Hangover Street

10 years ago I took a ride on one of the funnest, craziest streets of my life, Hangover Street. As I sit here and write this at 5:23 am with the playlist from 2008 playing I am filled with a rush of emotions. 25 and engaged I made a decision to go against the norm. My Fiance and I cancelled the big venue we had booked at home and did the opposite. We mapped out Las Vegas, inspired by a good friend. After researching every possible chapel Vegas had to offer we went with the same one she got married at, Little Chapel Of The flowers. One random day when I answered my phone MTV was on the other end, they wanted to do a story on us! With 30 of our closet friends and family we flew from Minneapolis to Vegas. The ones who could not make it were fortunate to watch it on live stream back home! Traveling with only a suitcase, no wedding dress, I rented. The first one I tried on fit like a glove, I loved that dress. The best part was the next day I dropped it off at the front desk at the hotel with my husbands tux for the boutique to pick up. No dress to take home and store bunched up in a bag in the bottom of a closet. Just a great memory with plenty of amazing pictures to look back on thanks to the fabulous photographers at the chapel. Some friends who stayed at the Riviera told us how there was some movie being filmed their called “The Hangover”. Luckily they didn’t have any tigers in their room! The day started out with banana pancakes and soon turned crazy, but with every kink in the road we quickly found a solution to fix it. Forgotten wedding music, make up done wrong, my dad arriving with just minutes to spare were all just bumps in the road to greatness. When the limo sent by the chapel arrived to pick me up I had one request, rap music to prevent from crying that beautiful make up off from tears of joy and excitement. The ceremony was perfect. Everything you could possibly ask for. The reception at Fellini’s in The Stratosphere was elegant and delicious. The wedding cake was amazing that night, not so much a year later. Why is that a thing anyways? The few raindrops that fell that day in the desert filled me with even more certainty that I couldn’t have picked a better place to say I do. After all the partying, after saying our last goodbye and it was just the 2 of us, we set out to see The Blue Man Group. We may or may not have been falling asleep while the toilet paper was passed over our heads. We flew home with our hearts and suitcases full of memories to cherish for a lifetime free from wedding debt and regret. Though we did not meet Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis or any of the stars in “The Hangover” we have an extra bonus, pressing play to “The Hangover” in an instant takes us back to that day. And though MTV never did end up doing a story on us and I never heard from them again once they found out we were not eloping, I am grateful to share this memory with all the friends and family who joined us and watched back home. After 10 years as I pack my bags to go back and celebrate I wonder what kind of Hangover Street we will end up on this time. Let me be your inspiration. Make your day simple, easy, fun and memorable. Vegas Baby!