Rosie & Kyal

Rosie and Kyal live in country South Australia, but eloped in Las Vegas! Having been together since high school. Kyal proposed in New York City and six weeks later they eloped, telling only their parents. It was a bit of a shock when the couple sent a photo back home to their extended family and friends, but they had always planned to do it this way. Rosie tells us more about their romantic and fun day below, which was captured by Jenna Bryant Photography against the backdrop of the colourful and quirky art of downtown Las Vegas.

Kyal and I were in the USA for six weeks, and eloped on the last week of our trip. We eloped in Las Vegas!

I have always thought there was something really romantic about eloping. Just the two of you. About six years ago when I was at university, I heard about a couple who had eloped in Las Vegas and I said to Kyal, “That is SO cool, let’s do that.” And we’ve both stuck to it ever since that. We knew that’s how we’d marry.

We married at the Graceland Wedding Chapel. Basically, I checked out every wedding chapel in Las Vegas, and Graceland Wedding Chapel had the sweetest aesthetic. It was the perfect little chapel to get hitched in in Las Vegas. As we entered the chapel on the day, Elvis walked through from the back after having just married a couple. We didn’t have Elvis marry us but he was pretty cool. Our ceremony went for 10 minutes. We walked down the aisle, said our ‘I do’s’ and kissed. It was all it needed to be. I got the nervous giggles at the start of our ceremony, but Kyal calmed me.

My favourite moment was definitely when our celebrant said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife”. Cheesy maybe, but I remember this moment so clearly. I was thinking, “I over think and second guess absolutely every decision I make in life (food shopping takes me hours!) and I have never once felt unsure or nervous about making this decision to marry Kyal.” It just felt completely right.

When planning our elopement, I used the website, The Knot. I entered the city we were eloping in and it provided me with every local vendor. This was excellent as I hadn’t been to Las Vegas before, and didn’t know where to start! I simply typed in ‘photographers’ and was met with all local photographers. I stumbled across Jenna Bryant Photography and was instantly sold. She and her photos are basically the epitome of cool! Her style was exactly how I wanted to capture our day. Jenna combines modern wedding portraits with a documentary style coverage, and specialises in elopements in Las Vegas. Jenna’s work stood out to me because of her bright colours that show off the quirky street art of downtown Las Vegas, and her fun and relaxed images that aren’t staged, which suited Kyal and I.

I loved my bouquet so much and pressed a few of the flowers in a book I was reading and brought them back to Australia! They’re sitting pretty in a frame on my bedside table to keep forever!

Rosie Posie Flowers stood out from the many florists in Las Vegas, firstly because its name matched mine and I thought that was cool, but mostly because of their work. Their natural florals with neutral colours and full-heavy looking bouquets with freshly cut stems are just gorgeous.

My dress, by Cooper St, was midi-length and full lace. It was bridal but casual at the same time. I felt beautiful in my dress and it was the exact dress I’d always imagined I’d marry in. It had capped sleeves and was modest, all things that suited me. I had my something old, new, borrowed and blue. Borrowed and old was a pearl ring of my mum’s. I also wore pearl earrings because pearls are mine and my mum’s favourite. (My undies were lacy blue!)

Although all of Las Vegas was fun, I absolutely loved the vintage-feel of downtown Las Vegas and Fremont street. The ‘old’ strip. There are neon lights, vintage-feel cocktail bars and beautiful street art everywhere you look. We stayed at the Golden Nugget Hotel on Fremont Street. It’s glitzy and glam and completely over-the-top. We LOVED it. They gave us champagne and croissants for breakfast!

Our elopement had so many highlights! I am obsessed with the TV show F.R.I.E.N.D.S and the morning of or wedding, while getting my hair done, Kyal turned on the TV and the one where Ross and Rachel get married in Vegas was on!

I don’t have any regrets from our day. It definitely helped that our families were both so supportive.

Two weeks after we got home, we had a party to celebrate. We didn’t do any formalities like first dance, speeches or cutting of the cake, it was simply drinks, dinner and dancing. This is where we were able to get some family photos. We wore our wedding outfits. The invites to our party were set out like a polaroid that said, “We Eloped! Let’s celebrate!’” with a photo from our day.

My recommendations for couples eloping in Las Vegas would be to go for a walk along Fremont Street, check out all the wedding chapels (including the drive-through ones!), visit the Neon Museum, have a cocktail at one of the many bars and go exploring and discover the street art in downtown Las Vegas.

My general advice for couples planning to elope? If eloping appeals to you, DO IT! I hear about women who have dreamed about their wedding day since they were a little girl. I guess in a way I have too, but not in the traditional sense. I like to do things differently and the fact I don’t like wearing long dresses, we love to travel, and the thought of having a big wedding made us both anxious, this just felt right. As a lot of our friends and family have told us that this was very ‘Rosie and Kyal’. Just because when you think ‘wedding’ you have an image in your head of how this is supposed to look (bridesmaids and groomsmen, huge cost, speeches, long dress, tuxedos etc) if this doesn’t appeal to you, you don’t have to do it! You can get married in so many different ways.

Do whatever feels right for you and your partner. After all, the whole point is to be married, which is awesome!

Ms Floral Says: I am so excited that you guys did things your way – the way you always said you would. And what a fabulous way to end a holiday. Thank you for sharing your beautiful story and photos with us, Rosie and Kyal!