How my Vegas party mani became my wedding mani

Last spring, my fiancee and I talked about taking a  vacation. It started off as a family trip, my sister and brother in law and their three kids, me and my guy...drive the campers out to Colorado, explore the mountains, maybe do some fishing and some shopping and some panning for gold--you know, like you do when you're being a tourist in Colorado.

Then my brother in law's job sort of dried up along with everything else during the drought. When you own a lawn care company and it's 110 degrees and everything's dead, it's hard to justify mowing the customers' lawns no matter how much it sucks that you're not getting paid. So they decided to be responsible and not go on our family vacation. The nerve! (I kid. My sis and her family are the best.) So my guy brought home an atlas and we tried to figure out what to do with eleven glorious planned days off and nothing to do. Mt Rushmore? Minnesota? Too hot to go south, really, but *maybe* we'd survive Dallas? Ugh, can you imagine how hot it would be in the desert right now? So of course that's what we did. Vegas or bust, baby! in the middle of summer. Why not...can't be any hotter than it is at home!

All our friends started teasing us. "We know why you're going to Vegas." "Have fun getting hitched." "We have not even talked about getting married." I'd say. Or, "we are not going to Vegas to get hitched, that's ridiculous." In fact, we had talked specifically about how we were NOT getting married while we were in Vegas, just to make things perfectly clear, thank you very much. So the night before we left, I did up my nails in a bright party of color--Sally Girl's minis in neon pink, neon orange, and neon purple in an obnoxiously bright ombre. At least they were ready for whatever party came along!

So bright and early on a Wednesday morning in August, we caught our plane, laid over in San Francisco and then on to Vegas in a large metal tube. Because remember when I said "It can't be any hotter than it is at home!"? Well, it turns out that's a lie, because it can be. And it was hot. Hotter. Than. Hell. We dragged around for a couple of days, venturing outside long enough to catch the monorail from place to blessedly air conditioned place. Then Thursday afternoon, he says he wants to explore the hotel. We peeked into the swimming pool area, the salon and the spa, and then turn the corner into the wedding chapel. There was no one around, so I stuck my head through the door of the chapel to see what it looks like. About that time, I hear a phone rattle and my fiancee say, "Yes, we're interested in booking a wedding. What openings do you have today?" TODAY?!? You could have heard my jaw hit the floor.

Well, I said yes. And convinced him to wait a day so we had a cooler anniversary (8/10/12). So at 10:30 am Vegas time, we got hitched, and that is the story of how my Vegas party mani turned into my wedding mani.

PS We did not have  Elvis as a surprise mystery guest, but now I sort of wish we'd have sprung for it!