what happens in vegas, part 1

Most of you know I write this blog, mostly for posterity. I used to journal (and have a collection of them that I wrote in from age 13 to 20) and truly, truly missed writing until I landed into the blogosphere! Since I missed out on journaling (and blogging!) during our wedding two years ago, I am going to do a recap here for you all (ok, really ME) to enjoy! This series will last all week since our two year wedding anniversary is this weekend!

But first you’ll need some backstory to answer the question, why did we choose to get married in VEGAS?

Vegas? The capitol of shot-gun weddings and Elvis?

The gamer and I had been together for YEARS already, so we definitely didn’t fit the random, drunken, quickie wedding. And Elvis? Sorry Mom and Dad, Elvis is NOT for me.

I am a planner. Seriously, the gamer and I even planned our engagement. Ok, not how it actually went down, but we did decide several months before to start setting aside some money, looked at rings together, and decided we’d like to get engaged at a specific time of year (the fall). See? I’m a planner.

So I only figured that when the time came to plan my wedding that I’d be ecstatic to do so. The weekend after we got engaged I bought several wedding magazines and books, and began to berate the gamer with questions, color choices, ideas, styles, and locations.

And after several months I had decided. We were going to get married at a small beautiful castle-like site in the middle of the woods in Jamestown, NC. We’d have the ceremony and reception there…all with a medieval theme…wood floors and candles…flowers..a lake..I’d wear a princess dress, and it would be perfect. I even paid the deposit.

And then I freaked out. You see, the gamer and I are introverted. I’m not a big fan of parties or big groups of people, and I was starting to feel anxious about the details with getting all of our family and friends together, and everyone looking at US.

So I bailed.

A few days after our deposit was paid I turned to the gamer and said…

What about a destination wedding? In Vegas?

And the gamer smiled a smile of relief and said, yes.

Until that point I would have never dreamed that I would have a destination wedding, instead of the traditional church wedding that I always thought I’d have.

And like I’ve told you before, Vegas held a special meaning for us. It was the destination of Chris’s first plane ride, first cross country trip, and OUR first vacation ever.

And my parent’s had gotten married there too, over 20 years ago.

Without them I don’t think I would have known that a Vegas wedding could be planned.

And so the next day I cancelled the castle. And the next week my dad and I were on a plane to Vegas, where we spent a day visiting every hotel’s wedding chapel. If I was going to get married in Vegas it was going to have to be classy.

And when we were done I had chosen my chapel, and within a month almost all the real planning was done. It was such an easy process. And all my anxieties were gone!

And that is how we came to get married in Vegas, in front of 9 guests, who we flew out to spend a week with us there before the wedding.

The gamer and I still talk about that week. And it still is probably the best decision I ever made!