Planning My Las Vegas Wedding

I'm not your typical bride: glittery-eyed, with dreams of a big, glamorous wedding. Parties aren't my thing and ogling crowds freak me out. I have no qualms with traditional, dreamy weddings, but that isn't in the cards for me. Vegas is more my style. And a Las Vegas wedding is what my husband and I had.
We're not alone. Clark County, Nevada has issued over 100,000 marriage licenses annually since 1995, earning the city a reputation as marriage capital of the world. Consequently, you can easily plan any size wedding in Las Vegas. Here is my list of tips to help make your version of a Vegas dream wedding happen:
The Ceremony.
Whatever your dream, chances are you can find it in Las Vegas. Options range from a bare-bones $50 civil ceremony at the courthouse to a $19,000+ posh ceremony at the Wynn (NOT including the reception,). If you want a themed wedding, Elvis, Captain Kirk, Liberace, James Bond, and others are eager to please. Always dreamed of a Gothic or Egyptian wedding? They have got it covered in Vegas.
The Marriage License.
Nevada does not require blood tests or waiting periods. To get a marriage license, simply present adequate documents, paperwork and payment at the marriage license bureau. When Tim and I were married, official proof of identity was not required. Beginning January 1, 2008, however, you must provide an official form of identification (drivers license, passport, etc.) to prove you are you. The Clark County, Nevada official Website has all the details (co.clark.nv.us).
Chapels fall into two categories: stand-alone and hotel chapels. To narrow your options, start by searching the chapel database at visitlasvegas or request a visitor information packet, which includes a wedding booklet. Then visit each chapel's Website, where most have photos and package details. If cost is an issue, consider a weekday ceremony, which is generally lower priced than weekends.
The Reception.
Many Las Vegas hotels house wedding chapels and have on-site reception venues and catering available, making it easy to jointly plan a ceremony and reception. Once you have a short list of preferred chapels, discuss reception options with consultants from each before making a final decision.
Wedding Attire.
Dress depends on you. Blue jeans and t-shirts, costumes, traditional wedding attire, and couture are all options. Vegas has several shopping malls -- with nearly every department store represented -- as well as boutiques, where you can purchase or rent gowns and tuxedos. We rented a suit for Tim and I brought my own dress (bought on sale at Dillards before we left St. Louis). If you are looking to buy, take a look at the shopping section on vegas.com.
Hair, Makeup, and Nails.
Like everything wedding related in Las Vegas, beauty options abound. Schedule someone to come to your room, book time at one of the multitude of spas, or go to a salon. My hair, makeup, and nails were done at an independent salon recommended by our chapel. The salon owner provided curb service -- picking me up for my appointment and returning me to the hotel afterwards. Meanwhile, Tim got a manicure at the hotel's spa. You can ask for recommendations like I did, or Google Las Vegas hair and makeup to find options.
Webcasts.
What happens when you run off to Vegas but your family had ideas of actually attending a wedding (besides a general sense of annoyance on their part)? They can attend virtually through a Webcast. Little Chapel of the Flowers (where Tim and I were married) was one of the few chapels with Webcasts in 2005, but they are increasingly common. My family in St. Louis got a chat room so they could all watch the ceremony together, each from their own homes! Pretty cool.
Everything else.
The consultant provided by your chapel can generally help with flowers, cake, photography, and anything else you can imagine. They are often part of the package, but can also be arranged a la carte. If you'd rather choose your own vendors, have a look at one of the official Vegas Websites I mentioned earlier or do a Google search for the term (together with "Las Vegas"), and you will uncover many options.
Tipping.
You are expected to tip anyone who makes your day wonderful -- the officiant, wedding coordinator, photographer, chauffeur, impersonator, videographer, salon service providers, etc. Our chapel had specific suggestions for each, as did some of the service providers.
If you are thinking of going the Vegas route, I say DO IT and live your own unique version of a perfect wedding.

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How to Plan a Wedding With Ease

There is no need to stress over learning how to plan a wedding, all you need are a few simple and effective techniques to get started. Planning a wedding can be extremely overwhelming, most brides are doing it for the first time and have no idea where to begin. My best advice to you is to plan your wedding planning activities ahead of time, make a detailed schedule of all of your wedding preparations shortly after the engagement. This way you can complete everything that needs to be done in a timely manner and there is little room for error. After doing extensive research and figuring out all that you have to do, schedule it in your agenda book or electronic organizer. You must remember to stay on top of all of the really important planning, if you have a calendar application on your mobile device you can easily create reminder alerts on the scheduled dates. Staying organized is the best way to keep the pre-wedding stress to a minimum.
Proper planning also involves having a budget to stick to. Unless you are made of money, there is no way you can splurge on the wedding of your dreams without a blink of an eye. Who doesn't want their own wedding to be everything they dreamed of, but keep in mind how difficult it will be to pay it off. Weddings are a major expense and without budgeting your money wisely, there's a good chance you will go overboard on the spending and regret it afterward. The earlier you set a budget the better, this prevents you from making any unnecessary expenditures. Do your due diligence early on, ask friends who are married how much they spent on their wedding, go on wedding sites or forums to find out the average cost from other couples and get advice from the experts. You can even flip through wedding magazines for research, they can be a great source for money saving tips.
Here is a list of some of the most common areas you will be spending money on. How to plan a wedding depends on the type of wedding you plan on having, the list can either include more elements or be reduced.

• Wedding attire
• Wedding rings
• Wedding invitation
• Wedding website
• Renting ceremony venue
• Renting reception venue
• Catering
• Wedding cake
• Entertainment
• Photographer/Videographer
• Decorations
• Floral arrangements
• Makeup artist
• Hairstylist
• Wedding favors/Gifts for the wedding party
• Transportation
• Rehearsal dinner
• Honeymoon
• Tax and/or Tips on the above
The next important step for how to plan a wedding is choosing a theme. Once you narrow down a theme for the wedding, it becomes much easier to coordinate and plan specific details. The theme should be a good representation of both the bride and the groom, make a list of your favorite colors, shared hobbies, music you both enjoy, etc. Since the wedding date has already been set, the season also plays an important role on what type of theme you are able to pick. Traditions and culture can also have a huge influence on the wedding theme, if either the bride or groom's side of the family wants to emphasize their heritage. Based on your own interests and background, use wedding related magazines and websites as a resource to give you even more specific ideas for possible themes. Since each couple is different and unique in their own way, it's important to come up with a theme that reflects your personality and style. Once you have settled on a theme, the selection process becomes a whole lot easier. Your theme can have an impact on the location you choose for the wedding, the type of food you select for the menu and even your wedding dress. Use theme colors and ideas to come up with the design for your wedding invitations, decorations for the ceremony and reception, floral arrangements and wedding favors. You will have a much clearer vision of what your wedding will look like and this in turn will make the scope of this massive project seem much smaller and easy to tackle.
Finding the right vendors should be one of your biggest priorities. Caterers, live bands, DJs, florists, makeup artists, hairstylists, photographers and videographers, each one of them play a vital role and are equally important for making your big day as pleasant and as magical as you imagine it to be. It is essential for you to choose your vendors wisely in order to avoid potential disasters. You must make sure the vendors you select from are both reputable and have a lot of experience with weddings in particular. However, simply picking vendors with the right expertise is not enough. Remember this is your big day so it's crucial that you stick to your guns about specific details when you meet with vendors to discuss your wedding plans. It's very common for vendors to make suggestions that will either cost you more money than you planned on spending or that goes off in a completely different direction than what you had originally envisioned. If this should occur, you must remain adamant about your initial idea and stay within the budget you set for your wedding. Make a list of possible vendors in the area and then start negotiating, there is always a way to get what you want at a decent price. Don't be afraid to let them know that you are in talks with other vendors and you are still in the process of making a final decision. When you finally settle on which vendors to use, make sure the contract covers all bases before signing. It's also important for you to stay in contact with them prior to the wedding to make sure they have all the specific details figured out, don't expect them to come fully prepared as soon as the contract is signed.
The closer you get to the big day, the more nerve racking and stressful it will be for you to plan your wedding. The key is to focus on and really get the important details of the wedding out of the way before the invitations go out so you have the time and energy to put out any fires that might arise after. All of the important details have already been covered previously so now you must learn the final steps for how to plan a wedding as the big day draws near. You will need to deal with setting up a gift registry, handling RSVPs, responding to inquiries about the venue location, transportation, accommodations of the wedding guests and so on. In addition, during this time you will also need to finalize all of the preparations with the vendors, apply for a marriage license, write your vows, plan the rehearsal dinner, go in for dress fittings and worry about a bunch of other things. Everyone will come to you if they have a question and by this time you will undoubtedly be pulled in a number of different directions.
Wouldn't it be great if you were able to answer everyone's questions just once leaving you with enough time on your hands to deal with other more eminent problems that need your attention? The best way to effectively communicate with all of your wedding guests without having to repeat yourself over and over again is to have a wedding website to relay the information for you. A website is also a wonderful tool to help you manage RSVPs, direct people to your gift registry, give your guests precise directions for getting to the ceremony and much more. You can even build an FAQ page if you are asked a question that you think will be helpful to others. Simply tell everyone that all of the information they need is on the website, you only do the work once and the burden of attending to the needs of family and friends will be lifted off your shoulders. If any changes were to occur after all of the invitations go out, you can easily update your website and contact your guests about it all at once. It's the perfect solution for reducing the amount of stress that you will already be dealing with as you get closer to the big day.

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Practical Ideas for Having a Cheap Wedding

Wedding is a big issue not only because it starts marriage life but also it may be costly and be stressful. People go with caterers and wedding planners to save themselves stress so they can just enjoy things. But many couples are on a tight budget. Trying to save money or have a cheap wedding will have to cause extra stress. But it's totally doable and it's easy if you do it right. There are many ways to cut costs and save money. But generally, keep your wedding simple, casual & personalized, DIY as much as you can and buy at cheap. Let's see more detailed ideas.
Ceremony
Save on the venue by not picking a normal wedding venue. If you go to a church, some churches have great deals or you may even not have to pay to rent it. My friend had hers at her mother-in-laws church and it is $300 for the rental of the church, to walk down the aisle, reception room, stereo system, projector plus 6-foot tables, table cloths, plates, glasses, decorations and people to come in and set it up, and take it all down. So try to look into something like that, where you can save a lot of money.
Try having your wedding in a friend/family members back yard or if you know someone who has a big place with a large estate, or a landscaped yard where you don't have to pay for the rental of the lot, like a gazebo or a local park. Call to see if you need to rent a pavilion or get a permit; these fees are usually cheap. A deck or large porch could be decorated beautifully, and you could use lawn furniture and steps as seating so you wouldn't have to rent chairs.
You can also get married at the court house by a judge in his chambers that's what we did then we have an actually formal ceremony that night. Most court houses have a list of ministers that do it in their homes for donation only or at your home for a small fee. Go to your local court clerk's office for info about a judge marrying you.
Attire & Beauty
Shop online for a wedding dress to get a great discount. There are a lot of websites offering discount or cheap wedding dresses. Advertise on the radio or the newspaper. Let sellers know that you're looking for a wedding dress. Tell them what size, style, color, and type of material. Or you can have a seamstress make your dress or get one a little cheaper.
If you are not concerned about being too formal, let the bridesmaids and groomsmen pick something with your colors in mind to wear, make sure to have a time to see their choices because at the end it's your wedding.
Have a friend who is talented do the hair and makeup or just do it yourself. I swear by mineral makeup it works wonders.
Cake
On the cake don't go with an actual baker, go to your local food store to their bakery and ask about their cupcakes or enlist the help of family/friends to bake a cake for you. Cupcakes are also another way to go. Most importantly research what you want and price around to save money.
You can go to the Wilton cake decorating website and learn how professionals assemble cakes (it's easy). Then you can buy round cakes in different sizes and assemble them. Much cheaper than even the cheapest professional wedding cake, and still professionally made and decorated.
Other simple ideas will also help you save on the cake. Order a small one or two-tiered cake and then supplement cake with a larger sheet cake. Keep the add-ons simple. Use fresh flowers, not sugar ones. Reuse ceremony flowers for the cake table. Skip exotic fillings like guava and mango.
Flowers
On flowers, a big budget breaker believe it or not. Silk flowers, silk flowers, silk flowers. Make the bouquets, boutonnieres, etc., yourselves...you get permanent keepsakes and don't have to pay the labor costs of a professional florist.
If you want real flowers, you can get them cheaply at the supermarket, Sam's Club, etc. Use flowers that are in season when you are getting married. If you want cherry blossoms you need to get married in the spring. Also go with colors that are easy to find. White, reds, purples...etc. If you want ivory roses you're going to pay to have them shipped in from another country. Also find out from whatever florist you go with what flowers cost per stem. Calla Lilies cost more than Orchids and Orchids cost more than roses. Roses cost more than a carnation and so on. Make sure if you want lots of flowers you are picking one that is cheaper per stem or you could end up with a $250 bouquet just for the bride... then you have to match it to the rest of the bridal party. For orchids and calla lilies our flower bill topped $2500.00. That's JUST flowers. Many of your local florists can help you with a budget on your flowers. Go to them and see what flowers are available in your colors. Use 1 flower for most things, because the more flowers you use the more expensive it will get.
Centerpieces & Decor
Decorations for your locations will also be costly. I went to one wedding where they had it in her father's backyard, in the gazebo overlooking a pond. They decorated with tulle, had fold out chairs, an isle runner, with fake petals and the front of the altar decorated with potted flowers. After the ceremony these potted flowers were rushed to the reception area and decorated the head table. That saves whenever you can do a two in one decoration. Try using 2 or 3 fake flowers in vases for your centerpieces. Or how about renting bowls and filling them with water. Add a few colorful stones to the bottom, and a few floating flowers and floating candles. You can also fine bowls and/or vases at rummage sales and antique shops. They don't have to match as long as they match the theme somewhat. Mix and match are really in. You could have brass ones, mosaic ones, glass ones, and silver ones and it would still go together. Candles are always a cheaper way to go. You could do three pillar candles of varying sizes on a mirrored tile as well.
Reception, Food & Drink
Cutting the guest list is the biggest thing. More people you invite the more chairs you need, tables you need, invitations, centerpieces, mouths you have to feed, favors you have to get, postage, paper, time and MONEY you will have to spend! Cutting the guest list to fewer than 100 will give you a much better shot of staying at or under budget right off the bat.
Pick a place that will provide a lot of things for you so you don't have to rent tables, a tent, etc.
Instead of hiring caterers, you can also have it be a potluck reception. I know, sounds lame, but everyone can bring a dish and that creates conversation, and a wide variety of dishes. Then, it won't seem too formal, but semi-formal so you won't feel too high strung.
Instead of picking a big venue for the reception pick a family members home with enough room in the house or outside for the event, ask family members to pitch in with food like have kind of a pot luck dinner (guest will love the buffet type feel) for the ceremony if you are not going for a religious ceremony you could have the wedding and reception at the same home.
Ask for help from family & friends with donating chairs, tables. Use recyclable plates, utensils, and napkins instead of renting china. I say if it's recycled it's still more than acceptable.
Meat and cheese tray or sandwich trays, shrimp cocktail trays, fruit trays, etc., can all be found at supermarkets and in some cases getting them is worth it when you consider the time you save by not doing the work yourselves. But you CAN make these kinds of things yourselves to save money.
For food I would say keep your menu simple and do as much as you can on your own. Skimp as much as possible on the alcohol it'll cost a ton! You can go to Sam's club and get large quantities of finger food for cheap and all you have to do is warm it up. Or you could do a buffet with food made by family and friends. Either of these would be much cheaper than going with a caterer.
You might also want to think about an early ceremony and lunch time reception where you just serve tea sandwiches and it would be early enough you wouldn't have to worry about alcohol. Other simple tips you should follow: think off-peak season and save thousands; hold your ceremony and reception in one spot and skip the Saturday wedding.
Photo & Music
Found a cheap photographer and just checked around for prices on everything else. You can find photography students if you have a university nearby that would be willing to do your pictures for way cheaper than a professional. Or you could enlist the help of a good friend or family member with a high quality camera to take them for you.
Even though they are not professional they can be just as beautiful. If you look online at professional pictures taken, you can get an idea on how to pose them and then you can take them and print them at a local Walmart supercenter and they do all sizes for a reasonable rate not to mention you will have a hard copy on the memory card from the camera to put on your computer and keep and do what you wish with...
Dancing isn't necessary, but if you really want it, a friend with a good laptop does it, or using an iPod playlist instead of hiring a DJ. You'll have to research how to hook it up to speakers and what hookups and cords you'll need but much cheaper. Then you just have to pick out a play list of songs you want played. Start with the first dance, daddy daughter dance, mother son dance, etc... Have someone manning the station so they can start and stop the songs at the right time. Then just let it play on shuffle for the remainder of the reception. You can do the same thing with the ceremony. Figure out how long you need which songs to play for your party to walk down the aisle cut your songs and play them on the iPod over speakers.
Stationery & Favors
Invitations get expensive. I would recommend purchasing card stock on your own from a craft store or online. Getting it cut to the size you would like and then using a good printer to print your own. You can also find already made ones on eBay. All you have to do is run them through the printer. Walmart or Sam's Club can do prints for about.20 cent per picture.
You can make your own invitations. You can do this with creativity even cheaper than the ones from the kits. DIY is big on budget weddings.
For favors, Hershey kisses and bit sized candy bars wrapped in tulle with a bow are easy to make and cheaper than going with anything engraved.
Other simple tips can also be saving: get single-page invites to save on postage; give out one favor per couple; make your cake the favors; have favors double as escort cards.
Although planning a cheap wedding is hard job, but just following these real wedding saving tips, do it right and smart, you surely have a cheap but chic wedding on your big day.

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Where To Find Makeup Tutorials For Your Wedding Day

Are you wondering about what the perfect makeup is for your wedding day? Then maybe you should stop wondering and start looking for the ideal makeup for you. There are several resources on the net and there are also gazillions of wedding magazines that you can check out. If you've decided on the makeup that you want, you may start experimenting or start looking for some makeup tutorials on the net. Do this so that you can achieve the look that you want.
You can go to websites and read some makeup tutorials on how to apply the makeup of your choice. But I would recommend that you go to YouTube as there are millions of video tutorials available out there. You may even get some idea from the videos that you watch. What I like about video tutorials is the fact that you can actually see what they are doing instead of just imagining it. You may watch the video and simultaneously apply the makeup on your face according to their instructions.
The good thing about video makeup tutorials is that you can go back to it anytime you want until such time that you've perfected the look. If you think that your choice doesn't suit you, you can start looking for other videos on the site. As I have mentioned before, there are thousands to millions of videos in YouTube that are related to makeup and cosmetics in general.
They will also recommend makeup brands and other cosmetics that you can use. If you like their recommendations, you can start reading reviews about it so you would know if they're good for you. If you're going to do your own makeup, it would be great to know which product to use so that you would perfectly copy the look that you want. You may ask a makeup artist to help you find these products. Most of the time, these makeup products can be purchased online and from stores near you.
Go and watch those videos made by people who have thousand to millions of views. It only means that a lot of people trust their tips and skills in applying makeup. You may also leave comments under the video if you have questions regarding the product or the process that they used. Majority of these experts are more than willing to help you with your problem. So go ahead and check out some good videos on the said website.

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Wedding Makeup, Go Natural

If you have a wedding coming up, you are probably like most brides and concerned over your makeup. After all, you are going to have several photographs on your wedding day and if your makeup is too heavy or caking; your photos are not going to come out very good. Moreover, the natural look for your wedding makeup is definitely the way to go because you look your best and while you have makeup on to hide any flaws as well as making you looks fresh, you do not want your makeup to be too thick or heavy.
First, if you are not planning to have your makeup professionally applied for your wedding day, you might want to reconsider. Having a makeup artist who understands colours and the natural look can make you look and feel fabulous. Remember, choose a makeup artist that specifically specializes in natural wedding makeup, you do not want to choose one that is keen on lots of colour and glitz, because that isn't the look you want for your wedding.
Typically, the natural look for a wedding is base that hides any flaws that may be visible on your face followed by enhancing the eyes. This gives you a very polished look so that you do not feel like you are drowning in your makeup, and that way wearing it for several hours the day of your wedding is comfortable. Going with the natural look on your makeup also photographs better than very dramatic makeup. Of course, your photographer can do touch-ups to your professional photos, but many people will be snapping photos the day of your wedding.
Before your wedding day, make sure you get full beauty treatments for your skin, nails, and hair. By making sure your skin is exfoliated, hydrated, and clear, your makeup will apply much easier to your face and neck and you will look stunning. Remember, do not get a lot of sun or colour before your wedding, if you have fair skin and lay in the sun or tanning bed too long, you may end up with flaky skin.
Make sure you have several facials about once each week for about six weeks before your wedding, that way your skin is in the best shape when it comes time to apply the makeup. Don't allow stress to mess with your skin, because you know the wedding is stressful, this can cause a breakout on your face. Therefore, if the weight of the wedding is stressing you out, have a massage or two so you can relax, which will keep your skin looking better when your muscles are relaxed.
The week before the wedding many brides have trouble sleeping, which of course can lead to dark circles under the eyes. Therefore, if you are having problems sleeping, drink some relaxing tea such as chamomile or valerian as it will help you to sleep. On the day of your wedding, your makeup artist will not have to attempt to hide dark circles or other blemishes because you will have been taking care of your skin for the previous six weeks.

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Wedding Hair Styles

When a girl or woman is going to get married this upcoming bride want to take her time in researching all the different kind of Wedding hair styles. During the day of you wedding being at the best is not enough no on this day you want to look very very special. A bride has certain expectations of this special day, from the day of being a little girl there are these dreams of how your wedding day will turn out to be. Not only for herself but of course for her upcoming husband and not to forget for the whole world that is going to see her that special day, she wants to be extra ordinary beautiful. Having the right coiffure is most important part of her total package.
Wedding hair styles are taking a big hype these days because just like good looks in general also the looks on your wedding day are of great importance for most of the upcoming brides. There are many different bridal hairstyles even many countries employed their own kind of bridal style. For example in Japan the brides use to wear their bridal hair in a way of raising up their hair in a special manner. In Islamic countries the brides have the most beautiful coiffures during the ceremony hidden behind veils so at that moment nobody can see the beauty of this all, this will be kept a secret and will be preserved for the husband to enjoy when he will see his new wife for the first time.
Many barbers in the Western World have themselves get specialized in the different wedding hair styles. Many of these barbers only practice these special hairstyles because of the complexity of it. You can imagine that only the fact of keeping the coiffure in the same condition the whole day is kind of a challenge and needs a lot of expertise from a barber. Not all barbers are qualified to know what the best manners would be to achieve this. Therefore and because of the long duration of building the kind of hair style needed for the wedding day the cost of such a style are very expensive.
Whether raised up hair or maybe making a topknot that will be the choice of the upcoming bride to been made. The barber will be the man or woman to make all of it as a great performance. This task is a huge responsibility for the barber because you cannot take the risk of ruing what the day of the bride that normally only happens ones in her lifetime. For a bride the Wedding hair styles are very important because of course it supposed to be the most beautiful day in her life.

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