Las Vegas guide and MSE thread 2011

retepetsir

Thanks.

In that case I'll book the flights now (guess they wont get much cheaper going London - Chicago - Vegas - San Francisco - London) and wait to book the hotels.

ferf1223

March

retepetsir wrote: »

Thanks.

In that case I'll book the flights now (guess they wont get much cheaper going London - Chicago - Vegas - San Francisco - London) and wait to book the hotels.

It can't hurt to book a back-up, refundable hotel now...that way, if something happens in the interim (like a fight or big concert) you will have something to fall back on.

Most bookings direct with the hotel will be refundable - but be sure to check.

some here have gotten lucky - booked well in advance and some major event was annouced and rates shot up...some have waited until a few months before and found that rates were much higher and no deals were around for whatever reason. I personally cannot see any real reason not to book a back-up and then keep looking for something better.

sk00bie1

Hi All

I've just got engaged to the OH and we're planning to get married in Vegas in autumn 2012 or Spring 2013. Does anyone have any tips for the best way to go about this?

I was thinking about booking a package with a hotel, but which one?! Any recommendations or places to avoid would be appreciated!
We would prefer this route to a DIY wedding in a chapel on the strip. Is it best to book it in advance or wait until we get there? We'll probably be staying 2-3 weeks in total, combining the wedding & honeymoon


TIA

Susan

zaffi

June

sk00bie1 wrote: »

Hi All

I've just got engaged to the OH and we're planning to get married in Vegas in autumn 2012 or Spring 2013. Does anyone have any tips for the best way to go about this?

I was thinking about booking a package with a hotel, but which one?! Any recommendations or places to avoid would be appreciated!
We would prefer this route to a DIY wedding in a chapel on the strip. Is it best to book it in advance or wait until we get there? We'll probably be staying 2-3 weeks in total, combining the wedding & honeymoon


TIA

Susan

Congratulations!

When we were looking, we found the best packages to be Caesars, PH, Paris and Bellagio.

We went with this one http://www.caesarspalace.com/weddings/caesars-palace/clv-packages-caesar.html

I think what swung it to Caesars for us were the wedding photo opportunities and having just ordered the prints we want plus some extra ones, it was a good choice.
We genuinely had the perfect day, it was outside and i was in a kilt but other than that it couldn't have went any smoother.

As for booking in advance, definitely. The price of our package was less than what's currently on the website as we booked early 2010. So once you pay a deposit and sign the contracts, if the price goes up and lets be honest it's not going to go down, it doesn't affect you.

Also we had our wedding dinner in cafe bellagio in the private dining area, which they didn't charge us for using. It was ~$50 per person for 3 course dinner and ~$40-50 per bottle of wine, all before tax. Everyone to a man said it was the best meal they had in vegas.

Hope this helps,
zaf.

ps. we got upgraded at the Cosmo to a wraparound suite from a terrace studio!! by mentioning we were getting married.

luci

May

For May I would certainly be looking to book something as soon as there was a decent offer available. There has been a big fight at the MGM the first Saturday every year since I started going back in 2005.

Check Page 1 of this topic for sites like https://www.smartervegas.com There are some offers into next year already although not many yet.

I booked the MGM last October for this May and got a rate of $109 for the weekend. The fight was announced and our room went up to $450.

Wizbit82

July

sk00bie1 wrote: »

Hi All

I've just got engaged to the OH and we're planning to get married in Vegas in autumn 2012 or Spring 2013. Does anyone have any tips for the best way to go about this?

I was thinking about booking a package with a hotel, but which one?! Any recommendations or places to avoid would be appreciated!
We would prefer this route to a DIY wedding in a chapel on the strip. Is it best to book it in advance or wait until we get there? We'll probably be staying 2-3 weeks in total, combining the wedding & honeymoon


TIA

Susan

Congratualtions! We just returned on Friday from getting married in Vegas, and although I have no experience of the wedding packages on offer in hotels (we weren't keen) I can give you lots of other advice re: photos, transport and make-up artists.

We had our ceremony at The Little Church of the West on the Strip (far less tacky than other chapelsas it is set in its own grounds, it had a real vintage feel to it, however I appreciate this still may not suit everyone) and followed that by a reception at Society @ the Wynn (they arranged a special set meal for us for $49 per head + tax and it was immense!!! Our guests loved it and we had a the whole side of the restaurant so it was pretty much private). We then stayed at the Mandarin Oriental booked through Hotels4u (part of Thomas Cook).

PM me if you need to know anything at all - happy to help

Dare2dream

Wizbit82 wrote: »

Congratualtions! We just returned on Friday from getting married in Vegas, and although I have no experience of the wedding packages on offer in hotels (we weren't keen) I can give you lots of other advice re: photos, transport and make-up artists.

We had our ceremony at The Little Church of the West on the Strip (far less tacky than other chapelsas it is set in its own grounds, it had a real vintage feel to it, however I appreciate this still may not suit everyone) and followed that by a reception at Society @ the Wynn (they arranged a special set meal for us for $49 per head + tax and it was immense!!! Our guests loved it and we had a the whole side of the restaurant so it was pretty much private). We then stayed at the Mandarin Oriental booked through Hotels4u (part of Thomas Cook).

PM me if you need to know anything at all - happy to help

We got married at Little Church of the West in July and likewise chose it because it was at the other end of the strip. There were only the 2 of us and our 2 witness and afterwards we went for dinner at Top of the World, the revolving restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere which we had booked beforehand through opentable.com. The meals were fab and the view was incredible.

We had ordered a fairly basic photo package, paid $53 for an extra image while we were there and two weeks after we returned the Little Church of the West emailed us special offers on the photos including all images on a disc for $85 which we jumped at!

joaniemerc

Dare2dream wrote: »

dinner at Top of the World, the revolving restaurant at the top of the Stratosphere

I'm trying to book this restaurant for New Years Eve (no availability through Top Table). I've emailed the hotel to find out if it's possible to make a booking - thinking it might be closed for a private event/hire.

Does it matter where you sit in this restaurant or do you have to request a window table pls?

StuieUK34

June

I got married in Vegas in June, set a budget of £2700 for the 2 of us, to include holiday-wedding-honeymoon....
I worked it on the basis of £1000 each to cover 17 nights in 3 destinations with direct flights
Then £700 to cater for hotel for 1 night in Gatwick before flight, petrol and holiday insurance... then Wedding costs + fees/tips and 3 lots of car hire (Mustang x2, Prem SUV)

Flew direct with 'Virgin -we run out of drinks after 2 hours- Atlantic to Vegas
Got us a cheeky upgrade to a suite in the Tropicana on strip, stayed there for 1 week
Got married in the Gazebo at the Shalimar at the tacky end of the strip, photos on disc, friends take photos, included big blown up prints and 2 framed ones, fresh flowers, (and then 7 of us did a meal bash at the Harley Davidson cafe, lovin the BBQ! and hospitality)
1 day Mustang hire
Direct flight with Delta down to Orlando
3 day Mustang hire
3 nights in a suite at beachfront hotel in Ft Lauderdale
then 7 days hire of a 7seater SUV
7 nights staying at the Four Points Studio City (Sheraton) in Orlando I-Drive
Flew back with Virgin -we run out of everything after 4hrs- Atlantic to LGW
Total cost for this, £2714 (including all fees and extra BS i found out beforehand...) , so went £14 over budget!!

Could i get this deal again ? No chance! All booked by me, using cheek and luck to get it at the price we paid.... biggest cost was the Virgin flight at £565 each, so working on the £1k each plan, made it a challenge to get 17 nights accom in 3 places + flight for £435 each!!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=44710164&postcount=5243

ferf1223

March

joaniemerc wrote: »

I'm trying to book this restaurant for New Years Eve (no availability through Top Table). I've emailed the hotel to find out if it's possible to make a booking - thinking it might be closed for a private event/hire.

Does it matter where you sit in this restaurant or do you have to request a window table pls?

If you look at tripadvisor pictures, you can get an idea of the seating.

The tables by the windows are for groups of 4 (or possibly larger)...




from there there is a step up to some booths - they are raised up - so you still have a decent view...when we went we asked for a window table but couldn't get one - we were seated in one of the booths and it was OK.