I am writing this on the eve of Carrie’s and my 25th wedding anniversary.

Carrie and I had been dating just a few weeks when she proposed to me and I said yes.

Our first date was on Christmas day.  We were married the day after Valentine’s Day.

We eloped to Las Vegas.

Las Vegas (Clark County Nevada) issues more than 800 marriage licenses each Valentine’s Day (including the day before and the day after).  The year we were married, Valentine’s day fell on a Friday.  Friends of ours, Nancy Osuna and Johnny Imperial, were getting married in Las Vegas on that Valentine’s Day and we thought we’d do the same.  However, they had planned ahead.  We hadn’t.  After many phone calls Wednesday and Thursday , it became apparent that booking a hotel at the last minute for a Valentine’s Day Friday night in Vegas (especially pre-Hotels.com) was not a possibility.

Waking up Saturday morning, we decided the day after Valentine’s could work just as well, so I got on the phone and was able to leverage a connection at the Luxor to get us a room at the Luxor for that night.

We had breakfast, packed and a little before noon, started our drive to Las Vegas.  One thought that nagged at me on the trip, was that I knew nothing about the logistics of getting married in Las Vegas or even where to start.  Marriage license?  Witnesses? Venue?  No idea.

We were getting off the freeway in Las Vegas at about 5 that afternoon.  As I turned left onto Las Vegas Boulevard, I saw a sign for the nearby  “Little Church of the West Wedding Chapel” and noted their phone number.  We drove on to the Luxor, parked and checked in.

Once in our room, Carrie decided to take a post-road-trip shower.  I called the Chapel.

“The oldest wedding chapel in Las Vegas and venue featured in the movie Viva Las Vegas starring Elvis Presley. Since 1942 couples have walked down the aisle at this historic Las Vegas landmark.”

The Chapel was booked, but the lady agreed to add us as their last wedding of the day at 10:30 that night.  She asked if we had our license, or knew how to get it.  No and no. She recommended Frank.  Frank would pick us up at our hotel, take us to the County Clerk’s office, walk us through the process of getting our license, drop us at a nice restaurant for dinner, take us to the Chapel at the appointed hour, then return us to the hotel.  For an agreeable fee.  We were all set.

When Carrie got out of the shower, she asked what we needed to do to get married.  I told her we were getting married at the Little Church of the West at 10:30 and that Frank would pick us up at 6:30 to take us to get our license.  I explained the sign I saw as we drove in and the phone call to the Chapel. We called Nancy’s hotel and left word that we were getting married that night and that she was welcome to attend.

Frank made everything easy. He arrived as scheduled and limo’ed us to the Courthouse where we were able to use the VIP line due to Frank being so well known with the County employees.  (Sharing the VIP line with us was the actor Ray Liotta and his fiancé Michelle Messer.  We learned later that they were married by an Elvis impersonator.)

With our license in hand, Frank took us to our restaurant of choice then on to the Chapel.  Nancy was there.  She admitted she came mostly to see if it was true that we were really getting married.  No one knew we were dating much less engaged.  Her new husband Johnny didn’t come with her as he thought it couldn’t be true.

The ceremony was short but emotional.  Nancy signed our Marriage Certificate as a witness.

And here we are 25 years later.  Many things have changed over the years, but we are still married, still in love, and still smile when we see Ray Liotta on TV.