Nevada Wedding #3 - Elvis (Blue and White) Wedding

An ''Elvis Wedding'' doesn't have to be the cheesy stereotype that it usually is. For this wedding it can be held anywhere. Getting married at a chapel on The Strip and than holding the ceremony out of the way a little could turn an ''Elvis'' themed wedding into a beautiful thing that may never have been associated with an ''Elvis Wedding'', or a Vegas wedding for that matter. The colour scheme for this wedding has to be white and blue for Elvis's blue swede shoes. (Any other colours would be fine as well, however if ever a colour was associated with ''The King'' it definitely was blue.)

(Photo provided by: Elvis Postcards)

Flowers: 

 Roses are beautiful, and elegant and come in many different colours. Blue and white roses work beautifully for an Elvis wedding. A blue rose with baby's breath would work well as a boutonniere, and white roses with blue ribbons would work well as corsages.  

(Photo by: Pics to pin)

The Dress: 

In Vegas, the wedding dresses are usually on the shorter side. Nevada is relatively hot so a thick long dress would be very warm to get married in. Strapless would work really well also with a shall for later on in the evening if it gets cool. An a-line princess strapless sweetheart empire waist Knee-length beaded embroidery romantic silhouette of flowing chiffon wedding dress would be beautiful and from Flash Bridal it can be affordable too. 

(Wedding Dress at Flash Bridal)

The Shoes: 

With a short dress, any shoe works well especially heels. A nice sandal with a heel on it would be great for the bride, and her bridal party if she chooses to have one. How high of a heel would depend on the bride and her bride's maid(s), and what they are comfortable in. Blue would go well with the white dress and it makes a bold statement along with being ''something blue''. 

Make up, hair, nails and accessories:

Veils aren't always worn in Vegas weddings, but any veil should be short. Long hair is great with short veils and inn Vegas it doesn't have to be anything special, something simple that looks pulled together like Carry Underwood's look in this picture. Blue finger and toe nails in any design would match great but a beautiful design is one that looks like the night sky with little flecks of white. For make up, being natural is always beautiful but a blue eye shadow, shaded with white looks great and makes the eyes pop. A nice white gold or silver necklace with blue sapphires and matching earrings would be beautiful, a long hanging necklace with a strapless dress is best because it takes away from home much skin is being shown. And finally, for a wedding, a bride need's a garter (or garters)!

(Two Tier Veil with Pearls and Rhinestones from: David's Bridal)

The Groom:

The groom is simple to buy for, all he needs is a black suit, and a white shirt, and a tie that matches the theme. Indochino has custom suits for men and they are great quality. Coupled with a cobalt blue tie any suit would be perfect for this wedding. And of course, Elvis cufflinks for the groom and his men!

(The King sterling silver cufflinks by: esmeweatherwax)

The Invitations:

Wedding invitations could be any invitation with a blue and white theme. It is hard to find wedding invitations that revolve around icons, so finding invitations dedicated to Elvis could be next to impossible, unless a couple chooses to make their own. For the purpose of this wedding white and blue invitations or invitations with different shades of blue would work best. 

(Contemporary Paisley Pattern in Royal Blue by: Appleberry Ink)

Photographer and Videographer:

Artistic Imaging is highly recommended and does beautiful work. They offer many examples of their work on their website and they not only do photography but they offer videography as well, both for reasonable prices. Depending on where the couple decides to get married, the wedding chapel may offer photography and videography deals of their own, chances are that it would be cheaper to take photos and video from the chapel instead of booking photographers and videographers for the reception and ceremony. 

Ceremony:

For an Elvis themed wedding, what better place to get married than Graceland Chapel. They have many packages to choose from, and all of them involve getting married by The King of Rock N' Roll himself, Elvis Presley. (Most hotels in Las Vegas offer some kind of Elvis wedding theme package, so there are many options out there.)The blue and white theme make buying wedding rings simple. . . Go with sapphires and diamonds for the woman, and a white gold ring with a sapphire stone for the man And once married why not drive off in a pink Cadillac. .

(Graceland Chapel)

Reception:

The best guest book for this wedding has to be hands down a vinyl record with an Elvis label in the middle. Guests can take a white marker, or silver, and sign their names on the record and any well wishes they have to offer, and the bride and groom get the black case that goes with it, and they can hang it in their home. 

(Custom Vinyl LP Record Album by: BridalStock)

Money boxes, or wishing wells, for cards are easy to make and can save a couple a lot of money. It's as simple as getting a box, and cutting a hole on top (or getting a box where this is already done). Finding paper or fabric, or material that matches the theme and covering the box, re-cut the hole and boom the box is ready for any wedding. Adding a little cut out figure of Elvis that say his iconic saying, "Thank you, thank you very much," and putting it on or around the box would complete the look. Table numbers and name tags are easy to make too, finding a nice paper that matches the theme like the one used for the money box, and printing numbers out, or gluing numbers on to them and than framing them would work well or a little stand at the bottom works well also. Another great idea is ordering post card forms and framing them as well as long as the post cards match the theme.

(Left: Blue and White Table Number picture at: The Knot; Right: Swanky Swirls by: Zazzle)

An absolutely beautiful place for a wedding reception that isn't over thrown by the ''Vegas'' feel, would be one at the Ravella Hotel. It offers a chapel should the couple choose to get married there and beautiful reception venues to suit any size party. It is always a good idea to hold a reception in a hotel, that way the couple and their guests can drink and party and not worry about guests walking back to their individual hotels. They also offer references for DJs, decorators and everything else needed for a wedding.

 (Outdoor Venue)

Food:

 The Ravella Hotel offers many different options food wise, from hot and cold hors d'oeuvres, plated dinners, dinner buffets, and a reception style wedding menu of both hot and cold food. The also offer many different desserts and dessert stations and will take care of a wedding cake should the couple ask. A great dessert for the daring couple would be peanut butter, bacon, banana ''sandwich'' cookies. Elvis was known for his weird taste in sandwiches and what better way to incorporate the theme into the food than to let the guest have a chance to eat his signature sandwich. Take any peanut butter cookie recipe (1 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 2 eggs, 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt) and add 2-3 slices of cooked bacon chopped. Roll the dough into a log, and push in the middle of roll to cause the look of a bread loaf. Refridgerate for 1 hour and than cup squares and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350. Once the cookies have cooked, cut one banana in slices and sandwich the slices between two cookies (or mash up one whole banana with 1 teaspoon of sugar and spread).

The Cake:
Now of days a lot of couples choose to have cupcakes instead of a wedding cake. If they choose to cut the cake, some couples have one tire of cake on top of a stand and the other layers filled with cupcakes. A great option for an Elvis wedding is Blue Suede (Red velvet died blue) Cupcakes! Most bakers have a red velvet recipe, but they are simple too make and can be made the night before by a bride's maid, or anyone that enjoys baking.

(Photo from: Blue Buddies)

The recipe is simple:

1 stick of butter, softened (not melted)

1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons of blue food colouring

2 tablespoons of cocoa 

1 cup of buttermilk

 (or regular milk with a teaspoon of vinegar and set side)

2 1/4 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 teaspoon of baking soda

Cream Cheese frosting:

250g of Cream Cheese (1 cup)

1/4 cup of butter softened 

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of powdered sugar 

(anything granular will make the frosting have a sand like consistency)

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. 

If the couple does choose to make one tire a wedding cake, this cupcake works perfectly fine as a cake also. Any white and blue serving set and champagne glass set would work fine with this wedding, Weddings By Minali Design has a beautiful navy and white set or a damask and turquoise set. For an Elvis wedding, what better to have on top of the cake than an Elvis cake topper. (A couple standing in front of an Elvis figure would work just as well if the couple wants a tradition figure topping.)

(Elvis Wedding Cake Topper by: artZengraving)

Guest Favours: 

With a theme like Elvis, the best guest favour a couple can give out has to be personalized CDs. It is easy for anyone with a computer to create CDs by burning their favourite songs, or using their wedding songs for their CD. Especially if they choose to use Elvis songs for first dance and other important moments. There are programs to create personalized labels for the CDs and there are websites that offer to personalize the labels in bulk for the couple. Adding a thank you sticker, or a hand written thank you on the envelope of the CD and closing it with a sticker of the couples initials would complete the gift perfectly. For the wedding party gifts, these always depend on the person, however for mother and father of the bride and groom something that says not only thank you for this day but than you for this life is a great gift. Also, a great gift for the woman would be paying for their the bride's maid dress, mother of the bride dress, mother of the groom dress or jewelry or shoes; something that would save them money.

(Wedding Frame by PhotoFrameOriginals)

(Wedding Gift for Dad by: DallowayPlace)

Centerpieces:

Flower and water centerpieces are always very popular so coupling them together as one is a great idea and makes an amazing centerpiece. By simply gluing any flower (real or fake) to a rock or something similar that will sink, any flower can be submerged in water, also adding plastic waterproof candles can make the centerpieces more luminous and by adding sparkling water, or any clear soda would make bubbles in the water and attach to the flower, dying the water with food colouring, blue in this case, also makes the centerpieces more wedding theme friendly.

(Floating Orchids by: Charmed Event Planning)

Thank You Cards:

Thank you cards are a great personal touch and is an opportunity to show the guest wedding photos by sending them with the card. Also, adding hand written messages and including a special thank you for their specific gift also makes the card more special. 

(Thank You Very Much Card By: whattherock)

Places to see:

The Las Vegas Strip is a must seen when in Nevada and all its hotels and casinos. The Luxor, Egyptian themed hotel and Casino, in the shape of a pyramid with a sphinx statue outside the Luxor is known for it's sky beam and its obelisk. Paris Las Vegas hotel and Casino is themed after the city of the same name in France, it is known for its replicas of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. Bellagio Las Vegas resort and casino is probably the most well known place in Las Vegas. It's fountain has been featured in a number of movies such as Rush Hour 2, Oceans Eleven, Bolt Oceans Thirteen, and The Hangover. Caesars Palace Las Vegas is a Roman Empire themed hotel that is famous for its six towers: Augustus, Centurion, Roman, Palace, Octavius, and Forum, it is also known for hosting the World Series of Poker Circuit Event. California Hotel and Casino, or ''The Cal'' is a Hawaiian themed hotel that is known for its Hawaiian buffet and it's more laid back atmosphere. Circus Circus Las Vegas is the largest permanent big top in the world. It is known for having daily circus acts and carnival type games. Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Las Vegas is a 44 story luxury hotel and casino. Mandalay Bay is know for it's shows like Mamma Mia! The Lion King, and Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour also they have a Shark Reef Aquarium, and a beach. The MGM Grand Las Vegas is the third largest hotel in the world. Linked to the Tropicana and the New York New York, the MGM Grand is know for its pedestrian bridges and it is home to the studio where Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza was hosted in 2011. Tourism Las Vegas offers many tours include ones of the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon and the Pawn Stars (TV Show) Pawn Shop.

(Bellagio Las Vegas)