We confess to having been as in-the-dark as you were on this one, but we’re glad you asked, or we wouldn’t have even known this new venue existed!
It turns out, from what we can ascertain, that this is a new facility affiliated to and owned by the same folks behind the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel, which we just learned is the only gay-owned chapel in Vegas and has been conducting commitment ceremonies for the past 16 years, since it opened, and offers legal wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.While the chapel, with its penchant for Elvis and other "themed" ceremonies, has been around all that time at #1205 Las Vegas Blvd. South, the adjacent Event Center seems to have debuted earlier this year at #1201, just in time for the Super Bowl (an interesting choice of event with which to launch an essentially LGBT-oriented venue, but why the heck not?! We applaud such flying-in-the-face of cliche and by the look of the flyer, it sounds like we missed a fun free football party!)
To address your specific questions, the owner/manager of the Event Center is, as its name suggests, Ron DeCar, aided and abetted by Managing Partner Jamie Richards. Click the link for details about the rest of the team. It’s a 6,000-square-foot facility on the right-hand side of Las Vegas Boulevard, just before the intersection with Charleston (so, claims to be on "the Strip" are exercising a little poetic license, since that designation officially ends at Sahara). The "Vintage Las Vegas" designation is not anything official, as far as we know, but rather just an indication that the place and its ethos hark back to the '50s and '60s era (see below).
The Event Center is available for private hire to host wedding receptions, parties, corporate events, etc., with whatever level of planning, catering, and entertainment services the client requires (also available for off-site events, including picnics). The facilities include a banquet hall that seats 300 and doubles as a cabaret showroom, plus a piano bar, and when it’s not being utlizized for private hire the venue hosts regular weekly entertainment offerings including: Big Band Saturdays (featuring a different band from 1-4 p.m. each week, cover starts at $15); Swingin’ Sundays (live R&B from 5-8 p.m., with performers including vocalist Ron DeCar, and an open mic session for professionals; $10 cover at the door); Joni & Gina’s Wedding, a new interactive comedy dinner show that performs every other Thursday ($59.95); and lots of other cabaret acts and events, including comedians and tribute artists. You can find the complete upcoming schedule on the official website.
