Woman NZ

Weird & wonderful weddings

Sharon Stephenson and Martin Haughey

The bride wore white, the groom wore blue and Elvis’ outfit had so many rhinestones it was probably visible from space.

I was that bride and that was my 2008 wedding in Las Vegas.

I met my husband Martin in a grimy London pub during my OE and we’d spent years dodging the marriage bullet. It’s not that we’re philosophically opposed to marriage – both of us love attending other people’s weddings – but the thought of being the centre of attention and spending so much money on something we could neither drive nor live in, left us cold. Plus, we’ve never been terribly good friends with tradition.

So when the chance to get married in Vegas for a magazine story came along, we jumped at it.

One April afternoon, under a sweltering Nevada sky, an Elvis impersonator walked me down the aisle at Graceland Chapel, north of Vegas’ infamous Strip. It was just us, the chapel owner and a photographer who doubled as our witnesses. Elvis cracked dad

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