Las Vegas has always had a reputation for spontaneous weddings, but for alternative couples, a Vegas wedding offers something more useful: flexibility. You can build a day that looks however you want it to. Wear what you like. Invite who you want. Keep it small. Go all out. Skip the traditions or invent your own. Vegas can take it.

It’s also surprisingly easy to plan a wedding there, even from the other side of the world.

Paperwork & Licences

If you’re travelling from the UK, the only paperwork you really need to worry about is an ESTA and your marriage licence. Applying for an ESTA takes about ten minutes and costs $21. As long as you’re staying for fewer than 90 days and hold a British passport, this usually gets you into the US without a visa. It’s still your responsibility to double-check current entry rules for everyone attending, especially if you or your guests aren’t UK citizens.

Once you’re in Vegas, you’ll need to collect a marriage licence from the Clark County Marriage License Bureau. It costs $102, and you can fill in the pre-application online before you arrive. The bureau is open every day from 8am to midnight. If you’ve done the pre-application, you can use the Express Lane. Bring valid ID like a passport or driver’s licence. You’ll both need to go in person. No blood tests, no appointments, and no fuss. As long as you’re both over 18, not already married, and not related, you’re good to go.

Planning from Abroad

Don’t worry, it’s completely normal to plan your Vegas wedding remotely and local vendors will be very used to it. Tools like email, video calls, and WhatsApp make communication easy. You can be as involved as you like in the process. Many vendors also offer planning support to help you choose a venue, book hair and makeup, organise florals, and coordinate timelines. If you’re hiring a photographer (you are, right?!), make sure you choose someone who gets your aesthetic. Vegas has endless options, but not all of them understand queer, punk, goth, glam, or alt vibes. If you’re flying in your own photographer, allow time outside the ceremony for portraits – the city gives you a lot to work with. Shooting early in the morning or during golden hour (just before sunset) is the best time as the mid-day sun can be very harsh in Vegas and in the summer months it is HOT.

Your Ceremony & Officiant

The person marrying you must be legally registered to conduct weddings in Nevada, but if you’re booking through a chapel or elopement service, this is usually part of the package. Ceremonies can be quick and simple or fully personalised. You can add your own vows, readings, music, or rituals. You can keep it legal and low-key or build something meaningful and reflective. If you’re working with a celebrant or planner, just let them know what you want.

Your Outfits

You don’t need to wear white. You don’t need to match. You don’t even have to dress up at all if you don’t want to. That’s the beauty of a Vegas wedding – anything goes and people won’t bat an eyelid. Some couples wear sequins and boots. Some go barefoot in the desert just outside the city. Some dress their kids in suits and hand them the rings.

Legal stuff aside, there are no rules.

You can do your ceremony one day and your celebration the next. You can hit the Strip or hide away in a vintage motel. You can keep your wedding private and share the photos later. You can skip dinner and eat cake on the pavement. You can take a convertible into the desert and get married at sunset. You can do it all in one afternoon, and it can still feel like the biggest day of your life.

Vegas doesn’t care what you wear, who you love, or how much money you spend. It’s a city built on reinvention. The best weddings here aren’t the flashy ones, they’re the ones where people back themselves. There’s freedom in that and that’s why we love it so much!