Viva Las Vegas!!

Once upon a time...

There was a happy couple (that's us Luke Swilor and at the time Nicki Christensen) that had driven hours together to the city of Las Vegas to get married! This is the story of our wedding weekend.

First stop... Clark County Courthouse to get our wedding license.Making it official!

We got settled in our room at Treasure Island and headed down to the casino to gamble, eat, and have a drink. We sat at the bar and ordered a drink and played some video poker. I'm sitting there at my machine just having fun and so excited we were in Vegas for our wedding and I hear cha ching!!!! Luke hit a royal flush on his THIRD hand! He won $2161.25! Perfect way to start the weekend. We were so excited. We knew we wouldn't have to worry about anything all weekend and then some. It was awesome!

Here he is with his winnings. Those are hundred dollar bills baby!

We had dinner at the Treasure Island Buffet. Friday nights they have crab legs. Mmmmm! Then we took a tram to the Excalibur to meet up with my dad. He got there way late so we hung out for a bit and went back to our room. Here a couple pics of us by the New York, New York.

Saturday, we got up and got ready for pictures. I will post them as soon as I get the DVD in the mail. Then we had lunch just the 2 of us at The Mirage. Then we met Ashley, Avrie and Kevin for a minute to say hi. We walked around the shops at Ceasar's Palace and ran into my Uncle John and his family. Luke won another $600 playing 3 card poker. He was on a roll! Here are a few pics of us on our wedding day between pictures and getting ready for the big moment.

Me Gambling.

After Lunch at The Mirage.

Going to Ceasar's Palace.

At the Forum Shops at Ceasar's Palace. The model behind me was a real lady. How would you like to stand in a window and have people stare at you all day? Ummm... not for me, but it was cool.

My mom, Ashley, Mandy, Avrie and Jessica met me in my room a couple hours before the wedding to help me get ready. Luke showered and got ready and then went and relaxed in his car and listened to his satellite radio. We had to be in our room an hour before the wedding so our limo driver from the chapel could call and tell us when to be in the front to get a ride to the chapel. Here are the pre-wedding pictures.

My BFF Jessica fixing my hair. Final stages, putting the headband in. We were so excited. My day had finally come! Ok, so we were exaggerating. But we really were so happy!

Hair and makeup are done. Time to get dressed.

In the meantime...

Here's Avrie's Vegas pose.

Avrie and Mandy

Ashley, Avrie, and Mandy

Avrie and Grandma

Dun dun dun... Here's the dress.

Me and Mom (and Luke and the football game)

Avrie and Luke

One of the last moments of being fiance's.

Luke left and here are some pictures of just the girls.

My mom loved taking pictures of us in the mirror when we were little to get two different angles. haha Ashley had to take some pictures like the good ole days.

Me and Jessica. I'm so glad you were able to be here with me Jess. It wouldn't have been right without you there. I love you cupcake!

My girls. Thanks so much for helping me get ready. You don't know how much it meant to me to have you there with me before my wedding. I loved getting ready and laughing with you all. Love you!

Our feet. Clockwise from the bottom... Jessica, Mom, Avrie, Mandy, Me, and Ashley.

Here we are in the limo on the way to The Little Chapel of the Flowers. We were so excited. I think we laughed all weekend long. We had a blast just hanging out and knowing we were going to be getting married in VEGAS!!!

We got to the chapel and waited inside while our guests showed up and we got to go over a few things with the wedding coordinator. Things like getting our flowers, going over things with the photographer and videographer.

Ashley took a few pictures as our guests showed up. Here's what she got. Thanks Ash.

Luke didn't want to wait inside. I love this picture of how happy he looks just minutes before the wedding. Not the best picture, but I like his expression.

Avrie LOVED Las Vegas! She was so excited all weekend.

My stepdad, Joey.

Mandy and Sam

My dad and his girlfriend, Anona. And my Uncle Jonah and his wife Heather.

Grandpa and Avrie

Here's a really cute one of me (and my cousin Axton) walking out of the waiting room and into the chapel area. It's time!

The one picture before camera's had to be put away. Me and my dad getting ready to walk down the aisle. He had me laughing so hard all the way down the aisle asking me if he should strut all the way down.

The wedding was great. Short and sweet. We had so much fun. You can see pictures of the actual ceremony HERE. Click on Guests, type in Swilor as the Groom's Last Name and the date October 11, 2008. Click on our names, then at the bottom click Digital Photos. You may have to scroll down to see them, and the first 4 pictures are not our wedding. Enjoy! I also have a DVD of the wedding. If you want to see it let me know and we can have a wedding watching party. It will be fun.

After the wedding we all met at Romano's Macaroni Grill for dinner. They were great to accomodate such a large group. I was so happy so many people were able to come down and be there to watch us get married. I have pictures of the dinner, but I haven't recieved the DVD from the photographer yet. I'll post those as soon as I get them.

Jessica and Ryan rode with us in the limo to dinner. They made it much more entertaining. Especially when the romantic song came on "Just the Two of Us" and Ryan sang "and Jessica and Ryan". It was perfect. I'm glad you rode with us.

Here we are happily married!

After dinner Jess and Ryan came to our hotel and we gambled a little bit. They left and we went to our room...

Sunday we got up and checked out of our room. We went to The Paris Casino and got a pastry for breakfast. The best eclair I've ever had! Then, we went back to the chapel to choose our pictures.

We slowly made our way home. We stopped to eat and gamble some more in Mesquite. My mom and Joey met us there and played for a minute.

Joey, Mom, and Me in Mesquite. We had fun playing Wheel of Fortune.

Happiness!

...and that is how our story begins. We spent Monday shopping with our wedding money for things for our new place. We even bought our first Christmas tree together and some ornaments. It was a tender moment. haha We're all set up. Thanks to all our family and friends for all the gifts and congratulations and happy wishes. The only thing that would have made it better was to be able to hang out with our friends and family. But we had a blast playing all weekend. And we wish we would have gotten a picture of Luke's mom and dad! How does that not happen? Oh well, we know they were there and that's what counts.

We are currently living Happily Ever After as The Swilor's!