A campy retro Vegas elopement with Elvis and "The American Dream"

The Offbeat Bride: Chelsey, Editor/Account Executive/Retail Manager

Her offbeat partner: Mike, Production & Inventory Manager

Date and location of wedding: Viva Las Vegas Weddings, Las Vegas, NV — April 8, 2016

Our offbeat wedding at a glance:

We live in Colorado and our family is on the east coast. We decided to have a planned campy retro Vegas elopement with an Elvis impersonator and just the two of us. Our friends/family reception is this October in Asheville, NC.

Our theme evolved on its own: The American Dream. We are huge fans of Hunter S. Thompson, who also lived in Colorado for a large portion of his life. When we think of Vegas, we think of Fear & Loathing so we chose a lot of elements from that story, with a few fashion accents from the movie.

We are both spiritual, but not religious, so we did not want to be married in a church or with a priest. We always visit '50s diners whenever we travel, so we chose the Doo Wop Diner at Viva Las Vegas Weddings in the Fremont district (old downtown Las Vegas). Our outfits were slowly pulled together and almost everything was purchased on Etsy. My favorite accessories were the Grateful Dead pins we wore that said "Cosmic Sisterhood of Hippie Chicks" and "Intl. Brotherhood of Groovy Motherfuckers!"

Tell us about the ceremony:

We truly had no idea how the ceremony was going to go. The venue didn't give many details on how things were supposed to flow until we got there. We did not prepare vows because we weren't sure if our Elvis would have something already prepared for us. Luckily, he did!

It was very sweet and romantic — we both cried a lot (another reason we chose to elope privately, haha)! Elvis sang "Love Me Tender" as I walked down the aisle. One of my favorite photos was captured of us dancing to "Viva Las Vegas!" after we said "I do." We definitely feel our wedding was super fun, special, and unforgettable. We even got to see our names on the marquee!

Tell us about your reception:

After our Elvis wedding ceremony we took our OWN photos with a tripod at The Neon Museum. Later that night we saw The Beatles "LOVE" Cirque du Soleil show. We had so much fun walking through the casinos in our wedding outfits. Everyone we passed would cheer for us! The following day, we took our Fear & Loathing-themed photos at Red Rock Canyon State Park. We also visited a few spots from the movie.

Vendors

• Ceremony: Viva Las Vegas Weddings
• Venue: The Neon Museum
• Hotel: Flamingo Resort
• Show: The Beatles "LOVE"

Gallery

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