How to entertain your guests before and after your Las Vegas Wedding.
How to entertain your guests before and after your Las Vegas Wedding.You have decided on a Las Vegas wedding and family and friends will be joining you. How exciting!
You have the ceremony and reception/celebration all planned, the flowers, officiant, and photographer are all booked. You have even scheduled a mobile makeup artist to come to your hotel suite.
But what about your guests? How will they know where, when, and how to get to the wedding? What will they do while they are in Las Vegas? I too planned a destination Las Vegas wedding before I made the valley my home. We had 20 guests and here is how I kept them entertained.
When I got married, this great resource was not available. The Las Vegas Wedding Chamber of Commerce offers a free .vegas website that you can use to keep your guests informed of all of the wedding plans. When you complete the marriage license pre-application form online, just scroll all the way to the bottom and sign up for your free website. This is your gift from the LV Chamber of Commerce. Complete pre-application here.
Hotel
It is fun when your guests stay at the same hotel or close by. Many hotels offer a group rate so I suggest you do your research. I picked a reasonably priced hotel where we stayed along with our immediate family. I advised my other guests of the hotel and also gave other alternatives that were close by in different prices ranges.
Rehearsal Dinner
A rehearsal and rehearsal dinner is a popular tradition to ensure your wedding party knows what to do on the big day. Even if you will not have a large wedding party, the rehearsal dinner can be used to gather your family and friends that will be attending the wedding. Depending on the size of your group and your finances, it can be hosted or each guest can pay for their own dinner. Just make sure you set the expectation beforehand.
Transportation
Transportation is something to consider if your ceremony and celebration are not in the same place or if these sites are not close to where everyone is staying. With a total of 20 guests, we rented vans to transport everyone to the sites and I asked family members to drive the vans. You can also hire a chartered bus. Again, your finances will probably dictate this but I do not suggest you leave your guests to figure it out.
Entertainment
There are so many things to do in Las Vegas that it is easy to make everyone happy. Except for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding ceremony and celebration, I did not ‘schedule’ any other activities. However, I did provide a list of suggested activities that ranged from free to high-end strip shows. After all, your friends and family may not have been to Vegas before and would like to take in some of what this great city has to offer. Since everyone’s taste and budget is different, the guests could choose how to spend their free time. I would let my guests know what our plans were for the day (except the wedding day of course) and then let them decide if they wanted to join us. Some did and some didn’t and that was ok.
I prepared a sheet with my suggestions for things to do and handed it out at the rehearsal dinner. With the free website, you could post your suggestions so your guests can plan ahead of time. Here are some suggestions for little or no cost entertainment.
- The Bellagio fountains with their synchronized music are a must see. Check the schedule and include the times for the show.
- The conservatory at The Bellagio is beautiful and the display changes throughout the year.
- Caesars Palace and the Forum Shops are another must-see. There are shows in the shops and again, I would provide the times.
- The Venetian has a canal above the casino and gondola rides are available both inside and outside the hotel. They even have singing gondoliers.
- The Wynn/Encore are beautiful properties and well worth taking a stroll through.
- The Mirage Volcano is another unique free show with fire shooting 12 feet into the air. Check for show times.
- The High Roller at The Linq is a 30-minute ride that gives you a beautiful view of the strip and valley.
- The Fremont Street Experience is very different from the strip. With street performers and drink/appetizer specials in the various hotels, it is more like ‘old vegas’. And of course, don’t forget the light show on the canopy over the street that is performed to music each evening.
Thinking about transportation and activities your guests might enjoy may help you when choosing a venue for the wedding and celebration of your love.