Love, Las Vegas, and a Little Black Dress: Our Spontaneous Wedding Story
I met Heidi on my first day of work at my new job. I took a job in the Twin Cities and had to move there from the suburbs of Milwaukee. Four months later, we started dating, and five years later I asked her to marry me. She said yes, and soon thereafter we were planning for a wedding.
I am not one that likes to be the center of attention, so a small wedding was fine with me. We decided to have the wedding in Milwaukee because that’s where I was from. We found an Italian restaurant in the Third Ward of Milwaukee that had an event space upstairs from the restaurant. The place was Onesto if anyone is interested. We picked a menu, an open bar of course, and put down a deposit. The next thing we had to do was set a date. The date we decided on was May 9th, 2020.
The wedding on May 9th, 2020, didn’t happen for obvious reasons. We were kind of relieved as it was evolving into more than it needed to be, but also bummed that we were not going to be able to get married. As summer approached, places were starting to open back up. If my memory is correct, Florida was the first and a few months later Vegas followed. Once Vegas was open, I knew where we were going to get married. I told Heidi about it, she agreed. We booked plane tickets and in late July we were on our way to Vegas. It was just the two of us. We didn’t tell anyone that we were going to Vegas to get married.
We flew in late evening because of flight delays and made our way over to Mandalay Bay to drop off our bags. With our bags now in the room, we went down to catch a ride to downtown and the Justice Center where the Marriage License Bureau is located. Even though it was around 9pm, you can get a marriage license 24 hours a day. Once we arrived, there were a few people ahead of us, but I don’t remember waiting that long. We got called up to the window, provided the correct documents and within a few minutes we had secured the marriage license.
We had planned on Pizza Rock for dinner as it was just down the road and walkable. We left the justice center and after about two blocks passed the people who where in line ahead of at the Marriage License Bureau. They had just picked up their license and made it two blocks away before they were fighting. I can still recall them standing under a streetlight yelling at each other, all while the marriage license was visible in the male half’s hands. We made our way around them and into Pizza Rock dinner. I often think about what became of that couple.
After two days at Mandalay Bay, we moved over to the Cosmopolitan. We were booked into a fountain view room in the Boulevard tower. We’ve always loved the rooms at the Cosmo and it will hold a special place in my heart because I got married there. Heidi had found a service online that will marry you anywhere you want in the Las Vegas area. Las Vegas Wedding Wagon was the name of the company. We decided since we had a balcony overlooking the Bellagio fountains, why not just get married out there.
On the day of the wedding, I don’t even recall what we did for most of the day. The only thing I really remember was laying in bed and watching The Office for a few hours. Eventually we got up, got ready and had a few cocktails before whomever the wedding wagon was arrived. Heidi wore a little black dress, and I don’t even remember what I wore. You would think we would have pictures, but we don’t.
Sure enough, just before 6pm Heidi got a text saying they had arrived. She texted back with the room number, and a few moments later there was a knock on the door. It was a gentleman and his wife. He was the pastor, and she was the witness and photographer. We gave them all the documents they needed. No money changed hands as everything was arranged and paid for online. We moved out to the balcony, and he asked us if we had prepared anything to say. We both said we didn’t. He said he had something he likes to read when couples don’t have anything prepared. I don’t remember what it was that he read, but I remember thinking it was better than what I could have prepared. After that, it was official. Heidi and I were married. From the knock on our door to the time they left, the whole thing couldn’t have lasted more than ten minutes.
I cannot recommend the Las Vegas Wedding wagon more. I have only used them once and I highly doubt I’ll have to use them again, but it was a fantastic experience. The best part is the price. It was only $100. Their price has gone up to $129 since then but considering the $1000’s of dollars we were going to spend on that wedding in Milwaukee, I was more than happy to spend the $100.
After the wedding we went down and got dinner at China Poblano on the second floor in the Cosmo. When we arrived, we told them we just got married and they gave us free champagne on the house. I remember the dinner was just ok, paid the bill and headed down to the casino as Husband and Wife.
