Book Reviews
Neon Nuptials: The Complete Guide to Las Vegas Weddings by Ken Van Vechten
If you're planning a wedding in Las Vegas from overseas it can be a daunting process. Reading this book is like having a friend who has your best interests at heart but who isn't going to pull any punches. The honesty is refreshing, it will help you steer clear of the less than pristine establishments, and it's entertaining. We couldn't have planned our own wedding without it.
Las Vegas Weddings by Susan Marg
As the marriage capital of the world, Las Vegas has seen its fair share of stars on their way to wedded bliss (or not, as the case may be). If you want to know who got married where, and all the gossip around it, this is the book for you. It also includes a section on the colourful history of the town, info on the Elvis wedding phenomenon, and an introduction to some of the chapels available for your own Las Vegas wedding.
Zagat Las Vegas Restaurants
If you're planning a wedding in Las Vegas and you're bringing along a crowd, you need a guide to where you can go for the reception and how much it's going to cost. This book is really useful as it brings together personal experiences and comments about the cafes and restaurants from a wide range of people, and really helped us narrow down where we wanted to go for our own reception.
Getting Married Abroad: A Practical Guide to Overseas Weddings
If you're thinking about getting married abroad and are at the very start of your planning process, you might find this book useful. It offers an introduction to the legalities of the main countries offering weddings to foreign visitors, and offers some thoughts on things like managing your guest list and suitable bride and groom outfits. However, once you've chosen your location you may find this book short on facts - you get no more than 2 short pages on each place.
"Time Out" Las Vegas
If you want an insider's knowledge of where to go, what to see and how to get the most out of Las Vegas, this is the book for you. You get an honest appraisal of Vegas hotels, useful reviews of bars, cafes and restaurants, and an overview of nightlife and the music scene in the city. There's a great shopping guide that will get you away from the hotel malls and into some of the independent stores, a brief look at wedding options, and a broad look at trips around and beyond Vegas. Take this book with you and you'll feel like a local.
Las Vegas (Eyewitness Top Ten Travel Guide) by Connie Emerson
The 'Top 10' books offer a great introduction to a new city, and this particular guide is no different. Lots of colour pictures to give you a sense of the place, with fold out maps and various sections split out into top tens. As well as sections on the major hotels and the Vegas Strip, there are helpful sections on where to go with children, free entertainment and outdoor pursuits in and around Vegas. Use in conjunction with a bigger guide book if you want a lot of detail, though.
