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Day 5: Saturday 21st April (part 1, the ceremony) 
Our Big Day started just like any other day. We got up and I said goodbye to Heather and went off to have my breakfast. Heather had made a great effort to keep her wedding dress secret from me so the plan was for her to get ready in our room while I prepared myself in Ash's room, so I would not see her until the last moment. I was very pleased with my tuxedo, I never feel particularly comfortable in a suit, but this fitted me so well and looked very smart. However, I feel my greatest achievement was learning to knot a bow tie properly rather than having a ready tied one that clips on. So, there I was, dressed to kill, when the phone rang and it all started to go wrong. The call was from our "Elvis", a professional impersonator called Jesse Garon, who was to be driving us to the chapel. He was having car trouble, and would not be able to pick us up on time but could make it an hour later. Not being able to go back to our room I sent Ashley over to tell Heather and see if she wanted to postpone the wedding or use the chapel's limousine. One of the things we were most looking forward to was being driven up the Strip in Jesse's 1955 pink Cadillac so we decided to hang on until he was ready. 
With at least an extra hour to wait it seemed pointless us being in separate rooms so I finally had my first look at the dress, and as you can see from the photos, Heather looked absolutely stunning! We passed the time by watching Jaws on television, a curious choice for Saturday morning T.V., until Jesse eventually turned up at about midday. As soon as he pulled up in front of the hotel peoples' heads were turning looking at him and his car. We piled into the caddy for the short drive to the chapel, and once Jesse realised we were having an Elvis wedding for fun he relaxed, pleased he wouldn't have to be totally in character. 
The venue for our wedding was the Chapel of the Bells, a tiny little place near the Stratosphere Tower. A lot of the Vegas chapels are just tacked onto a motel, and this one was just that, kind of tacky but that's what we wanted. The four of us piled into the chapel, Jesse dragging his karaoke machine behind him, and after a very quick sound check the ceremony began. Ashley came with us just to be a witness, but we thought it would be nice if he gave Heather away, so I took my place by the alter and Ash walked Heather down the aisle while Jesse sang "Can't Help Falling in Love...". The actual ceremony was very brief, but it was incredibly intense, with both of us facing each other and saying our vows. I don't exactly know what I was expecting, we exchanged rings, I kissed the bride, we were now man and wife, and then Jesse leapt out and started a rousing rendition of "Viva Las Vegas"! To be honest, I'd completely forgotten he was there because I was so wrapped up in the ceremony, and it took me a few seconds to realise what was going on, but by the end of the song the three of us were quite happily singing along to the chorus. 
With the ceremony over we posed for some photos inside the chapel and out by the car. We had arranged for Jesse to drive us up the Strip in the caddy which we were all looking forward to. The car drew so much attention and so did we, people were waving and taking photographs all the way up the Strip. It was certainly not the most comfortable car I have ever travelled in, but it was definitely one of the classiest. There was something very satisfying about lounging in the back of a Cadillac and driving through Las Vegas. We drove past all the crowds and the hotels, feeling like royalty and still buzzing from the fact that we were now married, until we reached the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign on the outskirts of town where Jesse (very illegally) pulled up on the central reservation so we could take some shots of us standing underneath the sign. Amazingly, people were still taking photos of us and the car, just pulling up in the middle of a six lane highway as though there wasn't traffic passing them at 60 miles an hour. That done, we all jumped back into the car and Jesse drove us to our destination, the Luxor hotel. |
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