Come To Vegas For An Elvis Wedding!

Las Vegas is known for a great many things, not the least of which are Elvis Presley and weddings. Elvis is literally everywhere in Vegas. There’s a museum full of Elvis memorabilia and most of the hotels have some kind of Elvis presence. Weddings are as much a part of Vegas as Elvis is. About 100,000 wedding ceremonies are performed each year in Las Vegas and there are wedding chapels all over town. With so many weddings and so much Elvis it seems only natural that the denizens of Las Vegas came up with a way to merge the two into a bizarre yet popular hybrid known as the Elvis Wedding.

Elvis Weddings have been available at a number of Vegas chapels for quite some time. The concept that seems like a bad sitcom joke is actually quite popular in Vegas and couples show up every day to be married by Elvis, serenaded by Elvis, picked up in a limousine driven by Elvis, or accompanied on a tandem bicycle by Elvis. One chapel offers the option of having Elvis give away the Bride. The Elvis wedding is nothing short of a unique experience. And that experience is offered at just under a dozen chapels on and off the Strip. Some of the chapels themselves seem designed around the Elvis Wedding. If you’re getting married at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel or the Graceland Wedding Chapel, you pretty much have to expect an appearance by The King. The Viva Las Vegas chapel offers a “Blue Hawaii” Elvis Wedding that includes a Priscilla impersonator.

It may go without saying that the Aladdin Wedding Chapel is proudest of their Elvis Weddings and they are quick to point out that they were host to the original Elvis Wedding – the eight minute wedding of Elvis and Priscilla Presley took place in one of their rooms (at the original Aladdin) in 1967. The Elvis Weddings at the Aladdin Wedding Chapel may be the most low key of the bunch. Here you can be married by Elvis and have the option of having him serenade you.

Other locations that offer Elvis Weddings in Vegas include the Silver Bell Wedding Chapel, A Las Vegas Wedding Chapel, Cupid's Wedding Chapel, A Hollywood Wedding Chapel, and the Shalimar Wedding Chapel. Each chapel has different features included in their Elvis weddings and your choice of a site may be determined by just how much or how little Elvis you’d actually like in your Elvis wedding.

The prices for an Elvis Wedding vary by location and the different options included. Most are priced similarly to what you’d pay for a regular (i.e. non-Elvis) wedding at a Vegas chapel. So, if you’re going to choose to marry in Las Vegas, why not go all out with the wackiness and fun of the Elvis Wedding? You’ll definitely be left with interesting stories to relate to your friends, family, and any little Lisa Maries that may be in your future.

10 Must Have Gift Ideas For The Wedding Party

It is traditional for the bride to give the groom a gift on the wedding day.  Although the wedding rings that the couple exchanges can be considered gifts, many brides choose to honor their groom with an additional gift that suits his personality.

The gift of the bride and groom exchanging gifts is beginning to fade as many couples who spend a great deal of money on their wedding or honeymoon may decide that there is no need to exchange gifts in addition to the wedding and honeymoon.  If you do decide to honor your groom with a gift on your wedding day, it is more important to choose an item that he is sure to enjoy than it is to spend a great deal of money on the gift.

A photo album complete with a picture of you and the bridesmaid or the entire wedding party can be another unique gift idea for the bridesmaids.  You could purchase photo albums with the date of your wedding engraved on the front cover and start the photo album with a picture of you and the bridesmaid.  This is a wonderful gift idea because the bridesmaid can place her photos from the wedding day in the album and will always have a precious souvenir from your wedding day.

Gift certificates to a spa or a salon also make unique gift ideas for your bridesmaids.  Your bridesmaids most likely spent a great deal of time and energy in helping you to plan your wedding.  The week prior to your wedding was also probably especially hectic with a great deal of last minute details to attend to and errands to run.  While you will have your honeymoon to relax and renew your energy your bridesmaids do not have this luxury so by honoring them by presenting them with a gift certificate to a spa or salon you are giving them the gift or being pampered and the gift of relaxation.

A few more unique gift ideas for your bridesmaids’ gifts include handcrafted or homemade gifts.  For example you could put together a CD of some of your bridesmaids’ favorite songs.  You could make the CDs different for each bridesmaid and include a photo of the two of you on the cover and include a heartfelt poem on the inside of the CD cover.  You could also create a scrapbook for each of your bridesmaids.  You could either make the scrapbook a memory of your entire friendship together and include photos and other items from your various adventures throughout the years or if you plan ahead and take many photos documenting your wedding preparations, you could create scrapbooks as a remembrance of the wedding planning that you shared.

Any item that relates to a specific hobby that the groom enjoys is a great idea for a wedding gift for the bride to give to the groom.  This is a popular choice because giving a gift that relates to one of his hobbies demonstrates that you understand his likes and that you want him to continue to engage in activities that he enjoys.

Another unique gift idea for a bride to give to her bridesmaids is a gift certificate to a local restaurant.  Assisting in your wedding preparations was probably extremely stressful and time consuming for the bridesmaids and they certainly deserve a night on the town and the opportunity to not have to cook for a night.  This simple gift lets your bridesmaids know that you appreciate their efforts and that you want to thank them for all that they have done to support you.

Unique gift ideas for the bridesmaids can also stem from the wedding theme.  For example if you are having a beach themed wedding you might want to give your bridesmaids a gift of a tote bag, a beach towel and a novel to enjoy on the beach.  This unique gift idea ensures that your bridesmaids will remember your wedding fondly the next time they are at the beach.

Although the tradition of the bride and groom exchanging gifts on their wedding day is beginning to fade, many couples still wish to honor this tradition.  Many couples spend so much money on their wedding and reception that they feel as though they cannot afford the additional expense of buying gifts for each other.  While it may be true that the couple cannot afford one more extravagant gift it is also true that a truly thoughtful gift for the groom does not have to be overly expensive.  If the couple is partaking in this tradition it is advisable that they exchange gifts that truly reflect the personality of their spouse.