Question of the Day - 04 May 2020

That is insane

We got married in 2005 at the Flamingo Chapel in Las Vegas. It was very classy from start to finish.They provided us with the music ,photographer and everything else we needed.We were married inside early in the morning(it was in august so we didn't have the ceremony outside). Pictures were outside and beautiful.

My wife and I were married in the Little Church of the West next to the then Hacienda Hotel (now located just across the street from the Mandalay Bay).  We stayed in the then MGM Grand (now Bally's) in a lovely suite and our Wedding Reception was at the MGM Show Don Ardens Hello Hollywood Hello.  

David, before my only daughter's 2018 wedding, I would have thought the same. But she showed me the figures and my bottom line ended up around 40K. Bang for the wedding buck probably good here in Houston.  

That's a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of your divorce.
...Sorry.

Your "future mother-in-law can't get over the idea that Las Vegas weddings are "tacky." - she's no fun, that's gonna be a problem forever. I say run like the wind and marry somebody else.  Or get some boundaries now and elope to get married with no in-laws. That's my vote :)

Tacky? You say that like it's a bad thing . . .

:)

A marriage license should cost $10,000 and REQUIRE a per-nuptial agreement.  The subsequent divorce (which happens about 50% of the time)could then cost around $500.  If that were to happen a lot of people would think longer and harder about getting married.

If the mother-in-law is that hung up on "tacky" hopefully your future wife has a more "fun" attitude.  If so it's a good start, if not, re-evaluate your future.

Speaking from experience here...

like other commenters I'd say you have an in law problem even if she's paying for it. Fix that as a couple now or you're going to be miserable 

We've had 2 experiences. I'll start with the one you'd call "tacky". In 2002 we renewed our vows for our 25th. We had a great party with lots of friends and family joining us. Elvis (Eddie Powers) officiated. It was at the Boardwalk. They had a wedding coordinator who set it all up. The ceremony was at the gazebo in back, which was really nice. You can rag on the Boardwalk all you want but it was really nice and EVERYBODY had a great time. I'll post another comment about my daughter's Wedding.

In 2006 my daughter and son-in-law got married at the Paris, in their chapel. It was really elegant, I "gave away the bride", they had a suite for their reception, but through other circumstances, one of the guests was in the "Sports Suite" at Bally's, which was bigger, so the reception was moved there. Their pictures, including in the Eiffel Tower, were terrific. We even were measured for tuxes here in Chicago and got great service on those in Vegas. About 50 people showed up and they had a Chicago reception for about 200 to include the people who didn't make it to Vegas. They paid for it themselves, so I can't speak to the money (I wouldn't have been able to afford it) but they didn't have the kind of money mentioned here and they had TWO weddings. And she got to wear her wedding dress twice, so she got more use out of it than most brides. AND... their anniversary is in a couple of weeks, so thanks for reminding me.

"compared, for example, to a marriage ceremony on a private beach in Southampton, New York, with the reception in the next-door country-club ballroom"

One of the best things about Eastern Long Island is that there are no private beaches. A house or a super-exclusive club like the Bathing Corporation of Southampton situated on the dunes may be owned by old money WASPs or new money hedge fund kings, but neither has a claim to the wide ocean beach in front of their property. 

You can walk for tens of miles along the beach and plop yourself down in front of a $100m mansion and there's nothing the property owner on the dunes can do about it. The property line is inexact but is considered to be where the dune grass begins. That leaves hundreds of feet of wide beach in the public domain.

give your future mother-in-law an all expense trip to Vegas to plan the wedding with the message to do it up to her liking or shut up about it as a message from daughter.

Secondly Jeff, you seem to know something of Hampton beach rights but every year private events are held on the beaches with courteous security at the borders to prevent crashers.  You should know that too, but you seem to not know it, way too many powerful and famous people live their to let their parties be trashed by paparazzi or other ilk and local law enforcement backs them up.

I would have loved an Elvis wedding!  

Wife and I got hitched in Vegas In 85. bought our rings at the
 Aal-J pawn shop 1618 Las Vegas Blvd. North Las Vegas for $175 after trading in my old wedding band. $25 to the civil servant to marry us at City hall.  Just over $200 to be legal. We rented a car from rent-a-wreck. stayed at California Hotel/Casino Comped rooms and meals.  Airfare $400. total less than $800.

Does anyone remember seeing episodes of COPS, showing Wedding Chapels feuding, threatening and fighting with each other?    

My wife and I were married in Las Vegas almost 6 years ago.  We had the whole event at the Siena Golf Club out by Red Rock (still technically Vegas).  It was absolutely beautiful and the staff there was amazing.  I would highly recommend it.   We also looked at the Las Vegas Golf Club (looked nice and was less expensive I believe) and Bali Hai Golf Club by Mandalay Bay (very nice and *very* expensive).  There are obviously lots of options for accommodations and the option of an extended vacation for your guests before/after the wedding.  Definitely a great city and location to get married in.

@Ray, My wife and I renewed our vows at the Boardwalk for out ten-year anniversary in 2005, but we kept it classy. We used the officiate they recommended who let me edit her regular ceremony to remove any religious references I objected to. It was held out back by the pool area but because it was early April there was nobody at the pool, then we had a banquet for thirty in a private dining room. There was nothing tacky about it, unless you're talking about my father-in-law.

OK I'll bite. Got married(2nd time) in Vegas in 1995. Went to
marriage license bureau $35.00. Walked 1 block to the Justice of the Peace office $35.00. Stayed at the Golden Nugget $29.00 a night plus tax( no resort fee). Comped Dinner for new weds at the Italian restaurant 2nd floor(can't remember the name long gone)excluding transfers and airfare under $200.00 Now that was the Las Vegas I like to remember:)

Interesting to me that not one commenter suggested a church wedding.  Perhaps that would  mollify the mother.  There are probably more churches than chapels in LV - including a number of non-denomination ones.  And she might agree to let her daughter plan the reception in/at one of the myriad casino-hotel locations.  Just saying'...

The subject of Las Vegas weddings and someone mentioning Red Rock reminded me of two well-known Vegas TV news anchors who married each other. I Googled to remind me of the details.

The groom prepared a romantic sunset proposal at a suite at a Red Rock Resort with 100 white roses in their room and with rose petals in the shape of a heart on their bed.

The wedding took place in an elaborate ceremony at a 19th century winery in Northern California. [The bride's] 3-carat wedding ring was surrounded by 52 smaller diamonds.

The marriage was annulled less than three months later.

It's not where you get married or how much you spend on the ceremony that's important. A 15 minute wedding  at a drive-in wedding chapel resulting in a successful marriage counts for more and will be better recalled through the years than an exchange of vows that cost $100k and resulted in a drive-by marriage that ended before all its bills were paid.

Yours does sound a lot like ours. Our renewal was in March, so the area out back was private, (pool not yet opened). I can only add that the coordinator was from Boardwalk was great. She arranged everything to make it as nice as possible. And Elvis was classy, too. He wasn't a caricature, but a good singer in a E outfit. "I can't help falling in love with you" during the ceremony remains a favorite memory.

We were married at The Little White Chapel in a rented white Pontiac on my wife's 50th birthday.  That was 20 years ago and we're still happily married and plan to be so for at least the next 20 years.  Tacky?  You bet.  But just as legal for $150 as a big expensive church wedding. We'll always have a great story to tell about being married at a drive-thru chapel (we call it a "drive-by wedding") on a 115 degree summer day in the greatest city in the world.