I got married in a castle. Did you know that? I got married in a castle, exactly three years ago today.

After over four years of dating, my beloved and I tied the knot in classic geeky fashion…in a castle…in Las Vegas.

You know the one.

We always knew we would have a big family wedding eventually, and had even booked the venue and set the date for the big wedding (I even had my gown) before we were legally married in Vegas. Yet, that wedding happened over nine months after we were legally man and wife.

My husband had always fostered a desire to get married in Vegas. We both had families that would have been displeased if that was the way we were married, but at the same time, I had also always sort of imagined a small, very intimate wedding. Vegas had also always been special in our relationship. It was our go to vacation destination while we lived in Los Angeles, and we had such fond memories of our trips there. I had joked about wanting to get married on Monday, when everyone was at work, and 13 is a lucky number for my husband. So, we got married on a Monday; on the 13th; in Las Vegas; with just a handful of our closest friends and their dates. We would still have the big family wedding later.

The day was obviously extremely special to us both. Even the pure magic of our big wedding later the next year, couldn’t match the feelings I felt on that day. The day I married my best friend.

Our entire relationship had basically consisted of each of us making the other nerdier, by sharing our favorite geeky fandoms and obsessions with the other. It made sense that our wedding would follow this pattern. Mark had told me that he wanted to get married in a castle, and the Excalibur in Las Vegas was the only castle we could afford.

The wedding staff at the Excalibur was simply amazing. I called, set a date and time, and was asked what color flowers we wanted (white or red), and what kind of ceremony we wanted (religious or civil). After answering those questions and paying the (very modest) fee, that was it. I was done, and the staff did the rest. Our wedding included a special discount hotel rate that we could share with our guests, and we were even upgraded to a suite on the last two days of our stay. Everything was perfect.

To be honest, as much as we wanted our geeky wedding in a castle, we also wanted to stay at the Excalibur because that was the first hotel we had ever stayed at together in Vegas. On that very first trip, we had also been upgraded to a better room. I think the hotel must do that as a rule if they have nicer rooms being unused. It certainly won us over, because that was our go to hotel from that day forward.

I know you want to hear about the fashion now:

My husband’s favorite color is blue. It is also the color that I most like to see him in. It matches his eyes. We found the shirt at Marshall’s (I think). I cannot remember if he already owned the pants and belt. He didn’t want to wear a tie, and I had no objections.

I picked my blue shoes to match his shirt. I was desperate to find a pair of flats that were blue suede. If I was getting married in Vegas, I wanted to do it in blue suede shoes. I finally found a pair at H&M just days before the wedding.

Mark’s awesome shoes were  Stacy Adams. He had actually owned them before I met him, and they had the perfect formal yet retro vibe I had envisioned. I actually styled my hair and makeup around that retro feel.

I bought a short, white, strapless tulle dress for the wedding. I had only seen it online and loved it, but when it arrived I hated how it looked on me. I already purchased a cream colored dress at H&M for $10, with the intention of wearing it the night before the wedding. Hating the dress I planned to wear, I made a last minute swap to the H&M dress. I ended up loving that dress and am so pleased that’s what I wore to marry my husband.

I added a pinkish-cream colored flower hair clip (also from H&M) to the waist for a pop of color and a little decoration.

My pearls were antique sterling silver (something old), a hand me down from my grandmother. I am not sure how old they are. The earnings were tiny little dice with faux diamonds, bought from CVS hours before the wedding (something new). My bracelet was borrowed from a friend (something borrowed), as they were also sterling silver pearls (something I had not seen before). I wore a blue flower clip, again from H&M (something blue) that was a dead match to Mark’s shirt, in my hair in lieu of a veil. The shoes were also something blue, and had maybe been the original intention of my something blue. I honestly don’t remember.

The rest of our wedding was just as unique.

Dinner and dancing was across town at our favorite Vegas restaurant, the Hofbräuhaus.

Our “wedding glasses” were not fancy goblets (though we considered a pair the Excalibur sold) but, tiny boots (did I mention that my husband is of German decent)!

Before ending the night back at our hotel on the strip, we tried our luck at Freemont Street, and succeeded in getting some very blurry post wedding pictures.

Our Vegas wedding was very “us.” It was a little bit geeky; it was filled with nostalgia from some of our favorite memories in one of our favorite cities; we were surrounded by our closest friends; it had a splash of classic Vegas and was a teeny bit retro; it touched on heritage, and even featured our favorite colors.

At the end of it all, I was married to my favorite person.

The big, formal, family wedding was actually even more nerdy (if you can believe it). But that is a story for another day…