Elopement and Small Intimate Wedding Ideas In Las Vegas, Nevada

You asked the hard question and they said YES! The hard part is over. Now comes the fun stuff. The planning.

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of a “Las Vegas Elopement”? Probably one of those small chapel fast weddings with a fake Elvis Presley officiant. Which is the most common one to come to peoples minds first but let’s not forget about the drive thru elopement weddings. Yes, not only can you get a quick bite to eat going through a drive thru here in Las Vegas but you can also get married going through one. 

Due to quarantine a lot of couples weddings were postponed but for some people, they decided they were going to work around it by having a small intimate wedding or eloping, minus the Vegas classic elopement style. 

During the last few months  I was able to photograph some smaller style weddings and elopements. If you aren’t wanting to spend thousands of dollars on getting married to the person you love but still want to have those amazing memories and picture moments, below are some ideas that will save you some money while also giving you those photo opportunities for memories here in Las Vegas. 

STEP ONE: This is a very important step that for some reason people don’t think about. Be sure to get your marriage license in the state of Nevada.

STEP TWO: Hire an officiant. Some places will have an in house one if you’re doing a small chapel style. Just check in with the place. I would recommend asking them how much they would charge to bring your own in and see how much it would cost to hire your own as well to compare prices. 

STEP THREE: Hire a Las Vegas photographer. Which, hopefully it’s me since you are on my website. ;) 

STEP FOUR: You’re getting married in Las Vegas!!! What are you going to wear? Find some amazing wedding attire that will make you stand out or just go classy wedding dress and tuxedo. Let’s not forget about hair and makeup to pull your whole look together. 

STEP FIVE: Location! Location! Location! 

SMALL CHAPEL 

Many of the small wedding chapels in Las Vegas will not allow outside photographers to come in and shoot. They do this because they want you to pay for one of their in house photographers at the venue. You can arrange for the chapel to allow you to bring in an outside photographer but they will probably charge a fee. What I always suggest to clients is to go into the chapel and get married. Then we can shoot photographs outside of the chapel and find a location near by to take more photographs. 

NEON MUSEUM

The Neon Museum is a museum filled with old Las Vegas signs. They allow photoshoots and Wedding Ceremonies within the museum for a fee. You will need to book with them directly and let them know you are bringing in your own photographer and officiant. The museum likes to work directly with the people booking the shoot for paperwork purposes. 

VALLEY OF FIRE 

Valley of Fire is about 42 miles away from Las Vegas. It’s a beautiful state park with lots of red rocks and fiery red rock waves. You could have your elopement on top of a beautiful rock surrounded by red rock in the distance for miles. 

OUT SIDE OF RED ROCK PARK

Many people want to go inside of Red Rock, which I don’t blame you it’s beautiful. There are tons of trails and beautiful spots just right outside of Red Rock Park as well. There’s different landscapes such as flat dead grass fields with mountains in the back. Spots where you can climb and be surrounded by red rock. Areas with Joshua Trees. 

MOUNT CHARLESTON

Not enough people talk about Mount Charleston but they should. It’s about 36 miles away from Las Vegas and is its own little town. During the summer people escape to Mount Charleston for cooler weather to hang out in nature. During the winter they go up there to play in the snow. If you are wanting more of a forest vibe and not a desert Mount Charleston is the place to go.

DRY LAKE BED 

The name says it all. The Dry Lake is just a dry lake bed. This area is really beautiful during sunset and sunrise. People go out there to fly their drones, ride their dirt bikes and drive their cars around doing donuts. The dry lake is so large that there’s enough room for everyone to do their thing without bothering one another. 

FLOYD LAMB PARK

This park is filled with 2,040 acres of dreamy. There’s small lakes, grass, ducks, peafowl, hay barns, little bridges, etc. This would be a good area to have a little picnic after with friends and family to celebrate. 

ON THE STREET 

On the street doesn’t really sound appealing but hear me out. What I mean is outside of a casino or outside of a landmark in Las Vegas. As long as we aren’t distributing  the peace, blocking any fire safety areas we should be fine. I just did an elopement outside at the Venetian Gondola and no one said anything. Think: The Strip, Fremont, The Arts District or even in an Alley way covered in graffiti. 

There’s truly so many places in Las Vegas or just a short drive away. If you can dream it I’m sure we can figure out an area. I hope this blog post was helpful and that we will soon be working together. Click here to contact me to book your elopement session.