Las Vegas Elopement

Viva Las Vegas!

Jenn and Christopher’s Las Vegas elopement was an absolute whirlwind of fun. We are based in Austin, Texas but love to travel for shoots. Jennifer is my best friend, we are going on 15 years, so when she asked if I wanted to come shoot her elopement in Las Vegas, of course the answer was yes! Jenn and Chris have been some of our best, and definitely our longest standing, clients. Grant and I shot some couple photos for them in 2020, their proposal in July of 2021, this elopement in December of 2021, and are going to be shooting their actual wedding in January of 2023.

After they got engaged last July, they decided they wanted to be legally married by the end of 2021- and what better place to get eloped than in Vegas! Jenn and Chris picked out the Taco Bell Cantina on the strip as their elopement venue of choice, partially because it was cute but mostly because it included tacos and Baja blasts.

We met up with Jenn and Chris in the morning of Sunday December 12th at the Aria Casino to capture them getting ready. Grant and I had actually arrived in Vegas the day before, so it was nice to get settled in and get to see the town before their big day.

Jennifer got her hair and makeup done while we jammed out to Doja Cat and ate some McDonald’s. Chris shaved, steamed his suit, and had enough time to spare that he ran to the corner store to get some snacks.

We sprang into action once they were done getting ready. We only had about 2 and a half hours of daylight to shoot with so we had to move fast. We turned the hotel room into a film set so we could shoot the interviews for their video. They were nervous about being on camera, but it didn’t take them long at all to get the hang of it. When we were done with their interviews, we hopped in our rental car to head downtown.

Our original plan was to take some photos outside the iconic Little White Chapel, but we arrived to find it closed- thankfully we had a backup plan! We decided to instead head over to Fremont Street to take pictures in front of the cutest vintage Vegas sign. In the end I’m so glad we did, because they are my favorite pictures from the day.

After the Fremont Vegas sign, we rushed over to the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. We arrived just as the sun began to set, and it was PACKED! We definitely would recommend trying to go at sunrise, if possible, to get a lesser crowd.

We soon learned the line doesn’t move very fast, which wouldn’t be an issue if we weren’t on a deadline. So, to avoid missing their wedding, we decided to jump out of line and try to take our photos from an angle instead, and they turned out great! After we were certain we got the shot with the infamous Welcome to Las Vegas sign, we headed back to the Aria for some touch ups and then walked over to the Taco Bell Cantina right on time.

The “chapel” at the Taco Bell Cantina is really just a small room in their upstairs portion of the restaurant. It was a tight squeeze, but there was just enough room for Jenn and Chris’ immediate family and a handful of close friends. Our favorite part of the space was the light wall, where they had taken the iconic Taco Bell logo and turned it into wedding bells with a heart in the middle- it lit the space perfectly and made for great pictures!

The ceremony was short and sweet, lasting a little less than 5 minutes. The ceremony was both heartfelt and hilarious, their vows were chocked full of taco puns, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. After they were pronounced husband and wife, Jenn and Chris toasted Baja blasts, lady-and-the-tramped a taco, and cut their Cinnabon twist cake. I’m not lying when I say it was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten in my entire life. I was heartbroken when I learned they don’t sell it anywhere else but the Las Vegas location.

Afterwards we headed back to the Aria where they ended the night with their first shot as a married couple before going down to gamble at the slot machines. Congratulations to Jenn and Chris, we were so happy to be able to capture such a fun elopement- and we can’t wait to shoot your wedding in 2023!