It turned out that getting married was about the least stressful thing either of us had ever done.  After asking ourselves where we could get married that was interesting, easy to fly in to, and cheap to stay at, the only place that could answer "yes" to every question was Las Vegas.  Not wanting to commit sight unseen to a trailer trash wedding, which of course the words "Las Vegas" immediately conjure up, in early June we flew out to Vegas to look for a place to get married.  Twenty wedding chapels in 48 hours is a little too much.  We also got our official wedding license and chose the ultra posh Mandalay Bay as the chapel of choice.  It was a good trip if busy, and afterwards we were both convinced that we had done absolutely the right thing in picking Las Vegas.  Of course the reactions of our immediate family were not quite so positive- they were convinced all this Oklahoma living had turned us into rednecks and we were going to get married by Elvis in some drive through chapel.  Which does bring us to the first serious disagreement of our time together- the great Pirate Wedding controversy.  Not to get into the details, but Alan was all for a costumed wedding on a real pirate ship where the happy couple would walk the plank afterwards.  Karen had something much more traditional in mind.

After making this momentous and life changing decision, the remainder of the summer was just preparing for the wedding- which meant calling out to Vegas and some check writing.  This was definitely the way to get married.  The general idea of getting married in Vegas was to have as small a ceremony as possible and not worry too much about having the absolutely picture perfect storybook princess Barbie Martha Stewart in spotless white organdy on Qualuudes with rare tropical orchids in the bridal bouquet picked from a virgin rainforest in Costa Rica by a primitive yet enlightened indigenous tribe who lived in harmony and only ate vegetarian entrees prepared by Wolfgang Puck himself who would do the buffet afterwards to be held in a giant custom made silver zeppelin running on solar power and filled with hydrogen except your crass uncle Ernie smoked one of those nasty communist cigars and that really ruined the whole thing when the entire Llewellyn branch of the family melted in the ensuing disaster like cheap candles left in the trunk of your car.

 

You get the idea.  We had a 90% attendance rate.  There was drinking, dancing, and gambling.  The poor got screwed and the rich got richer.  There was no rehearsal.  The best man was a woman and the maid of honor was a man.  The music was non traditional since the bride marched down the aisle to Darth Vader's theme, the ring didn't fit, the complementary bottle of champagne tasted like carbonated boar piss, the guests were drunk when they arrived, and the whole idea went against every piece of advice in every bridal magazine in the universe.  It was a blast.

 

Wedding Photos

The Preception at the Gordon Biersch Microbrewery

"A woman in a hat is so... vogue!"

 

Nice doggy, nice doggy.

 

I look better in a suit than he does...


The leaning tower of wife with Matt.

 

If those two guys in the picture
below would just notice us...

 

   
We're happy we don't have to hear
her complain about men anymore...

 

I'll even check out my cousin
when I have a few beers in me!

 

 
Wait!  Let me tell you about my lightbulb!

 

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The Wedding at Mandalay Bay

So this is what it feels like
to be a Siamese Twin...

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The Morning After Brunch

Before the Tammy Faye Make Over Class.

 

After the Tammy Faye Make Over Class.

 

Three down, two to go...

 

If you want to know why we have those
red faces, you'll have to see the
photo page from our honeymoon!

 

About This Site

The site is accessed through six different links:

 

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