Choosing October for their wedding was the perfect season for McKenzie and Cory who planned a Nightmare Before Christmas meets gothic wedding. They booked The Artisan Hotel in Vegas as their venue and the fact that it was decorated in an eclectically gothic style already, made it a choice they were happy they made.

“We called our wedding theme gothic chic“, began McKenzie. “Our ceremony actually took place out front of the building under all the lit up trees. From the start we knew we didn’t want to have a traditional wedding where everyone had assigned seating and they would have to sit through a bunch of traditional things. We just wanted a ceremony, then a huge party and we got exactly that!”

The day began with an emotional first look, which actually ended up being the bride’s favourite moment of the whole day. “I remember being so nervous and stressed the morning of my wedding”, she said. “Nothing ever seems to go exactly as you plan it and I didn’t feel like I thought I should when I first put my dress on. Everything seemed to be going wrong, until Cory walked out and saw me. Seeing him get emotional over how I looked and knowing that I was going to get to spend the rest of my life with this amazing man… It really made all my other fears and worries melt away. I finally felt like the beautiful bride.”

The ceremony was led by the bride’s father which made it even more special, although it wasn’t totally smooth sailing either! The bride continued. “The ceremony was not like I imagined it to be, but perfect nonetheless. My dad was the officiant and he had been practicing with my mum for weeks but when it came time to the actual ceremony our mic kept cutting out (to all future brides – make sure you have a wired mic. Trust me, the cord will look better than your vows cutting in and out!) It was pretty bad, every five seconds the mic would stop and my dad would have to readjust where he was standing. Luckily he took it like a pro and it actually ended up being kind of endearing.”

McKenzie did find planning the wedding really stressful, but in the end they got the day they always wanted. “Planning a wedding is a lot more stressful that I ever imagined it would be”, she admits. “It was really tough having to make certain decisions that we knew our friends and family may not agree with. There were even quite a few tears shed but my husband was by my side supporting me every step of the way. That definitely made making the hard choices easier. At one point we were considering calling off the wedding and just getting married and having a party at my parents house. People really don’t understand the stress and tears that are behind the scenes of a wedding!”