Courtney & Jason’s li’l Las Vegas pin-up wedding

The Offbeat Bride: Courtney, server, manager, bartender, and perpetual university student

Her offbeat partner: Jason, chef

Date and location of wedding: Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas, NV and The Drake Hotel, Toronto, ON, Canada — October 15, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: Our goal was to have a low-key Las Vegas wedding, despite that not being Las Vegas' reputation! It was pin-up-themed with 1950s style. Then we had a cocktail reception at a hotel in Toronto, where we are from. The food at our Toronto reception was miniature comfort food favourites: mini burgers, mac and cheese, chicken fingers, and corn dogs. It allowed everyone the ability to mingle while still getting in some eats!

Jason and I are not lovely-dovey smushy people, and we wanted to make sure that Mike and Courtney (of Mike L. Photos) captured that. Jason was also wary of the whole photographer idea to begin with, but they did such an amazing job of making us feel at ease! Part of this was Mike calling out “zombie face!”(something we regularly do at home) whenever we started to tense up, and it totally relaxed us.

Tell us about the ceremony:
We were very impressed with the officiant at the chapel, who really made the ceremony meaningful to us despite the fact he performs many every day! The wedding ceremony was very bare bones, clocking in at under five minutes from start to finish. It was perfect for us, as neither of us were huge fans of the idea of standing up in front of people staring at us for ages.

Our biggest challenge:
The biggest challenge was the guest list. We wanted to keep it very small, for both budget and intimacy reasons. The chapel we had chosen also only held 15 people, so that was a factor as well. When my extended family found out that we were doing it in Las Vegas, there was a fair amount of “Oooh, we've always wanted to go to Vegas — this is a perfect reason!” It was a little awkward to say that we were keeping it to immediate family and best friends only, but it helped that there was a cocktail party in Toronto planned for a month after the wedding to celebrate with people from near and far. The ceremony was also broadcast via webcam from the Chapel, with sound, which made it possible for folks to be there with us in spirit, even though we couldn't see them!

My favorite moment:
Having my father walk me down the makeshift aisle was one of my favorite moments. It wasn't something that we had really planned on, but from the moment he asked me last Christmas (with tears in his eyes), I knew that it was an element I wanted to include.

My best friend had a baby a few months before the wedding, and while she and her husband weren't able to attend, I got to Skype with her the morning of… which really helped calm my nerves.

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My funniest moment:
The best moment of the wedding itself was when Jason saw the ring I had picked out for him. Due to his job, he wasn't planning on wearing a wedding ring, but wanted something for the ceremony. We're cheap (no beating around the bush here), so as a surprise I found an amazing crystal skull ring for $15 in Ottawa before we left! The look on the officiant's face when he was handed both my teeny hammered metal wedding band and Jason's giant skull was priceless.

We're always talking about bringing back the high-five (a la How I Met Your Mother's Lily and Marshall), so we knew that it was something we wanted to include in our ceremony. No one knew we were going to do it!

The dinner after the ceremony included a few informal, but super meaningful speeches from both of our fathers. Jason also kept bugging my two sisters/bridesmaids about making a speech at the dinner. But they definitely delivered at the party in Toronto with awesome anecdotes.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Photographer: Mike L. Photography
• Hair and makeup: Francesca and Kimberlie Lombardi of Bobbie Pin Beauty
• Dress: Dolly Couture (polka dot overlay and buttons provided by bride)
• Ombre petticoat: Stephanie James Couture
• Shoes: “Royal Hearts” by Taylor Says
• Grooms shirt: Steady Clothing
• Grooms waxed jeans: Guess
• Bridesmaids' dresses: Ralph Lauren
• Chapel: Viva Las Vegas
• Toronto reception Venue: The Drake Hotel
• Toronto photographer: Eric Kaluzny
• Engagement ring: Single B Beautiful
• Wedding band: June Designs

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!

About the Author: Offbeat Weditors

@offbeatbride @offbeatwed

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