The 6,379 Cost of Eloping in Las Vegas

Get the Full StoryWelcome to Show the Receipts, a series where we ask interesting people to share exactly how much it costs to get shit done. No matter the task, we're tracking every last dollar from start to finish. Up next: getting married in Las Vegas.

The idea to elope in Las Vegas didn't come to Mary Olive Kuderna until months after her fianc Josh had "will you marry me?" emblazoned across a historic movie theater's marquee in October 2022. What the 32 year-old Baltimore marketing manager did know, however, is that she wanted her second wedding to be different from her first.

"Me and my ex had a big wedding and it was fun, but it was very stressful and very expensive," Kuderna tells PS. She recalls the wedding costing between 25,000 and 30,000 - plus an extra 5,000 for same-day location change due to inclement weather.

This time around, Kuderna aimed to trim costs without sacrificing fun. But as the couple looked at local venues, they were put off by the prices, and what little desire they had to deal with wedding planning dissipated when their house flooded on Christmas Eve. They'd joked about a courthouse wedding, but living out of a hotel for three months and dealing with insurance and litigators was the final straw. Kuderna says, "Planning a big wedding on top of hiring a contractor and doing renovations was too many logistics, so we were like, 'Fuck it, let's just go have some fun.'"

The breeziness of a Vegas elopement sounded perfect. They'd originally planned to marry in late 2023, but the elopement came together quickly, and after booking a chapel online in January, they flew to Vegas and married that April. How did they pull it off? Here's the full cost breakdown of a Vegas wedding.

Task: Eloping in Las Vegas

Occupation: Marketing manager

Location: Baltimore

Timeline: Four months

The Receipts

Airfare: 848 for round-trip flights 424 per person

Accommodation: 1,147 for three nights at Encore Las Vegas

Food and drink: 500

Transportation: 140

Marriage certificate: 102

Chapel reservation package: 888 at Sure Thing Chapel

Florals: 222

Organist: 125

Photos in classic car: 222

Photographer: 1,500 with Andi Artigue Photography

Makeup: 83

Dress: 325

Shoes: 60

Veil: 17

Post-ceremony dinner and drinks: 200 at Barry's Downtown Prime

Total: 6,379

How I Did It

A meticulous planner, Kuderna, researched heavily to make sure the whirlwind wedding trip went off without a hitch. Here, she shares how she got it done and whether she'd do it again.

PS: Does Vegas hold any meaning for you, or did you choose it because it's known as the place to elope?

Mary Olive Kuderna: Mostly just because it's the elopement location. Vegas has the infrastructure to get married quickly. We were really looking for ease. It's a place to have fun, and we were just looking to have fun together.

PS: Did you invite family or friends?

MOK: The plan was to include them, but these chapels have guest limits. It became this question of, "Who do we really want there?" and, "If we invite this person, we have to invite this person." Suddenly we were back into logistics, so we ended up going just the two of us.

It was really intimate; I have the perspective of getting married in front of like 80 people, and getting married in front of one person is just so sweet. Later, in September 2023 we had probably 70 people at our house and just hired a bartender and a pizza truck. We treated that like our wedding party, but it was very casual.

PS: Tell me what you did or didn't plan. How did you choose your chapel? Did you make a reservation, or did you just roll up?

MOK: I did a ton of online research on which chapels were best for eloping, and if any of them were weird, problematic or sketchy. I read a bunch of reviews and looked at what people had posted on social media . I really liked Sure Thing Chapel's space, the vendors they partnered with, and the fact that a lot of women were involved. The location and price were good, too.

When you make the reservation for the chapel you choose a package and add-ons. Our package included the officiant, ceremony, and photo strips in the photo booth. You can opt in online for florals, which we did, and we got a boutonni re and bouquet. We also added an organist and took photos in a classic car.

We did have to supply a marriage certificate from Clark County, NV. Vegas churns those out, so they're open 24 7; we got off the plane the night before the wedding and swung by on the way to the hotel.

PS: Door to door, how long was your wedding? Did Elvis officiate?

MOK: Door to door, we were inside the chapel for one hour. The officiant was a staff member. Sure Thing is the only chapel in Vegas with a lady Elvis impersonator, which we did not opt for.

PS: What was your biggest splurge?

MOK: We hired a photographer named Andi Arteague and she was incredible. I love the photos she took. She was plastered all over the chapel's Instagram and all the photos I saw and liked were taken by her. We worked with her for an hour and a half - one in the chapel, and then an additional half hour after. She was the priciest thing at the wedding, but I have zero regrets. We have the photos around our house, and they're unique and really cute.

Food was also very expensive. We were only there for a couple days, but we did go all out on eating. We ordered room service every day and had brunch at the Bellagio. We got caviar on our eggs and were living it up a little bit.

PS: What was your biggest save?

MOK: I opted to do my own hair and makeup because I didn't know where to go in Vegas and I know how I like it done. A friend treated me to getting my nails done in Baltimore.

Wedding dress shopping didn't really appeal to me and I was looking for an affordable dress, so I ordered one from ASOS. I'm familiar with their fit, so I ordered it online and got it shipped to my house. The dress has sequins, beads and a high neckline - I was kind of going for a Vegas '60s theme. I got my shoes on sale at Ssense and my veil from Etsy. My work threw me a little bridal shower and they gave me a cheap tulle veil. I loved the look, so I ordered one. You can spend thousands on wedding attire so getting all of those at a low price was huge for my budget.

Final Thoughts

PS: Is there anything you would change or that you wished you knew beforehand?

MOK: I wish I hadn't worried as much about what people thought. I remember stressing about telling my parents that we were getting married with just the two of us, and I put it off for weeks. When I finally told them they were so sweet about it. I worried that friends and family would be upset with me and they weren't - if they were, they got over it quickly.

PS: Would you recommend people to elope in Vegas?

MOK: I basically tell everyone I know who gets engaged that they should elope. We've talked about going back for our anniversary one of these years. I would definitely recommend it to anybody who is newly engaged because it's so much fun and it's cost-effective.

Related:

What Is a Micro Wedding, Exactly? Wedding Planners Explain the Appeal

Helen Carefoot is a freelance lifestyle, culture, and entertainment journalist based in Washington, D.C. Previously, she was Well Good's Lifestyle Writer and worked at The Washington Post on the lifestyle desk in the features section.

Share: