I mentioned Margarita and I married in Vegas. We did 2 scouting trips. We checked out every major hotel on the strip. Most of the hotel chapels were nothing more than a wing or a few rooms of the Hotel, redone as a chapel. And most of the Hotels wanted you to use thier event and hospitality service. After checking everything out, only 2 appealed to us. Getting married in St. Marks square at the Venetian and Mandalay Bay's Chapel next to the beach.
At St Mark square (2nd Floor of the Venetian, far end) is a large open area. There are some very wide stairs over the canal. Usually they set you up there. It's cheap, some nominal fee (like $200).
We opted for the Chapel at Mandalay bay. It was more like a "regular" church wedding, and not at all cheesy. We chose these places based on how they "reflected" in my bride-to-be's eyes. She melted at the look of the chapel and the surrounding area. There are a few different levels. We opted for the "middle" one where we did not stay at Mandalay bay. It did include a photographer, and they had the proofs ready by the next day.
After checking out most of the hotels, we started looking at resturants in the Hotels to hold the reception. Most of these have back rooms for receptions. I can't remember the name of the resturant, Aqua-something, on the 1st floor of the Venetian. The manager showed us what she could do, then looked at us and said, nope. You need to go upstairs to Caneletto. She was right.
Caneletto has an "upstairs". It over looks St. Marks in the Venetian.
We did have to arrange for a few things. The wedding cake had to be delivered.
We did arrange for several limos to get us from Mandalay Bay to the Venetian. And we forgot to have music...
Total cost for Wedding, Hotel Rooms (we payed for several), reception for 50, limos, etc, was around $8K. We had an afternoon reception, not a sit down dinner. And I think most of our guests liked that fact that after the wedding, they were in Vegas!
And more than a few Pelicans attended!
