April 9, 2013: Last month when I was in Las Vegas for the wedding photography conference WPPI, one of my goals was to arrange an impromptu photo-shoot. I made my list of top wedding chapels in Las Vegas and planned to call them all until I found a good fit. Luckily my first call and my absolute favorite chapel - Little Church of the West, was able to do it. This is an amazing little church. It's one of the first things you see when you head to the strip and is right across the street from the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. It was built in the early 1940s and Elvis filmed a movie here, and other famous folks like Jody Garland, Cindy Crawford, and Angelina Jolie were all married here. Huge thanks to Dan from Little Church of the West for letting me photograph at this chapel. Not only was he super nice and accommodating, but in his amazing British accent he told me some photography war stories. I could not believe just how many wedding he's photographed. Oh the things he has seen...
Also, big thanks to Pam for serving as the officiant at this "wedding." Pam officiates weddings for free in Vegas! How cool is that? Her tagline cracks me up - "Because love shouldn't cost a thing." Check out her website here.
I spent some time reaching out looking for different models for the shoot, but just couldn't seem to find the right fit and was worried that I was going to need to call the whole thing off. Then I found Maarten and Jessica. They met working on a cruise ship and have traveled the world together, only to end up in Las Vegas a few weeks before this photo-shoot. I was so happy that I got to work with a real couple that was tons of fun and obviously so happy together.
