O hai, guys! One year later and I'm finally writing my review. Nothing personal, I just like to procrastinate.
We were married here on June 18th, 2011. My husband and I started to plan a more "traditional" wedding then realized we hate all that crap and since I have family in Vegas (including a grandmother who wouldn't be able to make the trip to California), we decided to have a Vegas wedding. And where did I turn for help deciding where we should get hitched? Yelp, of course!
I was back and forth between this chapel and another highly rated one, but the quirkiness of this place won me over. Also nice was the included webcast of the wedding, since I knew a lot of our family from California wouldn't be able to make the trip. Oh, and I wanted to see our names in lights. Suck it, people who get married and don't have their names displayed on a giant screen over Las Vegas Blvd.!
I was really leaning more towards a Princess Bride or Elvira wedding, but my husband wasn't too stoked on that and the price was just high enough I didn't feel like it was worth convincing him. We decided on the traditional ceremony in the main chapel, but still wanting something classic Vegas, I contacted the chapel and asked if it was possible to have Elvis make a cameo appearance. They were so friendly and helpful. I decided to use a traditional officiant for the ceremony and then we arranged to have fog and lights come on after our first kiss and then Elvis would come out and sing "Viva Las Vegas" to wrap up the ceremony with some Vegas cheese.
I kept it a surprise from my husband and it was worth it. He was so confused when suddenly lights starting flashing and fog poured out of the ground, followed by Elvis in a gold glitter jacket. We had a good time watching the wedding DVD again and laughing at his confusion.
Anyway, day of the wedding we arrived and were checked in quickly. The chapel, having made a note that the Elvis was a surprise, even helped me get my husband out of the room so I could sign the paperwork and go over the Elvis details with them again. There is a waiting area outside for your guests to wait and it is shaded with misters, but they were nice enough to let my grandmother in the chapel a bit early to avoid the heat. I was introduced to my coordinator, but I pretty much knew how it was going to happen so I just told him what I wanted and we were set. Sidenote: Apparently the webcam behind the bride and groom is always on, so all of my virtual guests who signed in a little early got to see me dictating the ceremony to the coordinator and the officiant and of course made fun of me for it. Worth it!
The ceremony itself was wonderful. They let us select our own music to walk down the aisle and it's okay to use a flower girl as long as you pick up the petals after the ceremony (we convinced my little cousin she would have to do this because all flower girls had to pick up the petals after the ceremony).
I would like to say how much we -- including all of our guests -- loved our officiant, Reverend Robert Greer. We weren't too particular about vows, so we decided just to let him say whatever he wanted and oh my, did he say it. If you can request him, do. I'm sure all the officiants are wonderful, but he was so kind I can't imagine anyone else marrying us. We really got lucky with him.
As planned, Elvis came out and sang after our kiss and that was the time when everyone got to leave their seats and congratulate us. It was a perfect ending.
The photographer immediately took over and did a wonderful job posing us for photos with Elvis, our guests, and of course each other. They have nice grounds for scenery and it's pretty painless, even when you hate photos like we do. My cousin is a wedding photographer, so she brought her camera and they allowed her to take seated photos during the ceremony, but they wouldn't allow her to take any posed photos in the chapel or with Elvis. No biggie. We took some outside.
Throughout our entire experience at Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel we were treated like we were the only people that mattered. For a place that cranks out so many weddings a day, that's important. We never felt like we were a number or cattle. They have their timing down to an art.
You guys, weddings are supposed to be about you and your future spouse. Don't let other people tell you what kind of wedding to have, and omg, don't spend $20,000 on a one day party if you don't care about all that attention. Buy a house instead. Or a car. Or a ferris wheel. I am so glad we chose to get married here. It was easy, quick, painless, and required barely any planning on my part.
Tip: They do offer reception facilities here, but we decided to take our party of 30 a five minute walk down the street to the Florida Cafe for a Cuban buffet.
Another tip: Use EarthCam for a reliable back-up webcam.