Posted by ruthieg__tx: "Most of us who read the joke...read the whole thing ...we didn't skip the "chip monks" line..." Neither did I. The collection plate chips being cashed in by church representatives was the only part of the "trivia" that made any sense so I did not address that. Posted by lindakathy: "Maybe DD didn't see the punchline either." I had no idea that that was a "punch line". The post was titled *trivia*. I take it that no one here has ever been to Vegas and been on a tour. "People misread or misinterpret a post. Sometimes, even, people jump all over someone just for the fun of it." Yes, I see that now. Another 'pile on'. Just for the "fun" of it. Geeze. Have fun people. Posted by jenni_ca: "Dilly Dally did you actually think this was anything other than a joke? Chipmonks....you believed that!! Oh my! Um yeah. Why don't you read this link about the Chip Monks of Las Vegas: Here is a link that might be useful: Chip Monks of Las Vegas

I'm probably too late, but for what it's worth, I'd say go for it, if that's what you want. That's what DH and I *wanted* - just to go to Vegas (or Tahoe) and get married on our own, but we "caved" to the pressure from the "moms" to have a small ceremony here in town. It didn't take too much planning - that wasn't the problem, the problem was the almost *constant* pressure on us to do this or that and "give in" to how other people wanted the wedding to be. Even though we didn't have much planning stress, it was still made stressful by the parents, friends who were upset they weren't included, and non-immediate family who also weren't included. It was low-key - in a backyard (though even that was dicy, due to family trying to pressure us again), with a JP (which we caught flack for as well), lunch for the family (which we had to fight to pay for, and it was a pain finding a place that everyone would agree to - in the end, *I* ended up compromising & our wedding lunch was at a buffet, of all places)...I suppose it was okay, but it wasn't the "special" day just for us that I had envisioned. Nothing nearly as memorable or exciting as running off and just spending the day *together* somewhere else would have been, and we were both so focused on just getting it over with and getting away from the family that we didn't even really notice much of the ceremony or vows - it all felt like we were just "going through the motions" for other people, puppets on display, rather than two people vowing to be together forever (DH agreed with me when we had a chance to talk later). We didn't take a honeymoon because my in-laws wanted to go along (they were going to pay, and we couldn't afford one on our own at that point since we were buying a house)...we spent the night in a local hotel instead. If I had it to do over again, I would *insist* on running off with just DH, and maybe a couple of our closest friends like we wanted to in the first place. It would have been an exciting trip, honeymoon included, and we wouldn't have had to deal with all the pressure and stress that just planning even a small wedding came with. So if running off and eloping is what you want to do - by all means, go for it!! You have the rest of your life to share with family - the wedding should be for *you* and your future husband, IMO...including family is "optional", and you shouldn't feel guilty for not wanting them there.

Congratulations to you! How exciting. You are talking about a party 13-14 months away. I wouldn't worry about it yet. When you decide on the date, time, and location of your party, just send invitations out the usual few weeks before; don't send out "save the date" cards. Don't call it a wedding reception (six or seven months later is just too much for that, and anyway, you're having a small celebration in Las Vegas, not eloping) or an anniversary party (too early), just "a party" or "a Las Vegas cocktail party" or whatever. I wouldn't even mention the wedding on the invitation. You don't have to announce that the party is in celebration of your marriage, because they all know you got married anyway and will figure it out from the timing and the Las Vegas theme besides. So mentioning the wedding on the invitation might look like a prompt for gifts, as if to say, "We chose to have a destination wedding and not to include you, but we don't want to miss out on getting gifts, so after 17 years we are trying to have it both ways." I'm sure that's not really your purpose, but you don't want to spoil the feeling of your nice, fun party by creating that impression in even one guest. Just give "a" party -- everyone will understand why, and you won't look pushy or greedy.

i'd love to take these beautiful photos and send them to my dd's outlaw mil...loved the dress! sept in las vegas is a nice time, too... mil was so nasty when dd wanted a las vegas wedding, so her grandmother could attend (she lived there) asked me over the phone who gets married in vegas but gamblers?? told her I DID! guess i'm still bitter cause they eloped... i hope the job and new life together have as many years as we have (going on 41)