Listen, if loving Vegas elopements is wrong then I don’t ever want to be right. When Audrie and Morghan decided to get married, they knew early on that a big, fancy, expensive wedding was not for them. They wanted to do things entirely on their own terms (and on their own!) and so Vegas was the perfect spot for them.
Inspired by (in their own words) sexy, seventies vintage cowgirls, they planned their wedding with a $5000 budget (which included the honeymoon!) and a goal to have a wedding that would kick their marriage off as they meant to go on.
Amy and Alex’s wedding is a little different to a lot of the Vegas elopements we feature, because they didn’t actually have their ceremony photographed. However, I’m pretty sure you’ll agree that their post-nuptial portraits by the iconic Ashley Marie Myers are epic enough to publish all on their lonesome!
Their look for the day was kind of sparkle meets cowboy, with Amy rocking a gorgeous midi length all-over silver sequin Ganni dress, and Alex in an authentic cowboy hat and boots and vintage bolo tie.
“We met in a now defunct club in Southend-on-Sea”, began the bride. “We knew of each other before through mutual friends but that’s the night we really hit it off. Our elopement theme was Quentin Tarantino meets David Lynch.”
Their inspiration to elope was just the fact that they wanted to do things entirely on their own terms. Vegas gave them that and then some and luckily all their families understood and were happy for them to do their own thing. Of their ÂŁ8000 total budget, their flights were the most expensive part but everything else ended up being much more affordable than a wedding back home would have been, plus they got an amazing holiday out of it!
River and Raven are an unconventional couple in all senses of the word. Although both male (and using male pronouns) they favour a more feminine gothic aesthetic so this, and their mutual love of fantasy gaming, was the main inspiration for their November elopement.
They met online, in a forum dedicated to a fantasy video game that they both love. Neither of them were looking for a relationship at the time, especially in such an unexpected place, but they ended up falling for each other very hard and very fast.
River writes, “The inspiration for our wedding was a bit of fantasy mixed with a bit of high fashion. We wanted to incorporate our mutual interest in dramatic fantasy since it was what brought us together, but we also wanted the ceremony to be lighthearted, a little silly, and stress free, so we combined the two contrasting concepts.”
You probably know Sophia Hilton already – bad ass business babe behind the iconic Not Another Salon on Brick Lane. She even has her own series on BBC Three (I’ve definitely not cried watching those makeovers… Oh no ma’am). Married to Jorel for five years, the pair decided it was time to celebrate so zipped over to Sin City for a vow renewal to end all vow renewals.
Look up ‘Rock n Roll wedding’ in the dictionary and there will be a photo of these two right there.
“We met in the back of a taxi, drunk, at 6am”, Sophia told us. “Shortly after, we moved to Madagascar together to volunteer for six months. We then moved to England, got married, opened a hair salon and had a baby. We are now planning to adopt. We decided to renew our vows to have the wild version we couldn’t have with the family the first time. Going OTT together was so fun. Having our reception at Sapphire Strippers was super funny, I mean Jesus, we did everything not be parents for one night and really lived a fantasy life!”
Betty and Luke booked a holiday to California and Vegas, got engaged at Disneyland and then decided to elope in Vegas a week later!! As it was an elopement, they kept things pretty simple, while adding a few little Disney touches to make it feel personal. Luke’s parents were on the trip with them so they surprised them by telling them they were getting married the morning of!
“Our inspiration was probably Rock n Roll Bride!” Betty began. “I’d seen previous elopements and loved the dazzle of Vegas and the way these weddings seemed to celebrate the couple instead of hyped up tradition. We were inspired by these couples that tailor the day in their own creative way reflecting who they are.”
The the beginning of their engagement, Cleone and Richard were planning a more traditional wedding, but the stress and overwhelm of planning a big day soon made Cleone miserable. “Once we decided to stop planning for the sake of everyone else it became very easy,” said Cleone. “Neither of us like the spotlight, so a small gathering was perfect for us.”
They decided to plan the wedding around 8 weeks before the day, deciding not to tell anyone that wasn’t invited that they were getting married and swearing their guests to secrecy. Having to make a lot of decisions short notice stopped the couple agonising over minute details, and meant that they needed to put a lot of faith in their chosen vendors; thankfully it all paid off!
