The Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel — Attraction in Las Vegas

I got married here in February 2020. Here are the pros and cons about being married here:

Pros They keep in touch with you every step of the way throughout the process of booking, preparation, until the day of. Our wedding coordinator, Kristina, was absolutely phenomenal and was SUCH a huge help in getting everything organized considering we we’re not local and we’re traveling into the city to get married from across the country. Our Elvis (I believe his name is Ron) was absolutely amazing and I could not have ever even asked for a better Elvis for our wedding. He was great with direction, had a perfect energy, and as someone who has always dreamed of being married by Elvis, I can’t stress how much he truly delivered the experience I have always wanted for my wedding day as an Elvis fan. Truly priceless. The venue itself is so gorgeous. We got married in the garden and everything was gorgeous from the moment we previewed everything to the moment we left. Our photographer was so sweet and really took such beautiful pictures of us. She captured some amazing moments and gave us such perfect memoirs of our wedding day that are absolutely irreplaceable. Such a good energy! I believe his name is Chris? But he was our limo driver and he was absolutely amazing. He was punctual, so friendly, and was cracking jokes with me from the moment I met him which helped me feel like I was having a friend take me to my wedding instead of a total stranger. His driving was perfect in crazy Las Vegas and I felt so safe and comfortable with him. The live link is so convenient and was great for everyone who wasn’t able to come.

Cons: Honestly, my chief complaint is with the person who coordinated our wedding the day of. We had asked and were told by Kristina (who is a sweet baby angel and not who this complaint is about) that as long as we showed up for 5 PM (when our wedding was scheduled for) that we would be fine because we had expressed concern for being late considering Vegas had a lot of traffic at the time that we went. We got to the chapel at 4:20, and our wedding coordinator for that day (I can’t remember her name) asked me when my husband would show up because we took separate vehicles because I am very superstitious and didn’t want him to see me prior to being married, so I contacted him and he said he’d be there in 10 minutes. I relayed this information and she told me if he did not show up in 10 minutes that she was cancelling the entire wedding. This put unnecessary duress on me considering we had family from all over the country fly in to see us get married even though we had 30 minutes to spare for this wedding with him showing up when he said he would. I felt it was extremely unprofessional, and caused unnecessary stress on me after being reassured that as long as we showed up to our wedding time that we would be okay. I understand they’re running a business with many weddings scheduled, but like I said before, we had 30 minutes to spare in the time my husband said and did show up. This is more of a formal warning to anyone who gets married here than anything else, which I will admit Kristina was very transparent about but we mistakenly didn’t heed her warning- buy the photo package before you get married! It’s so much cheaper than buying everything afterwards. While the photographer was absolutely amazing, I realized after the fact that there were shots I didn’t think to take that should have been fairly obvious. For example, shots of me with my parents, shots of my husband and I with all the parents, shots with each individual parents (kids of divorce feel me) that I think could just be suggested moving forward. We had to pay an extra $100 for me to use my bouquet I brought, which is fine, except that they tried to charge my husband another $100 to use his boutinierre. There’s a lot of incurred costs they don’t disclose until the day of the wedding so be wary. The live link did have discoloration for some reason for some people and others had difficulty...

It’s with a heavy heart that I write this review… I’ll start by saying that we travelled to Las Vegas with 50 people for the sole purpose of attending this chapel. There was a lot of excitement & anticipation over the past year. The ceremony itself didn’t disappoint. It was high energy and perfectly executed. Our guests loved it. Unfortunately, my experience was scarred from the moment we stepped into the bridal suite. I noticed that the majority of negative online reviews revolved around the chapel’s strict photography rules. I therefore arranged for our photographer to be off-duty during that time to avoid any conflict on our wedding day. She would ride with us in the limo for pics and then leave the property upon arrival. Paying for interrupted service came at an expense, so their included photography was a hassle in our case, but I appreciate that it’s likely convenient for smaller weddings who don’t need an all-day photographer. As we approached the chapel I mentioned that I hoped the chapel photographer would be taking pics as we exited the limo. I don’t think our photographer grasped how strict their policy was, so when we exited the limo and there was no chapel photographer there, she snapped a pic. I didn’t ask her to do this and there was no malicious intent. We weren’t trying to sneak anything and I would’ve stopped her if I’d known she was going to do that. We were led to the bridal suite and promptly berated for what happened. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time with the heightened nerves and stress right before the ceremony. I felt like a school kid being scolded. I was told what happened was a “huge issue” and condescendingly told that we’re welcome to pay for a professional photographer to be onsite if that was our plan. Her whole demeanour was vile and there was an insinuation that we were trying to pull a fast one. Never mind all the upgrades we’d already paid for (media pass, upgraded photo package, floral)…we're not cheap people and wouldn't have tried to get out of paying for something. Bottom line is, I didn’t feel welcome AT ALL after that and spent the whole time in the suite trying to hold back tears before the ceremony. I wanted to be anywhere but there. I actually mentioned to this person that I was feeling awful about it and she dismissed me. It’s just so sad when I look back at it, after all that excitement for what was supposed to be a light-hearted event, that 1 picture was worth ruining a bride’s day for what appears to be due to greed. She really didn't need to say anything to us in the first place, as the photographer had already been dealt with and had left the property. Ironically, we’d planned to purchase more pictures during our viewing the following day, but I don’t want the memories anymore and couldn’t stomach giving them another dime for photos. So their tactics backfired in this case. I can own up that a rule was broken (albeit not on purpose). But there are ways to speak to people that don’t need to make them feel like garbage, particularly on their wedding day. I worked in the service industry for years and would never dream of talking to someone like that even on a regular day. We hired this chapel for a happy wedding. What happened didn’t have to be a “huge issue”, we can speak like adults - she made it that way. Guests commented that this same person wasn’t very pleasant in the lobby either. Not a great industry for that… Our limo driver was great, Elvis was fantastic, and our day-of coordinator was so sweet and lovely and tried hard to pick up the pieces. I thank her profoundly for that. At this time I don't enjoy the memories as my heart was heavy when we went down the aisle. I hope that fades over time. This chapel has a great thing going and I'm so sad about how it turned out after all the excitement. As a side note, we didn't get a group photo which I understood was included in our upgraded...

If I could give negative stars, I would.

I usually give businesses the benefit of the doubt, but my experience here was so unacceptable that I feel compelled to share.

The chapel is outdated and not well maintained. The carpet in the chapel was frayed, stained, and worn, leaving a shabby first impression. There are also props for other themed weddings behind the curtain at the alter, visible to guests but not the couple getting marries. I had a huge dragon staring at me the whole ceremony.

I was the Maid of Honor at a wedding here, and when I first arrived, no one was available to greet us or provide direction and roughly 50 guests were left waiting in the lobby for nearly 20 minutes until the wedding coordinator came out, shocked that no one had told us to go inside.

Micki (I believe that was her name - she was wearing purple lipstick) at the front desk made the entire experience unnecessarily stressful. She and the other front office staff consistently treated guests as if we were inconveniencing them.

When one bridesmaid jokingly commented about the lack of communication, Micki pulled her aside into a back room and reprimanded her for being “unprofessional.” Guests should not be scolded like children at a wedding — especially when it was the staff's responsibility to provide direction in the first place.

Later, I explained to Micki that the groom’s mother, who is disabled and speaks limited English, was lost and needed her son’s help. Micki flatly told me I could not speak with the bride or the groom and insisted the ceremony would begin without his mother present. This was extremely upsetting and insensitive, especially since she was the groom’s only immediate family in attendance. Only after the wedding planner intervened did they agree to wait — and the mother arrived just minutes later.

After the ceremony, guests were outside waitng for the bride and groom to emerge from the chapel, and seeing that I was holding (on my shoulder not in my hand and certainly not in use) my personal camera, Micki immediately scolded me and threatened that the couple would be charged extra if she saw me taking any photos.

Speaking of photos; the chapel photographer held the couple for nearly 40 minutes after the ceremony, making them late to their reception - I had told Micki and the other front desk staff what time the reception was to start and that it was 15 minutes away.

Later we learned that the photos were not even included in the ceremony cost and would require an additional $800 — another disappointing surprise. It seemed like a money scam - telling guests that they could not take their own photos so they can charge what an actual professional photographer would for photos an iPhone can take.

While the officiant (“Elvis”) was fun and the ceremony itself was enjoyable, the overall experience was ruined by Micki’s behavior and lack of professionalism by the staff. Their dismissive, unhelpful, and at times outright rude conduct overshadowed what should have been a joyful occasion. Luckily, we were able to shield the experience from our bride and groom and take on the burden for them.

A wedding chapel should be a place that celebrates love, but instead, Micki and the staff made the experience stressful and disheartening. I hope management takes this feedback seriously and addresses the way their staff interacts...