Recently, I traveled to Las Vegas with my mother to "attend" a wedding of some close friends of the family. When I say "attend" I of course mean that without my mother, there wouldn't be a wedding. My mother was the officiant. Apparently, it is not difficult to become a minister in the eyes of the State of Minnesota, and that legal status also extended to Las Vegas.
This was a wedding unlike any I've attended before. It was small, so much so that we took a group photo with the wedding party and every guest in attendance. But it was quite possibly one of the sweetest weddings I've ever experienced. It was overflowing with joy and appreciation.
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| Everyone in attendance, except me (behind camera) |
The bride and groom met in high school and were sweethearts throughout. After graduating, he joined the Navy and she went to college. They wrote letters and attempted to stay together, but life took them in different directions. Years later, my mother was friends with both of them through Facebook, and they reconnected. They spent hours talking and though he was back in Minnesota and she was in Oregon, they were closer than ever. Eventually, he proposed outside the Starbucks in the Minneapolis Airport on one of her arrivals in town because he couldn't wait any longer.
The wedding took place in their suite in the Monte Carlo. There was little in the way of pomp and circumstance and no need for show. Friends came in jeans and had a seat for the short (about 5 minute) ceremony where my mother rehashed the story most of us knew. The bride went out of her way to create a personal touch in the room, creating all of the decorations by hand including the feather bouquet she carried.
Bucca di Beppo take out was ordered for dinner and the cake was purchased at Costco (and decorations added by the bride). But no one was there for the food or the decor so there was no need to take out a second mortgage for this wedding. After the wedding, we went to the strip and took photos of the two of them as they enjoyed each other and a city they both love.
Las Vegas has a reputation for having quickie weddings that don't last. The reputation of treating the institution of marriage as if it was part of a fling. A town for floozies and addicts. That was no where near the experience created that day. The focus for the wedding was their upcoming life together. The money that could have gone toward a large, extravagant wedding, instead went to build their marriage. I was honored to be a part of it, and glad that I could capture it for them. Knowing how creative the bride is, I am sure she's found many ways to display the effortlessly beautiful day that it really was.
If every wedding could be like this Vegas wedding, maybe there would be higher success rates.
Enjoy.
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| I love that her ring fit inside his |
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| She added the poker chips to her shoes |
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| Her shoes and bouquet |
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| My mother reading their vows |
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| Enjoying the view |
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| Signing the marriage certificate in "the biggest bed in Vegas" |
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| First Dance |
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| Inexpensive Costco cake which was delicious |
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| Bellagio Ceiling |
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| Dancing on the moving sidewalk |
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