peachy Keen Unions / FLORAL . Gaia Flowers / BRIDAL FASHION . dress – David’s Bridal / HAIR + MAKEUP . Makeup in the 702 / GROOMSWEAR . The Black Tux