“The waiters came out with roses, and when Stephen proposed I burst into tears. The waiters and all the other patrons of the restaurant then burst into rapturous applause, whilst I was still sobbing and sniveling”!Kimberley and Stephen Moss met in 1997 and were married in Las Vegas on 2nd April 2008. The ceremony was at the Wedding Chapel at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, and the reception followed at the hotel’s exclusive China Grill restaurant. The blissfully happy couple then toasted their special day with cocktails in the Mix Bar on the 65th floor, overlooking the Las Vegas strip. Following that, the wedding party hit the casinos!
Tell us about the proposalStephen proposed over a romantic meal in the restaurant at the top of the CN tower in Toronto, Canada. The waiters came out with roses, and when Stephen proposed I burst into tears. I was mortified when the waiters and all the other patrons of the restaurant then burst into rapturous applause, whilst I was still sobbing and sniveling!
What inspired the theme of your wedding?
We decided a big church wedding wasn’t for us, and that we’d like to go away with close family for a small ceremony. We’d always fancied going to Vegas, so we decided to go for it! The colour scheme was baby blue and silver, simply based on the colour of shirt and suit that the groom chose for his outfit.
Tell us about your dress
I had a Pronovias “Agnes” dress. It was a fitted, silk and chiffon floor length lightweight dress with spaghetti straps, perfect for travelling. It also had a heavily sequined body which gave it a bit of sparkle – perfect for an evening wedding in Vegas!
Tell us about your purchasing experience
I went to London on a few occasions and had appointments at Vera Wang, Pronovias, Johanna Hehir, Candy Anthony (for funky 50s style wedding dresses), and Jenny Packham. I had finally narrowed down my choice to two Jenny Packham dresses; one was a floor length slinky evening number, and the other was a short silk ‘’Jackie O’ type dress.
My mum and I just happened to pop into Emma Bridal shop (
www.emmabrideandgroom.co.uk) in Old Swan, Liverpool, as I was looking for some shoes I’d seen in a magazine. It was then I saw
“The Dress”. It was a Pronovias dress that I hadn’t seen in the London store, and was very like the slinky Jenny Packham dress, but more
“me”. I couldn’t believe that after all that to-ing and fro-ing to London, I’d actually found my dress by accident, on my doorstep.
Describe your accessoriesI had Benjamin Adams “Marilyn” shoes, which I saw in a magazine and knew I had to have. I got them and an accompanying handbag from Elegant Steps in Oxton, Wirral (
www.elegantsteps.co.uk). I also bought a veil from there that matched my dress perfectly, but when I tried it on with the dress, I found it was a bit too much for the type of wedding we were having. So I bought a vintage looking hair slide and earrings from a supplier at a wedding show at Tatton Park, Cheshire.
Describe the Groom’s outfit
Stephen bought his grey suit from Hugo Boss in London. He was looking for a “rat pack” style fitted suit and found a perfect one there. When he saw that the style of suit was called the “Gable Vegas” style, he knew he had to have it! He paired it with a baby blue fitted Ted Baker shirt which he wore without a tie, and brown brogues.
BridesmaidsI had one bridesmaid. Again, we went all around London looking for a suitable bridesmaid dress, but found her dress in Coast (
www.coast-stores.com) by accident. It was a fitted floor length, simple silver/grey dress which matched the groom’s suit very nicely.
Did you have any other attendants; what did they wear?
The best man wore a grey Ted Baker suit, baby blue Ted Baker shirt and brown brogues.
Describe your floral arrangements
The flowers were cream roses with pink tips and were included in the wedding package provided by the hotel. I took diamante pins from the UK and inserted them into the centre of the flowers to add more sparkle.
TransportAs we were married in a hotel, we didn’t need transportation. However, a limo was provided by the hotel to take us to and from the courthouse before the wedding to pick up our marriage licence!
Were there any special moments during the ceremony?There was a baby grand piano in the wedding chapel. The pianist provided a list of standard song choices for the wedding. However, Stephen and I decided we’d like to have songs throughout the ceremony from artists that we’d been to see together in concert. So I contacted the pianist a couple of months before with a list of songs by Paul Weller, Bryan Adams and Aerosmith that we’d like him to play. He arranged this and played them beautifully throughout the ceremony.
The ReceptionWe had our wedding breakfast at the China Grill restaurant, in the Mandalay Bay hotel. We hired a private room, and had a huge circular table with all the guests around it. The restaurant staff arranged the table to my table plan, with the place cards (made by
www.paperpixies.co.uk) and the favours that I provided for them. They also scattered baby blue dried petals that I had brought from the UK across the table.
FavoursTo tie in with the Vegas theme, we had playing cards made with our names and the date of the wedding printed on the back (
www.customwedding.com) which I put into silver organza bags (
www.confetti.co.uk). We also had small chocolate wedding trivia favours which I tied up in baby blue ribbon, also from Confetti. My mother-in-law bought lots of Vegas mementos – key rings, matches etc and put them on the tables as gifts for the guests.
Wedding StationeryThe invitations, memory box and wedding album were hand made by
www.paperpixies.co.uk in Wigan, and they turned out beautifully.
Wedding Breakfast
Appetizers:
Caesar salad – ginger aioli, spiced roasted cashews & crispy wontons.
Baby Lettuce salad – grilled hearts of palm, marinated artichokes, warm tempura goats cheese & Chinese apple vinaigrette.
Duck spring rolls – Chinese black vinegar sauce.
Entrées:
Pan seared duck breast – wild mushroom risotto and foie gras sauce.
Mizo Glazed Salmon – rock shrimp lo-mien stir fry.
Angus Beef Filet – crispy potatoes, whole grain mustard & hoisin sauce.
Accompaniments:
Wok sautéed vegetables and Wasabi mashed potatoes.
Desert Tri Star:
Specially designed desert sampler.
The food was served in such a style that people could help themselves and therefore could try everything. Menus were printed out by the restaurant and added to the place settings so people could tell what they were eating! The food was gorgeous.
Did you celebrate back in the UK?
Stephen’s parents were generous enough to throw a party for all our friends and family in a local social club!
Tell us about your cake For our Liverpool celebration, my mum very generously bought us a three tier wedding cake made by Terry Tang, Wavertree, Liverpool (
www.terrytangdesignercakes.co.uk). It was decorated in baby blue and diamantes to match the colour scheme of the wedding. The tiers were chocolate, carrot and banoffee flavour.
EntertainmentAt the party on our return, my mother-in-law had booked a group for us – but they didn’t turn up as they’d been double booked! The bar staff managed to get a DJ at the last minute to provide us with some music!
Special Touches
We made our own wedding rings at the Wedding Ring Workshop, in Hatton Garden, London. It was the most fabulous experience, and competitively priced. I would recommend that anyone do it (
www.weddingringworkshop.co.uk).
Big Day Beauty Tips
There are local make-up artists and beauticians in Vegas who will visit the hotel rooms and make you up prior to the wedding. However, I wanted my make up to look more natural so I booked make up lessons with Bobby Brown, Benefit and Chanel before I went and used the best bits of all of those. A hairdresser in the hotel did my hair, and my bridesmaid and I had a hair trial a couple of days before the wedding, that also served to do our hair for the hen do!
Where did you spend your wedding night?
We had an upgraded Jacuzzi suite in the hotel we were married in for the week.
Where did you go for your honeymoon?
We had a week in Las Vegas with the family. We then flew on to San Francisco for five days, drove to Yosemite National Park, to the coast to Monterey and to Los Angeles, staying in few nights at each stop. We then flew back to Vegas for three days on our own!
Photographer details
The photographer was provided by the hotel. We were delighted with the pictures and were amazed by the speed of delivery. We were married at 5pm and had an appointment at 10am the following morning to collect our photographs! Luckily, the photographers wanted to use one of our pictures for their promotion, so we got a good deal on the photos!
Did you capture your big day on film?The DVD was included in the wedding package. There were cameras hidden around the wedding chapel, filming the ceremony. We literally came out of the chapel after the ceremony and we were handed a bag containing a bottle of champagne, champagne glasses and the DVD already edited and produced! Very Vegas! The video is only of the ceremony of course, but it is cool.
How did you research your wedding?For the wedding chapel, hotel, restaurant etc there were many hours on the internet!! I reviewed tripadvisor.com and traveller photos.
For wedding dresses, invitations, favours etc I looked at lots of magazines and went to every wedding fayre I could!
Hen/Stag PartiesFor a UK hen do, the girls from work arranged a cheerleading lesson in Leeds from
www.lastnightoffreedom.co.uk, which was a good laugh.
In Vegas, the boys went off to a gun range, whilst the girls spent the day in the Spa. Then the boys went gambling at the “Pussycat dolls” Lounge at Caesars Palace, whilst the girls had a nice meal at Olive, a fab restaurant overlooking the dancing fountains at the Bellagio. Following that, we met up for a ‘HAG’ do at the Rockstar Karaoke at the House of Blues. It’s karaoke, but you’re backed by a live rock band. The whole age range of the group had a ball there. If you’re having a Vegas wedding, I’d definitely check it out, it’s on every Monday night!
NATIONAL WEDDING DAY
vin·tage
One subtle yet very important wedding task my groom happily got involved in was the selection of his wedding day aftershave.
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If you're not one of the decisive brides whose venue, proposal, or personal passion has already set the scene for your big day, then choosing a theme can be quite overwhelming: Vintage, Romantic, Elegant, Rustic, Glitz, Glamour, Enchanted, Bohemian, Beachside, City, Garden, Fairytale, Parisian, Classic…and that was just 2009!
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