Lucky in Love — Your Las Vegas Theme Wedding
More than a few brides and grooms who dash off to Vegas for the exciting ceremony of their dreams want nothing more, once the knot is tied, to bring some of the glitz and the glamour back home to share with friends and family. For many, this means a Vegas-themed reception.
If a “night on the strip” is what you’ve got in mind, here are some tips for bringing the high rolling glitter of Vegas back home, without losing your focus on what the party’s really about — celebrating your wedding.
Picture this: you and your new husband pull up to the venue in a glitzy white
limousine. Following the newest trend in afterparty attire, you’re donning
a stunning white satin gown that's clearly bridal, yet not confining. Your husband
is similarly striking in his crisp white tux — or perhaps even a pinstriped
zoot suit and jaunty fedora. (Get your groomsmen in on the act with some matching
felt hats.)
Together, you sweep into the banquet hall under the bright "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. Arm in arm, you stroll down the red carpet lined with the shiny brass poles and the red velvet rope that can only signify a VIP affair.
Palm trees (or full-bodied ferns) and Corinthian columns rise dramatically from the sides of the room. Strung with twinkle lights and casino lights, they create an atmosphere that’s impossible to resist.
The guest tables feature bold red napkins on white skirted tables sprinkled with poker confetti. Gold lamé chair covers accent the look perfectly. Or perhaps you chose classic black linens and chair covers, set off with bold red tiebacks and sparkling gold chargers and cutlery.
Guests found their way to their seat thanks to elegant poker-theme
placecard holders, and signs that name the tables after famous old Vegas
casinos: The Golden Nugget, Binion's Horseshoe, Jackie Gaughan. To
leave no doubt that this was a wedding, you bypassed the party-supply centerpieces
of metallic foil sprays and stuck with glamorous, traditional arrangements of
greenery and roses.
It's your wedding, and that's plenty — no need to add entertainment to make it an event. Still less do you need to lug in the baccarat or craps tables at an event meant to celebrate your union. But if you want to, that doesn't mean you can't have a lot of fun. In fact, if you’re of the mind to do so, it’s simple to add a touch of Sin City showbiz to the proceedings with:
Costumed Caterers: Your staff will seem fresh from the strip wearing the traditional Vegas attire of white shirts, visors, black bowties and armbands. For even more pop, have a lovely showgirl or two pass out your signature martinis on elegant silver trays. Carnivale-style headdresses are Vegas at its loudest, but bright pink or blue wigs paired with fringed sequined tops are just as true to form.
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The King Lives On: why not have an Elvis impersonator circulate for photo ops with the guests, or hire some “showgirls” for a pulse-raising revue before the DJ starts off the dancing? Both options will look great on your wedding video, and you'll get a kick out watching them years later.
Tabletop Tchotchkes: a scattering of coins and a mini slot machine on every table will give guests plenty to talk about while they wait for your big entrance. Does your reception includes kids? Serve them up a Vegas-style event they'll never forget: live goldfish racing. Call up your local entertainment company and see if they offer the simple accessories you’ll need (7 foot lanes, goldfish and straws pretty much covers it). Tap a kid brother or cousin to be Howard Cosell for the evening.
Forget the clinking glasses that tell the couple to kiss (and pass on the chipped barware and dirty looks from events staff). Instead, rent a roulette wheel from your local entertainment company and ask your guests to place their bets on where the ball will fall. If the betting proves too challenging to wangle a good number of kisses from the couple, ease up on the rules and count a correctly-called even or odd number, or a correctly-called red or black.
That spectacular confection on the cake table has a bottom layer marked with crisp harlequin diamonds, topped by a second layer displaying bright hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs. What puts the finishing touches on this creation? A carnivale-style feathered topper, and the chocolate poker chips and dice you've scattered around the base. Nearby is the groom's cake — in the shape of the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, of course.
Favor your guests according to theme with personalized cigars (you could even supply the chocolate variety), clay poker chips or playing cards. Or try foil-wrapped chocolate champagne bottles, $1 lottery tickets tucked into glassine envelopes, or chocolate dice or poker chips. Need more ideas? These new and novel poker chip lighters are sure to spark some smiles.
Any DJ should know just what to do when it comes to spinning up tunes for your Vegas wedding, but if you're doing the music yourself, start with Ol’ Blue Eyes’ "Luck Be a Lady,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” and “Fly Me To The Moon,” Elvis’ "Viva Las Vegas," Nat King Cole’s “I'm Shooting High,” and Ella’s “Ace In The Hole.”
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Kellye, I am doing the same thing, my wedding is May 19th of 2007. To keep the theme alive we are useing those little inexpensive slot machines for centerpieces, and also having decks of cards and poker chips at each table for those who don’t like or want to dance. Also at a party store on town we found this giant size deck of cards (it only included the aces and kings and queens) we plan to cut out like the gueen’s and kings pictures and the ace and put pictures of my fiance and myself in them and place them aeound the reception. Our party favors are dice, chocolate poker chips and a deck of cards with our picture on them. I hope maybe these ideas may help!
Kellye,
Hi, My name is Glaphre and I live in Las Vegas, here’s some ideas I can think of for your theme wedding… While you’re in Vegas pick up matchbooks and olive picks (they have the name of the hotel on them - Treasure Island, Bellagio, etc.) at all the hotels you visit (pocket handfuls of them when the bartender’s looking the other way, nobody will care), and use those at your reception for decor. Also there is a huge (massive!) store at Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard called BONANZA (world’s largest gift shop, can’t miss it) that has a gazillion Vegas trinkets, many of them are inexpensive… What else… Hey here’s one - use an normal deck of cards as your place cards, write or print your guests names right on them. (that might be tricky - or use see-through address labels). Poker chip favors, maybe even set up a poker table at your reception for men to play for a dance with the bride! You could also go with the mobster theme - Bugsy Siegel zoot-suit, 20’s with tommy guns and all that. Good luck!
I’m getting married in Vegas as well but I’m trying to make it as non-Vegas-y as possible!
I just thought I’d tell you, that, if you weren’t already aware; you are a googlewhack
Where can I buy the LED waterproof lights? Great Idea…
Tall white ostrich feathers in eiffel vases are very Vegas and hip. Try nightclubby lighting under vase gems (look for the little LED powered lights you can put in water). Here are some great examples of this type of centerpiece:
feather centerpiece photos
more centerpiece ideas
Over the past year, all kinds of table decor (placecard holders, favors) came out in the Vegas theme; it’s much easier to accessorize than it used to be. For colors, you could stick to elegant black and white, or go with wilder colors like purple + gold or royal red + gold. Use satiny multilayered table runners. Sequins are Vegas. You can find clubs, hearts etc. confetti to scatter on tables.
Have fun with the groom’s cake: make it a hand of cards or a lottery ticket or a slot machine. An Elvis impersonator circulating would really help your guests loosen up and make for fun photos. Consider having some humorous raffles throughout the night. Live entertainment of any kind would be fun; maybe your new husband can serenade you with “Love me tender” or something along those lines.
Lighting makes a big difference with this type of wedding so see if you can’t get a pro to help you with that, even someone from a local college.
I know lots of people are putting together this kind of wedding and I hope they’ll offer you some hints! Calling all vegas-theme brides and wedding planners!
I am getting married in Vegas on September 15th and having a big reception when we get back on September 22nd. I am trying to come up with some ideas to “keep with the theme” Table decor, name cards, guest book table ect. Have any ideas that might help?