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The
Vegas Vow Renewal Diary
How do you go about the process of planning a vow renewal? Here's
my day by day account of the planning of our very simple vow renewal
in Las Vegas, an event that turned out to be surprisingly touching
and special for both of us.--Paris
Friday
A week from tomorrow, we’ll be traveling to Las Vegas for
the Society of American Travel Writers annual conference. We’ll
be in town for a week and, while we’ve got tours, lots of
hotel and wedding chapel site inspections, and seminars on our
schedule, we’ve also got some free time. I had an idea early
today: why don’t we renew our vows while we’re in town!
We have been talking about doing a vow renewal for a long time
but there’s no place on earth easier (or with more wedding
options) than Las Vegas so this seems the perfect time. John likes
the idea (although I think he was a little worried that I might
opt for a singing Elvis…and he knows I’d then giggle
through the whole thing.)
I’m going to start researching our options and see what I
can come up with.
Saturday
Well, I said earlier that Las Vegas has more options than anyplace
on earth for a wedding or vow renewal--I now think that the city
might have too many options! I can’t believe how many wedding
chapels there are and how many options each one offers. I’m
busy printing out pages off the internet now. I want to keep the
cost down so, while some of the bigger packages are tempting,
I’m leaning toward the simple (OK, let’s be honest…I’m
leaning toward the cheap.)
I’ve got to find something to wear to the ceremony, too.
I don’t want to go the traditional wedding dress route (this
is, after all, Vegas) so I’ve got to put some thought into
it. John was talking about wearing a guyabera (a Mexican wedding
shirt) but I’m not sure…
Sunday morning
No wedding chapel decisions yet. We’re going on a full-day
tour of many of the town’s wedding chapels while we’re
at the conference, so I really don’t want to book a ceremony
at one of those since we’ll see them anyway.
I also can’t decide which day of the week I’d like to
have the ceremony on. At first, I thought that we might schedule
it for Wednesday or Thursday so one of our conference friends
could come be our witnesses (and take pictures!) but then I found
out that some of the chapels won’t let anyone other than
their professional photographers take pictures! Good grief! Back
to the drawing board on that question, I guess.
We’re arriving in Las Vegas a day before the conference starts
so we’ll have time to tour some of the wedding chapels we
won’t visit on the organized tour; I’m thinking about
scheduling a ceremony for Saturday or Sunday, although I know
weekends are incredibly busy at the chapels (and more expensive
at some chapels than weekday ceremonies.) Maybe Sunday morning
might be doable.
Sunday afternoon
I had the idea that maybe we should just remarry each other, wedding
license and all. A Clark County marriage
license is just $55 and getting a license would allow us to
see if it really is as easy as everyone says it is.
I was feeling pretty proud of myself for the plan then ran into
a roadblock on the Clark County marriage office website: they
won’t issue marriage license to couples who are already married
to each other! (It is perfectly legal to marry the same person
over and over and most destinations will happily issue you a new
license.) OK, back to the vow renewal idea.
Late Sunday
 I’ve
decided on the Little Church of the West. No, not because it has
always been popular with celebrities (Angelina Jolie married there)
but it looks really cute on the website. It’s also not that
far from The Mirage, where we’ll be staying. It’s far
south on the Strip, not downtown where most of the freestanding
chapels are located.
Monday
I called the Little Church of the West to see if we need to bring
our marriage license to have a vow renewal. The lady was very
nice on the phone and said that, if we had it, we could bring
it but that they also had forms on hand we could use to provide
all the information on the ceremony (when, where). I think I’ll
bring it, just in case.
I also think I’ve decided on a wardrobe: a white t-shirt
I just had made for the conference with red Swarovski crystals
(OK, they look like rhinestones, but the site said they’re
crystals) that spell out “Lovetripper.com.” Yes, it
is blatantly commercial but I’m proud of the site and would
like it in our pictures. (Hey, if Angelina Jolie wore all black
to her wedding there, I can wear a rhinestone t-shirt!) Now I
just have to help John pick out something to wear.
And I’ve got to settle on a day and time for the vow renewal,
especially if we’re going to have it on the weekend. I’ve
got to look at our itinerary and settle on something right away.
Tuesday
Well, I checked our conference itinerary and decided that we should
book a ceremony early Sunday morning. I called Little Church of
the West to try to book at 9 or 10 am ceremony…and found
out that we’d already been beat out for both time slots.
(Who would have thought anyone got up that early in Las Vegas
on a Sunday morning!) In fact, everything was full up to 11:30
am so I grabbed that time slot.
Wednesday
I started looking for our marriage license and couldn’t find
it. (Yes, we really, really are married.) It must be in the safety
deposit box.
Thursday
Time to get serious about John’s attire. Since I’m wearing
a white t-shirt with red rhinestones, I picked out a red polo
shirt for him. He’s good with that.
Thursday Night
OK, I’m turning into Bridezilla. (Renewal-zilla just doesn’t
have the same ring to it.) I tried on the white t-shirt and white
pants and decided that I looked like a nurse. I’ve switched
to a black rhinestone Lovetripper shirt and black slacks, which
I already had packed for the conference. (Now I'm worried: will
the people at the chapel think I'm trying to dress like Angelina
Jolie? They've no doubt seen everything.) It’s too late to
go out and buy a new outfit.
Friday
 After
a long summer of sun and swimming, I decided my hair looked too
frizzy for wedding pictures and a conference. Ran to get it cut
and I really like the new look. While I was at the mall, I ran
into Claire’s and saw these little headbands with small attached
veils, about ear length. (Actually I think they’re a little
girl’s dress up item.) Bought one to wear to the ceremony;
it’s a little fun and definitely looks Vegas-y. Now it’s
time to pack it all up and get ready for tomorrow’s flight.
Saturday
We arrived in Las Vegas right on time and headed over to the Mirage,
where the conference will be held later in the week. We won’t
have a rental car until tomorrow so we can’t drive by and
located Little Church of the West but it sounds very easy to find.
Time to unpack, unwind, and start exploring the Strip. We’re
off to dinner tonight at rumjungle at Mandalay Bay.
Sunday
It’s here! Got up early, got our rental car (super simple
since there’s a desk downstairs) and headed off in search
of the church. It’s funny…the church is just south of
Mandalay Bay…we were almost there last night! After yesterday’s
half-hour taxi ride from the Mirage to Mandalay Bay, we’ve
been cautious and left lots of time this way, actually way too
much time. We have two hours to kill before the ceremony. Time
for a quick breakfast and a drive around town before the wedding.
We’re both surprisingly nervous.
We arrived at the
church about 15 minutes early; a large wedding party from Japan
was taking photos outside the chapel. We went around back and
stopped in the office; they had our paperwork ready to go. Since
we didn’t have our marriage license with us, we filled out
a short form that listed where and when we’d married.
We were given the
option of having the ceremony recorded and/or webcast but opted
instead just for a few photos. We’d already paid for the
ceremony over the phone so we were ready to go. We asked the secretary
if we should remove our rings for the ring exchange; she advised
waiting until we got in the church (apparently one couple decided
to pull off their rings on the lawn…and one went flying and
necessitated the services of a metal detector.)
 They
showed us out to a small gazebo that overlooked the back of the
church and said to listen for the church bells that would signal
the end of the wedding before ours. We sat in the gazebo and took
a few silly self-portraits then, before we knew it, the church
bells were ringing.
We walked around to the front of the church, which is as charming
in person as it was on the website. Unlike chapels we’d see
in the coming days, this one had real wooden pews and a simple
décor. Inside, our minister awaited; an organist sat in
the back. (We’d opted for recorded music but he sat there
as a witness.)
The minister gave us the option of both walking down the aisles
together or John waiting up front for me; we both wanted to walk
down the aisle together. We also removed our rings and exchanged
those before heading up the aisle.
 Seconds
later, the familiar wedding march was cued up and we started the
slow procession up the aisle, watched by the minister, organist
and photographer. The ceremony was a religious but non-denominational
one, a solemn event that was far different than the Vegas wedding
so often pictured. It was a special time to reflect on the years
of our marriage and all the good times we’d shared.
Soon the ceremony was over, the photographer snapped his shots,
and we once again processed out the front doors of the church.
This time, though, the church bells rang for us.
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