Las Vegas Weddings!

[julabean]

Date: 7/29/2008 4:47:00 PM
Author: FrekeChild

ETA: What kind of shoes were they Julabean?

For the life of me I can''t remember the brand - I found them at DSW, which normally has really good deals, but they were a REALLY good deal. Originally like 250 and I got them for 75 or something? Which was still more than I had planned to spend on wedding shoes the day before we left for Vegas! I wore them out a few days before we got married in order to break them in a little bit and the heel broke within an hour. I was so mad. They were the perfect shoe! Peep-toe, 2 1/2 inch heel, the perfect color of beige/ivory that matched my dress, but wasn''t too matchy matchy... Sigh. Oh, well. Wasn''t meant to be.

 

[choro72]

Lauren, I''ve seen your photos, and I know you had a fantastic wedding. I was actually wondering how your experience was, and now I realize I didn''t think about the timing factor. You''re probably correct about the crowd. We went to see Bellagio on Memorial Day weekend, so of course there were tons of people! I''m so glad that it was intimate and nice for you, and now that I know the trick I''ll pass it on to people who are thinking of a Vegas wedding. If we could have our wedding in November or something like that, we''ll probably have a nice intimate wedding too.

We''re going to be married at UC Irvine. "University!? How is that intimate??", you''d say, and you would be correct! But our date is two weeks after graduation, maybe the first week of Summer session on a Saturday so student body count will be minimal

We''ve already paid the deposit, but I have to say right now I would prefer to have a ceremony with only our immediate family.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 7/29/2008 6:42:19 PM
Author: choro72
Lauren, I''ve seen your photos, and I know you had a fantastic wedding. I was actually wondering how your experience was, and now I realize I didn''t think about the timing factor. You''re probably correct about the crowd. We went to see Bellagio on Memorial Day weekend, so of course there were tons of people! I''m so glad that it was intimate and nice for you, and now that I know the trick I''ll pass it on to people who are thinking of a Vegas wedding. If we could have our wedding in November or something like that, we''ll probably have a nice intimate wedding too.

We''re going to be married at UC Irvine. ''University!? How is that intimate??'', you''d say, and you would be correct! But our date is two weeks after graduation, maybe the first week of Summer session on a Saturday so student body count will be minimal

We''ve already paid the deposit, but I have to say right now I would prefer to have a ceremony with only our immediate family.

That''s so cool, Choro - is there a chapel on the campus?

I''ve been to a wedding on campus here at SMU in Dallas, and it was beautiful - and especially meaningful for them since they met on Orientation day before their Freshman year.

It sounds like you''re going to have a lovely wedding, and if it''s a weekend during summer session, you shouldn''t see too many strangers around.

 

[FrekeChild]

Ok. Question. What is the deal with getting the marriage license and filing it and everything? Do you do it the same day or the day before? Does the hotel help out with that in any way?

 

[julabean]

Date: 7/29/2008 10:42:13 PM
Author: FrekeChild
Ok. Question. What is the deal with getting the marriage license and filing it and everything? Do you do it the same day or the day before? Does the hotel help out with that in any way?

The marriage bureau is located down near Fremont street. It''s open from like 8 AM to midnight and there was a very long line when we showed up around 11 am. We picked our marriage license up on Thursday and got married on Saturday. I can''t remember if you have 3 days to file it or 30. You don''t need a blood test. You walk in, fill out a form each with your address, previous marital info (if any), your parents names, and then you file it with the clerk. You sign it, he gives you the copy, and you give it to your hotel wedding coordinator. Just be sure that all your info is correct - there were people who were at the window getting helped and they couldn''t remember their OWN MOTHER''S NAME. DH kept making fun of them and then lo and behold, when it was our turn, he''d forgotten to put our condo number on the address! Lame-o.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 7/29/2008 10:42:13 PM
Author: FrekeChild
Ok. Question. What is the deal with getting the marriage license and filing it and everything? Do you do it the same day or the day before? Does the hotel help out with that in any way?

The Bellagio sent us in their limo the day before. As Julabean mentioned, it''s downtown and it was quite honestly a very simple, and quick, process!

 

[pjean]

Date: 7/29/2008 10:42:13 PM
Author: FrekeChild
Ok. Question. What is the deal with getting the marriage license and filing it and everything? Do you do it the same day or the day before? Does the hotel help out with that in any way?

I would be unwilling to do it the day of. Pretty much every Vegas wedding horror story I''ve heard starts "the day of the wedding, we went to the marriage license bureau, and..."

 

[mercoledi]

I didn''t get married in Vegas, but I did go to an emergency wedding there! A friend got called up for active duty and had to plan a wedding on 10 days notice. Since they were in Phoenix Vegas was an easy choice. It was truly one of my favorite weddings ever.

The wedding was poolside at the Paris hotel. It was the end of March and simply gorgeous; bright blue sky, warm breezes, a far cry from Boston in March! As for the technical details:

There was a Bachelor/ette/party/RD the night before at one of the restaurants at the Bellagio. DH an I flew in late that night, so we missed all the crazy

The next day we had breakfast (lunch for us east-coasters) in the Paris at the buffet then were free to wander a bit. At this point the bride was having her hair and makeup done in the hotel salon with her mom and friends while the groom was driving all over the city trying to find a tux.

They had rented a hard-sided cabana by the pool which was just awesome. We had private deck chairs, TV, radio, cooler, refreshment baskets, the works. The cabanas were surrounded by little gardens right next to the Eiffel tower. There was some serious chillin'' going on before the ceremony. Eventually we broke it off to get all dolled up and arrived back (in the nick of time; I am consistently late to weddings and funerals!) at the cabanas for the ceremony. It was a beautiful ceremony with the bride and groom under a makeshift chuppa- a prayer cloth the bride bought in Israel held aloft by their four parents. After the ceremony there was a break for drinks/gambling before dinner at another hotel (Drai''s?).

So, the good? It was soo nice, the flowers, the setting. Loved it.
The bad? Two big things. 1. the Rabbi who met the couple about 15 minutes before the ceremony got the bride''s name wrong in the first two minutes of the ceremony.
2. There was no real photography. They paid for both a photographer and a videographer, but somehow there are no pro pictures of the wedding; something happened and they were never actually taken or were lost. They have the video, and they have literally hundreds of shots from the 20 guests, but no pro photos. I think they did eventually get their money back for that. It double stunk because the photog was right in front of the rest of us for everything, so we have plenty of pictures of the back of him

. On the upside, they ended up with a very nice album and I''m honored that I took some of the shots in it.


Wow, so that got really long. Sorry. I liked the outdoor wedding at the Paris. Outdoor options at the Bellagio are really squishy and RIGHT on the strip. Not appealing.


Anyhoo... is it time for you to whip up some engagement chicken

?

 

[FrekeChild]

I''m sorry this got so long, I guess I just needed to get it out!

Ok. So probably no engagement chicken yet, if ever. He''s not a fan of roasted chicken AT ALL, but maybe engagement tacos? If I could make tacos the way his mom made them, I''d get a ring on my finger ASAP.

I''ve been doing a LOT of research the past few days, trying to figure out about how many people would come, what we''d do, where we''d stay, where we''d get married (this is WAY more complicated than I thought it would be!) and he''s been surprisingly ok with all of the wedding talk. He was the one who brought up the idea of the Vegas wedding to begin with so I guess that''s not really that surprising, but he''s always been the one to say, "We''ll talk about it when the time comes." And he''s dropped that message on me (when I asked who he''d want to be there), but he''s really been interested in it.

Like last night I was just chillin'', looking at the Vegas Strip Map and trying to figure out...well everything, and he looks at me and says, "You know why I want to get married in Vegas?" So I look up and say, "Why?" and he replies, "Because it''s kind of OUR place, you know? And I know that you want a small wedding, and this would be an easy way of keeping our numbers down without anyone really bugging us about it. And I want you to be happy." Which made me all sappy and I redoubled my search into the Vegas wedding effort.

Then later he asks me how much this stuff is all costing-the wedding packages and stuff, and I told him around $1,200 (we don''t want anything fancy-like the $23,000 Wynn wedding-GAH!) and he asked if I thought we would get any financial help with it because it''s not likely we could pay for it ourselves being that we''re both students (for now) and all. I told him that it was very likely that yes, my parents would chip in big time, but that it is something we would need to be engaged to discuss with them.

And then later last night, we were lying in bed about to fall asleep when the ering somehow came up, and he asked (in a very careful tone of voice) what shape stone I wanted. (Oh! I remember I ask him if he ever thought of me as a pink kind of girl because I saw a spinel that I am lusting after, and I thought it would be a pretty ering-but I''m really a blue kind of girl and he told me so) So I told him that I want an oval and a round would be my second choice, but that I want a specific person to cut my stone and blah blah blah. I told him that everything he needs to know is written down on the sheet I made up for him (stone specs, color, setting, and vendors) and that when he was ready he could do it up. I revised it recently to open up options instead of me just telling him exactly what I want so that he could get me something that he had some input on. And he mentioned that I change what I want every few months and that it seems silly to get an ering when I''m just going to change my mind soon enough. And so I told him that I was tired of thinking about it, and that I had opened my options and wanted him to have the final say in everything, and in the end I don''t care what he picks out because he has good taste and he knows me well, so I know he''ll pick out something great. So he rubs his hand along my back and he says, "It''s just a thing, you know. This right here is what is important to me. This is all I want. And I don''t mean your back, I mean you."

Anyway. Sorry to get all sappy on you! I think there is a possibility that it could happen before I think it will, and I think he''s been thinking about it more-which is kind of weird to me because he''s always been a very, "I''ll think about it when it''s going to happen" kind of guy. He said not long ago, "It''ll happen sometime. Not this month or anything though." So who knows? But at least he''s thinking about it, and ok with my research.

So back to the Vegas wedding ceremony. I think I''ve narrowed it down to 5 hotels: Flamingo (because it''s uber cheap) but they have a few weird wedding package names like "Red Hot Passion"-no comment, Mandalay Bay because of sentimental reasons, MGM Grand (although I really don''t like that they name their packages "Everlasting Love", "Always and Forever" etc, Treasure Island because it''s super close to Wynn and The Venetian where I''d like to have dinner afterwards and it''s uber cheap too, and finally Planet Hollywood because it''s close to Bellagio (dinner again) the package I''m considering is named after my favorite romantic movie-Love Actually. I threw out Caesar''s because I could get a bigger package for cheaper elsewhere, and I still don''t like the ostentatious feel I get from the hotel-which is funny because the gown I love has a very greek goddess feel to it.

So another question: Have you guys eaten at any of the following restaurants? What did you think? Worth the $$$?
Mandalay Bay- Mix, Aureole, Trattoria Del Lupo, STRIPSTEAK, Fleur de Lys
Venetian- Aquaknox, Postrio, Bouchon
MGM Grand- craftsteak, Joel Robuchon, L''atelier, Sea Blue, Nob Hill
Wynn- Daniel Boulud
Bellagio- Prime Steakhouse, Michael Mina

I''ve eaten at Postrio and am leaning towards that for the "Rehearsal Dinner", and probably Bouchon for brunch the day afterwards.

And another question: How did you guys decide who to invite? I''m having a terrible time deciding between family and friends, because I''m just not close to my family but I have a lot of friends...Any input would be fantastic.

Thank you so much for reading my novel. I really really appreciate your help guys!

 

[choro72]

Wow Freke, this is not meant to be mean in any way, but I''ve never imagined you to get sappy! I would love to hear more lovey dovey stories from you

I''ve never eaten at the places on your list so I can''t help much. My friend had his reception at Lawrey''s the Prime Rib. It was very good.
As for whom to invite, I think you should invite whomever you want there to celebrate with you. I''m inviting all of my relatives because I''m super close with them, and a few friends whom I can''t imagine without.
FI on the other hand doesn''t know any of his relatives so he is only inviting his friends (his parents are inviting the relatives whether we like it or not, but that''s another story

)

If you''re closer to your friends than you are to your family, then I would say just invite your friends. You can always have a second reception

 

[[email protected]]

Hi...just got back from my "other" wedding...we had a religious ceremony and reception on Long Island.
I say Flamingo all the way!
It was so much more beautiful than we thought it would be from the website,and the planners there are so nice. We had the reception at Ceasars but did not find the wedding chapel to be helpful at all,and 5x as much! Flamingo actually worked hard to stay in our budget, something almost unheard of in the wedding world. We did have to pay waiver fees for our own minister and photog.
I am so grateful someone on the site suggested it.
We had an Elvis ceremony which was fun. We rode the monorail from our hotel there which was also great.
We had 12 to dinner at Rao''s. It was good, but expensive, and the booking policies were kind of a pain.
You can check out our blog, www.suzanneethan.blogspot.com for pictures.

I have eaten at craftsteak, it was good, but not life changing. I like Pierro''s...it is off the strip but has great food and lovely decor. If they allowed ceremonies, I would have done the whole thing there.

Good luck!

 

[FrekeChild]

Ok Newsysuzy- you have to tell me about your photographer! I'm guessing he was independent of the hotel? How many pics did he take? About how much did he charge? You look amazing in your photos! So joyous! Beyond happy. And everyone looks so excited! Seriously, beautiful pictures! Who did your hair and makeup? And what hotel did you stay at?

ETA: I'm leaning towards craftsteak because I love Tom Colicchio, and Gramercy Tavern. But I'm going to have to give that a lot of thought.

choro I know I know...I'm just not the sappy sort. I just asked FF if I was sappy and I got a vigorous head shake and a big fat "NO!"
I'm just having issues with imagining who to invite with such a tiny event-parents on my side are a given, his sister and her fam, maybe his dad and his wife, but then it gets complicated. Do I go aunts, uncles and cousins from our hometown? Or friends from around the country and locally? Argh. And I want it to be less than 20. So yeah. Good thing I'm not planning for real, otherwise I'd be SCREWED.

I'll make an effort to be sappier in the future, K?

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Freke, I''m going to be staying at The Venetian in September, so I''ll let you know about Bouchon. I''m sure it''s fabulous, as I''ve heard nothing but good things about it.

I love Aureole - there''s just something so cool about the wine fairies.

As far as who to invite, my Mom is the youngest of 10 kids, and frankly, I really didn''t want to have to keep 120 people entertained in Vegas, so I only invited my grandparents, immediate family for us both, close friends from Dallas, and a few friends who lived in Vegas - my total was 25 people.

We had a family reception a couple of months later in my aunt''s backyard looking over Mount Rose.

 

[FrekeChild]

OMG LTP that is hilarious! My mom is ALSO the youngest of ten! Her oldest sibling is 20 years older than her, and all of her siblings have at least 2 kids and then all of them except 3 (developmentally disabled) have 3 or more kids each-and some of my mom''s nieces and nephew''s children are older than I am, and have multiple children themselves. I literally have hundreds of cousin''s from her side.

I''m not even thinking about them because we really aren''t that close because they live all over the country. It''s my dad''s side of his family I''m worried about. My aunt and uncle live in town, as well as their son, his wife and their college age daughter. But two of their other kids have 4 kids each and live on the East Coast. Plus my godmother/cousin who also lives on the east coast(who isn''t married and doesn''t have kids, but still). And then my step/half brothers-there are two of them-one is in Cali with his wife and three kids, and the other is in the South with his wife (evil biatch) and their 4 kids.

So I''m debating the family that lives here in town that I see normally versus my friends who I love as though they are my family.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

So how is the food at Aureole? I''m excited to hear what you think of Bouchon. I love love love Thomas Keller and in awe of him and his food and his culinary philosophy. So I think we''re going to have to eat there at some point if we do this. Plus I was reading something about a baguette and nutella on the brunch menu-I am SO THERE.

Thanks LTP for all of your help.

 

[pjean]

Well, you could always just invite the people on the "of course" list, and leave it at that. And if reading this sentence makes you think "but I CAN''T get married without person X, that''s insane", then that person is also on the list. If you have to think about it, don''t invite them. It''s the beauty of a small destination wedding, after all.

Off topic, I''m trying sample budgets, and I need to leave room for tax and service charge. Idiot questions:

1. Sales tax is 7.5% there, right?
2. Does that go on before or after the service charge?

It wouldn''t matter for a bill of $80, but $8000 it makes a huge difference. (Gulp...)

 

[julabean]

Date: 7/31/2008 6:22:00 PM
Author: pjean
Well, you could always just invite the people on the ''of course'' list, and leave it at that. And if reading this sentence makes you think ''but I CAN''T get married without person X, that''s insane'', then that person is also on the list. If you have to think about it, don''t invite them. It''s the beauty of a small destination wedding, after all.

Off topic, I''m trying sample budgets, and I need to leave room for tax and service charge. Idiot questions:


1. Sales tax is 7.5% there, right?

2. Does that go on before or after the service charge?


It wouldn''t matter for a bill of $80, but $8000 it makes a huge difference. (Gulp...)

Sales tax is 7.75. And my reception venue did not tax the service charge, just food and drinks and things.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Date: 7/30/2008 9:58:07 PM
Author: FrekeChild
OMG LTP that is hilarious! My mom is ALSO the youngest of ten! Her oldest sibling is 20 years older than her, and all of her siblings have at least 2 kids and then all of them except 3 (developmentally disabled) have 3 or more kids each-and some of my mom''s nieces and nephew''s children are older than I am, and have multiple children themselves. I literally have hundreds of cousin''s from her side.

I''m not even thinking about them because we really aren''t that close because they live all over the country. It''s my dad''s side of his family I''m worried about. My aunt and uncle live in town, as well as their son, his wife and their college age daughter. But two of their other kids have 4 kids each and live on the East Coast. Plus my godmother/cousin who also lives on the east coast(who isn''t married and doesn''t have kids, but still). And then my step/half brothers-there are two of them-one is in Cali with his wife and three kids, and the other is in the South with his wife (evil biatch) and their 4 kids.

So I''m debating the family that lives here in town that I see normally versus my friends who I love as though they are my family.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

So how is the food at Aureole? I''m excited to hear what you think of Bouchon. I love love love Thomas Keller and in awe of him and his food and his culinary philosophy. So I think we''re going to have to eat there at some point if we do this. Plus I was reading something about a baguette and nutella on the brunch menu-I am SO THERE.

Thanks LTP for all of your help.

Oops, I don''t know why I said ''youngest'' - my Mom is the oldest of the 10 kids. Either way, I have the same amount of family, but we''re all close, so it was pretty tough not inviting them, but they all understood.

Aureole, I''ve been a few times - once when it had just opened and I was very "oh boy, fancy restaurant, must be incredible", and to be honest, it was out of this world amazing. The second time I was there I''d developed a bit of a pallette and had a fish dish, IIRC, and it was still delicious. The last time I was there the service was off, but the food was still wonderful. I had thought that I may have just been so excited to be 19 and in a fancy schmancy place, but it turns out, the food was really good, afterall.

I''m also a Keller fan - I''ve attempted to make reservations at the French Laundry and of course not been successful. I''m hoping Bouchon isn''t so hard to get into. I''m a fan of his technique, thought I do sometimes cringe at the thought of straining sauces 20 times.

Perhaps I''m too lazy to be a Keller fan.

 

[[email protected]]

Photographer was Ron Miller, he charged 500 for 2 hours, we did book last moment.
We had a very poor experience at Bouchon, waiter was on drugs we think. I wanted to write Keller, hubby shot me down.
I have been to AdHoc in CA,(another Keller) it was great!
I would pick Craftsteak over Bouchon.
Craftsteak screwed up our dinners, but brought us every desert on the menu on the house as an apology.
Love Love Love Grammercy Tavern.

 

[[email protected]]

Oh...answers to your other questions.
We stayed at the Hilton, since we had to go to a conference the day after our wedding!
For rooms, I really like CP or Green Valley Ranch.
I did my own makeup, I had my hair done in NYC the day before and prayed it would hold.
Thank heavens for dry weather!

 

[[email protected]]

one more answer...yes we did have a cake at CP, and it was amazing,the deal of the century!

 

[FrekeChild]

So is it bad that I've decreased (my side) of the guest list to the very essentials (my parents, my mom's best friend who is really like Mom #2, and my two best friends) to be able to go to whatever restaurant I want to for the reception dinner?

So thanks pjean, for the lovely advice. I had a question for you, but now I can't remember it...

Do you guys have any general tips? I'm nervous about doing this long distance, although I think we might be going out there in December or so, and BF has said that we should go check everything out when we go. Should I call/email them in advance and set up some kind of appointment?

LTP lol, that's pretty funny about the typo.

I have an uber trained pallette (dang culinary school and all of those necessary eating trips at the best restaurants you can afford) so that makes it hard, because I want to go to the most fantastic restaurants Vegas has to offer (I made up a list of them with sample menus for BF to look at). Aureole is on that list. And Bouchon is on the list for brunch the next morning (maybe?) because I

Mr. Keller, and want to experience it-if we can. I don't think I could hack it in his kitchen by the way, I'm a little bit more like Anthony Bourdain in my cooking style (quick and easy), but I so admire his work.

Newsysuzy You guys look amazing in your pictures. He did a great job. I'm going to have to keep him on my list. Craftsteak is still on our list for reception dinner. Tom's restaurants seem to like giving away desserts. When we went to Gramercy Tavern (3 culinary students, totally scrubbed out from traipsing around NYC all day) we mentioned to the waiter that we went to CIA, and as a result we got all of the desserts on the dessert menu just on that alone. It was pretty awesome. Not to mention the black pepper ice cream. OMG, amazing.

You did an awesome job with your makeup. I kept looking at pics and thinking how great it looked. I'm going to have to go to Sephora or MAC to get it done, because I'm just not that talented and neither are my peeps who have been *guest-listed*. I can't believe you got your hair done the day before. That is amazing. Did you have to spruce it up at all the day of?

I think I'm probably going to forgo the cake, unless I can talk the p chef at whatever restaurant gets chosen would be willing to make one for us. But that's really not top on my priority list.

So....this is the plan so far:
5 nights stay at which ever hotel gets chosen for the ceremony
*Rehearsal* dinner at ESPN Zone
Ceremony at either Planet Hollywood or Mandalay Bay

*Reception* at one of the following:
Michael Mina- Bellagio
Prime Steakhouse- at Bellagio
Aureole- at Mandalay Bay
Mix- at Mandalay Bay
craftsteak- at MGM Grand
Aquaknox- at The Venetian
Daniel Boulud- at The Wynn

Bouchon for brunch the next day

and then for FF and I when that stuff isn't going on:
dinner at Postrio
Blue Man Group
A Cirque show
And....looking for other suggestions if you have any!!!

At previous trips to Vegas we've seen Blue Man Group, Gordie Brown, Zumanity, and Bite (BF's choice). And two TOOL concerts, but those don't really count. So do you guys have any suggestions? I think we'll be treating this like a honeymoon, so couple-y things are always good.

Thank you so much guys!!!I really really appreciate it!!!

 

[[email protected]]

I''ll say this....I love Mix,they have the best cocktails ever. I have only eaten the yummy bar food. The view is fabulous.
Bouchon for brunch sounds great, I hope to go back someday and try it again.

Ceremony....I love Mandalay all around.
Is Flamingo off the list? It is such a bargain.

I feel you on the food. There was a bride on here who wanted to have her dinner at Per Se!!!!!!!
It was closed on that date though.

I was really worried about the hair, but it held up pretty well. I did fluff it up a bit before. It was dry weather, that made all the difference.

Are you going to have Elvis?

Good luck!

 

[FrekeChild]

Just the look of Mix is enticing to me. Plus, the food and view sort of speak for themselves, I think.

It might be hard to talk FF into brunch, but so far he seems pretty interested. Ok, ok, who am I kidding? I''m the one who can''t get up in time for brunch. FF would be up with bells on!

Here is where it gets complicated with the dang ceremony site. Originally I had TI, PH, Mandalay, MGM, Flamingo, and Caesar''s Palace on the list. CP got eliminated because I am not a huge fan of the hotel, and the packages were pretty expensive for not getting a heck of a lot. TI was crossed off because FF didn''t like the chapel, MGM was crossed off because I don''t like the chapel, I''m just not that big of a fan of the hotel in general, and FF didn''t like the rooms(and that video they show on their website is atrocious). We have weird issues. And Flamingo was eliminated because FF didn''t like the chapel and neither of us liked the rooms. Boys have something against pink, I''ve found out. If we were getting married outside and staying at another hotel-it would be at the top of the list.

PH is around because I like the chapel, but the packages are pretty great. Plus I like that they''ll let us play our own music, and have an option of a candlelight ceremony-which I think is pretty cool. And the rooms are nice/more modern, which is more to our taste.
Mandalay Bay is basically the front runner -- we both love the chapel because of the floor to ceiling windows and more modern feel(my friends prefer it the most as well), and the rooms are really nice. Plus it has sentimental value for us, and great restaurants already inside the hotel. Which all sounds just about perfect until you get to the fact that the wedding package is cheaper than PH, but there is far less included in it. Plus the traditional music thing sucks.

FF is thinking that we''ll go to Vegas some time late this year or early next year and take a look at both, and maybe even more than just those two. I don''t want to put all of my hopes into one place, and then get there and have it suck in person.

I think it was Harriet who wanted to have her dinner at Per Se. I would love to do that. In fact our original plan was to get married here in NM, and then go to NYC for our honeymoon. FF has never been, and it''s my favorite city.

No Elvis here, I asked FF about that, and he said no way. Which is ok with me, its not like I had my heart set on it or anything. Instead I guess we''ll just get the ol'' cookie cutter minister that comes with whatever hotel it''s at.

I don''t know. I''m all excited about everything, but I keep trying to not be TOO excited because a) I don''t have a ring on my finger b)this probably won''t take place for about 2-3 years and c)I have other stuff on my plate right now. But it''s so hard to not get excited about it when FF keeps talking about it, asking questions, and being generally interested in it all.

Urgh.