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Pride month is one of our favorite times of year here at Cactus Collective Weddings.
We love celebrating love in all its forms and like to take any stigma out of gay weddings in Las Vegas. Many same-sex couples flock to Vegas for its diverse and welcoming culture.
Whether you choose to get married on the Las Vegas Strip, a chapel in Las Vegas, or at one of Cactus Collective’s many awe-inspiring desert and downtown Vegas wedding venues, you can be sure that you will not only have an amazing time but will also feel respected and loved.
We are excited about all ceremonies whether they be simple and meaningful or fun themed weddings. The whole point is to make your day special! To celebrate Pride this month we are taking a look back at three of our favorite LGBT couples and their amazing stories.
Wanda + Karol
These two lovebirds met after one of them went through a breakup and after talking for hours at a restaurant they bonded and haven’t been apart since. Truly the definition of opposites attracting, Karol is a nurse and very outgoing and energetic and Wanda is more reserved and laid back and works for her family’s business.
They knew they wanted to plan pretty far in advance for their big day but noticed the luxury of time made it difficult to make decisions. With so many options these days it can be very overwhelming. They contemplated just popping into their local courthouse in Albuquerque on a Friday to get their marriage license instead of having a wedding ceremony.
However, they knew in their gut that wasn’t their style so luckily they came to us at Cactus Collective to help them plan everything. With lots of wedding packages to choose from they were able to make their ceremony exactly what they wanted. We come equipped with wedding planners also to help you plan your big day so it’s stress-free and you can focus on the good stuff!
“From the moment we saw your website and pictures, we knew you were the best person to capture our elopement in a special and unique way. We loved the minister you chose and the florals couldn’t have been any better had we designed them ourselves…and then there are the pictures. I cried again when I saw them. They are perfect. You did an amazing job capture the feeling of the day, but more importantly our feelings for each other and the spirit of our relationship.”
Alison + Carlynn
We met these lovely ladies from a referral of our makeup artists and boy did we luck out! We were excited for our first styled shoot in the Valley of Fire and wanted the perfect couple for it. Alison and Carlynn have been together for 6 years and are both performers.
Carlynn is a dancer and real estate agent and Alison is a singer. A true fairytale Vegas story, they met working together on a show at the New York New York Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip back in 2012. Carlynn was born and raised in Las Vegas but Alison hails from Liverpool.
Finding a yin and yang in each other, Carlynn is the calm one and Alison is the crazy one so they balance each other out perfectly. They love to travel with their two furry children, Ivy and Bobby, so they jump at any chance they get to roam the Vegas landscape.
We decided to have them featured for our first time shooting in the Valley of Fire because of their beautiful strength and what they represented. Though these two were part of one of our styled shoots and it wasn’t their actual wedding day, their special day felt as real as ever.
“There is nothing better than seeing the beauty of Vegas beyond the strip so sharing this movement/shoot together in the stunning Valley of Fire was a real treat and memories and pictures we’ll cherish forever.”
– Alison.
Jaime + Jannet
This fiery couple met each other at a mixer in Downtown Vegas. Jaime spotted Jannet across the dance floor and made her way over as she grooved to the slick beats of the DJ. The two danced for a while before even speaking and their chemistry was electric.
Flash forward five years and Jaime and Jannet got engaged over a romantic anniversary dinner at home. Although the couple planned on having a low-key ceremony with only a month to plan, they quickly got carried away in wedding planning fun and turned it into a full-blown wedding spectacle to be remembered.
Luckily, they came to Cactus Collective so we could plan everything else — like the photography and minster, so they were able to focus on all the fun details!
They took DIYing to another level for their at-home nuptials. Using white wooden signs that said things like “only ever grateful” and “so very thankful” Jan’s best friend sprinkled rose petals and glitter on them to make them into floating candle trays that drifted across their pool.
They repotted their outdoor flower beds with white and purple pansies to match the same colored curtains they had draped around their pool cabana. For a finishing touch, they lined their driveway and backyard with gold lanterns lit with white candles.
The most special part of their big day was that while they were getting their pictures taken at Red Rock Hotel, their friends and family put all the final touches on the decorations at home so they came back to a wedding wonderland!
Both ladies opted for dresses that they found at David’s Bridal after trying many different styles and options that just didn’t fit their personalities. The couple didn’t get a first look since their ceremony was already at their home but that didn’t matter to them. Their focus through the whole process was just saying “I Do” and doing it in their own style.
Jannet and Jaime both agree their advice to couples getting married would be to set a budget. It’s very easy to get carried away. They started off trying to keep it simple but after snuggling up over Thanksgiving and jumping online, they wound up going crazy on decorations, monogrammed napkins, and signature pillows (oh my!) sending them 50% over budget! Though they say it was worth every single penny they recommend setting a firm price ceiling before starting any online shopping!
If you or a loved one is looking for a great venue to hold your same-sex wedding we are here for you and excited to make it the wedding you’ve always dreamt of, no matter how big or small. We take pride in diverse weddings of all kinds and offer unique locations unlike any other company in Las Vegas so we hope you’ll let us help you begin your lifetime journey together!
Let Us Help You Plan Your Same-Sex Wedding
McKenzi Taylor is America’s go-to elopement and micro wedding expert, often featured in small and major media outlets, such as the New York Times. With over 15 years of wedding photography experience, it was after planning her own Las Vegas elopement in 2016 that McKenzi felt her purpose shift into elopement coordination. She started Cactus Collective Weddings soon after in 2017. Since then, she’s become a WIPA board member, and has helped well over 1000 couples get hitched in style around Las Vegas, San Diego and Black Hills.
