Tag: United States

Having A Classy Las Vegas Wedding

Las Vegas is known for its speedy weddings, and many consider getting married in Las Vegas tacky. However, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the wedding capital of the world is changing to include more elegance.

Brides can still get married in Las Vegas for $50 at a speedy drive-thru chapel, but many brides are choosing to make their Las Vegas wedding more elegant, planning 9 months to a year in advance and choosing medium to extravagant ballrooms to host their event.

Casinos have always had the capacity to host large extravagant weddings in their ballrooms, but until recently, they used those ballrooms for corporate events. Casino owners didn’t think twice about using the ballrooms for a Las Vegas wedding reception or Las Vegas wedding chapel.

Now, elegant Las Vegas wedding chapels are the most competitive Las Vegas wedding business out there. All the major casinos and even small hotels have a chapel and / or ballroom in their Las Vegas venue, and they all advertise heavily online for brides to choose their Las Vegas wedding chapel.

According to “TradeBit,” the average wedding cost in Las Vegas is $24,860. This is quite a bit different considering Las Vegas was known for its $50 dollar Elvis weddings at the Little White Wedding Chapel.

Las Vegas is often the middle state of couples getting married from opposite ends of the United States. Long term relationships where the bride lives in California and the groom lives in New York, many times end up married in Las Vegas with family present.

Couples getting married in Las Vegas soak up everything they can get their hands on with a Las Vegas theme for their Las Vegas wedding. Las Vegas wedding favors with a Las Vegas theme include poker chips with a bride and grooms name on it. Las Vegas wedding invitations now feature photos of the venue that the bride and groom are getting married in, as well as Las Vegas wedding invitations that feature photos of the Las Vegas city lights from the strip and the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. Even toasting glasses and guest books are being engraved with the phrase “Las Vegas” or “Viva Las Vegas” instead of the couples names.

Couples are now planning to elope instead of spontaneously getting married in Vegas. Because of this those couples order their announcements weeks in advance so when they get back from their Las Vegas wedding they can immediately send out their Las Vegas wedding announcements.

While celebrities like Brittany Spears and others have eloped to Las Vegas and were married in a small Las Vegas wedding chapel, other celebrities are choosing to get married in Las Vegas at extravagant hotels, and they are still calling it “eloping.”

Whether a bride gets married in a small Las Vegas wedding chapel or a large Las Vegas wedding ballroom, whether they plan their Las Vegas wedding for one year or five minutes, every couple married in Las Vegas can say that they have eloped to Las Vegas.

Thus, what happens in Vegas … stays in our hearts.

Bloodstone Facts

The bloodstone is a gemstone with dark green color and red spots on it. It belongs to the chalcedony variety from the quartz family, represented by the formula SiO2 (Silicon dioxide). Bloodstone is technically a green jasper gemstone, the red spots are due to the presence of iron oxide and the green color of the gem is got by the presence of masses of chlorite. It has a refractive index of 1.543-1.552 to 1.545-1.554 and a hardness of 7 (according to Mohs scale).

Another name for bloodstone is heliotrope which in Greek means sun turning. Not all bloodstones have red spots, some of them are just totally deep green in color. The most valuable bloodstone would have a solid green color with visible spots of red. The stone has a long history in Western countries and in Asia too. It is considered as one of the oldest gemstones known to mankind. Bloodstones are usually cut en cabochon, or into beads, they are popular in gents signet rings or used as a sealstones.

The red spots of the stone were thought to be the blood of Jesus Christ. Many Christians believed that bloodstone is created when a few drops of Jesus blood fell onto green jasper placed near the foot of the cross when he was crucified. Because of this belief, the gem became very popular and sacred to the Christians, that is why bloodstone is also known as martyrs stone.

For those who believe in the mystical powers of birthstones or gemstones, bloodstones are supposed to provide positive relief and cure for many problems and disorders related to the blood. If worn on the body is said to be beneficial for the mind and body. Beside helping the blood circulation, it also helps to soothe the mind and encourages logical and positive thinking. This gemstone can also be used for the 14th wedding anniversary and it is the birthstones for zodiac signs of Aries, Scorpio, Pisces and Libra.

The primary source of the stone is India. They are also found in China, Brazil, United States and Australia. Bloodstone is the original birthstone for March. Today, jasper, aquamarine and bloodstone are considered to be the birthstone or gemstone for March. It is said that the stone creates balance, harmony and promotes self-esteem.