The Story
The story at our Vegas wedding began when we met at a mutual friend’s birthday party which was animal theme. I was in a leopard-print body and he was dressed as a Ninja Turtle…neither of us had bothered in terms of a costume at all. We exchanged numbers and met properly a week or so later.
We never actually got properly engaged. Dan had booked us tickets to the Lovers & Friends concert in Las Vegas – a show with our all-time favourite 90s and 00s R&B stars – and when we discussed going we thought ‘shall we just get hitched while we’re there?’ It was a very casual, open discussion and it is something that had come up in the past; we never wanted a big white wedding and both had said if we ever got married it would be something fun and not serious like Vegas, so, it kinda felt like fate.
Dan did actually end up doing a cute proposal in West Hollywood a few days before we got married. We celebrated with street tacos and cocktails.
Not getting traditionally engaged meant I could choose the ring, which was ideal because I didn’t know exactly what I wanted so I found it crazy Dan would ever be able to get it right himself. We went to the antique ring shops in Hatton Garden and I fell in love with an antique Victorian ring. It was gold with a blue sapphire in the centre and diamonds all around the sapphire. Unfortunately, it was super expensive and I didn’t want Dan to spend so much on the ring, it really wasn’t that important to me. So, I went back to the drawing board and contact Olivia Madigan Shea, a ring designer in Hatton Garden. I showed her the ring I loved and we discussed her making a completely different style, more in line with her work. However, by some crazy fate, she went to one of her ring dealers and showed him the ring I loved and the man had the exact same ring, minus the sapphire stone. It was crazy! It meant I could choose a sapphire stone myself and I had the choice of a very light blue and a deeper blue – I went for the latter. Because of the style of ring, I decided I didn’t want/need a separate wedding ring. It’s my favourite thing I own and I wear it every day.
It’s something I think brides should get to do (especially if you’re a control freak haha) because you’re going to have it forever, so it should be just as you want it to be.
Dan’s ring was bespoke and made by Karly Wake of AURUM.Ldn . A square gold signet ring with a black diamond in the centre.
Venue
We chose Graceland chapel because it’s such an iconic wedding chapel in Vegas but we had also read a lot of reviews and went with Graceland as so many people said they had a personal touch where they didn’t rush you out or make you feel like it was slap dash, as a lot of Vegas chapels are.
We opted out of having Elvis marry us though as neither of us are crazy Elvis fans so it kinda felt irrelevant. Plus, although we wanted a Vegas kitsch style, we didn’t want it to feel like a joke.
Fashion
I knew I wanted a bespoke dress for many reasons; I never saw myself picking a traditional dress from a wedding store for starters and I also took the venue/city where we were getting married into account too. It’s absolutely boiling in Vegas so a heavy dress was out of the question and I knew we would go out drinking after too. Plus, I’m only 5ft so certain styles don’t suit me.
I wanted a short dress and a long veil, and when I couldn’t find anything I loved within my budget (up to £1500) I was lucky enough to have my friends Mollie and Liv of Barbara Bianco have the capacity to make me my dream dress within the short timeframe. It was the best decision because the dress was made to fit me perfectly. I knew I wanted a tight fitting bodice chest panel and then for it to be a mini length with some pleating. The girls put forward the idea of Swarovski crystal embellishments and I fell in love! They drew various options (I’ll attach an image) and this became the basis of the dress. After a couple of fittings we added a tie-up element to the bodice so that I could adjust to fit me perfectly on the day, and the veil became a double layer style which worked beautifully with the mini length.
The shoes – I had my eyes on an Amina Muaddi pair and an Attico pair but I could find my tiny size (36) anywhere and I ended up finding a similar style to the Attico pair in Zara which were a hot pink mules, which the girls embellished with pink Swarovski crystals too.
My sunglasses were hot pink The Attico x Linda Farrow.
I changed into a bespoke Senja by Maddie open-back, faux-fur trim dress – very Vegas!
For Dan – he knew he wanted a patterned silk Casablanca shirt so we kept our eye out for THE ONE which soon came along. He paired it with white Levi’s chinos and green Clark’s wallabees that complemented the shirt and gave a nod to his Jamaican heritage.
We were a nice mix of white and colour.
I gave Dan a pair of white versace Biggie sunglasses on the morning of our Vegas wedding as a present also.
Jewellery
My earrings were by gold jewellery designer Karly Wake of AURUM.Ldn
And I wore my friend’s vintage necklace.
My nails were done by Anouska Anastasia which were wedding themed.
Entertainment
Afterwards we went to a few casinos, had dinner, back to some casinos then karaoke and bed. The perfect night in Vegas!
The next day we spent it by the pool then we went to an afrobeats pool party at Drai’s. The day after that was Lovers & Friends which was one of the best days of our lives!
Beauty Regime & Wellness
My friend came from San Francisco who’s a hairdresser so she kindly did my hair with stick-on gems to one side.
Favourite wedding gifts
Instead of a traditional registry we made a website where people could gift us treats for our trip, for example: dinner for two, a night at a hotel, tickets for Universal Studios, cocktails etc. This meant we didn’t have loads of material things in the home and the gifts were not just super useful, but it meant we could message our friends and family to say ‘thank you so much for dinner tonight, we went here and thought of you’ which was more personal.
Honeymoon
We spent two weeks in LA and Vegas during this time and we had a busy schedule to return to so never took an immediate trip, then I became pregnant a few months later so the idea of a honeymoon has definitely been put on hold…for now!
However, it would be something in line with how we would normally spend our holidays. Think less luxury in the Maldives and more a new cultural experience in a tropical country.
Advice
- Break traditions if that’s what you want! People think ‘oh we have to have a first dance or we have to have expensive flowers’ etc but you really don’t.
- Ask yourself, what is it you want from the day rather than what you think people expect from a wedding. I often feel a big white wedding is more enjoyable for guests than those who have meticulously planned it because as the guest, you get to rock up and let loose, with zero stresses about everything running smoothly.
With thanks
Bride / Groom: @suzie_bks and @danny_rankin
Venue: @gracelandweddingchapellv
Dress: @barbara_bianco__
Groom outfit: @casablancabrand
Wedding rings: @oliviamadiganshea @aurum_ldn
Hair: My friend from San Francisco, Emma James for the day of and Beth Kucic from Queens Peckham salon cut my hair and got me back to my natural hair colour before I left London.
Nails: @anouskaanastasia
Related Article: Inside: A Radiant Three Day Wedding In Tuscany
