Tell us a little about yourselves!
We met in high school, Dustin asked Realiza to their school’s homecoming dance, and the two have been each other’s dance partners ever since and never looked back.
We have been together for the past 10 years, three of those years were spent long-distance from New York to San Diego while we were in college.
In 2022, we decided to move to New York City! Now we are living our dream, happily married in our first home together in our favorite city in the world, with the best puggy gal, Henrietta.
We enjoy most of our time together making each other laugh, watching movies, cooking breakfast Sunday mornings, exploring new restaurants, and spending time with our loved ones.
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
We always loved the idea of eloping, and since our move across the country made us push back plans for our bigger wedding, our desire for an intimate wedding grew until we just said f*ck it! Let’s Go! And planned the whole thing in 2 months.
We wanted our wedding to be light-hearted, and playful celebration that felt like us, and Las Vegas was the perfect place to do that. We have been following Sure Thing Chapel since 2021 and fell in love with them for their vintage Vegas design. We committed to them as they were so easy to communicate and book with! There is an endless list of things to do in Vegas, and our guests were able to enjoy their weekend stay as they pleased, which helped set the upbeat tone we wanted for our wedding.
How many guests did you have?
25.
What was your budget?
$10k.
Tell us about your outfits.
We found our wedding outfits only weeks prior to our ceremony date. Dustin found his Western-style brown suit from the mall across their apartment and had it tailored the same week, paired it with Dr Martens oxfords, and topped it off with a vintage brass bolo tie found on Etsy called MJ Moss Designs. Realiza rush shipped her dress from an online store Selfie Leslie, paired it with a bird-cage veil, and long white mesh gloves, her white bow heels are from Steve Madden.
As a wedding day gift to each other, Realiza embroidered the sleeve of Dustin’s shirt with their initials and gifted him a Grateful Dead ring, in memorial of his dad who passed away. Dustin gifted Realiza a heart locket from Catbird NYC, the same store he purchased her promise ring 9 years ago, with a small love note ripped from a page of his vow book locked inside.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
While our day was a celebration of our love, we also wanted to celebrate the love given to us from our family and friends. It was important for us to make our people feel special, as we recognize their support has brought us to where we are today; so we hand wrote them love letters and distributed them before we went to party at the club on the Vegas strip.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
The only child invited to our Vegas wedding was our 2-year-old niece. In Lieu of a flower girl, her mom dressed her as Elvis for our ceremony.
During our ceremony, we did an Irish ring warming, where we had all our guests briefly pass around our wedding bands giving their blessing, wishes, and love by touching our rings prior to exchanging them.
Our new last name is Miller, so of course we had to drink the champagne of beers, Miller High Life! We even did a shotgun with our guests, including our moms.
One of Dustin’s best friends became engaged the week prior to our wedding, and we wanted to share the love, so we got them a mini cake alongside our wedding cake.
Any tips for couples getting married?
This day is about you and your love! Spend this day however it will bring you joy.
Also, invest in a photographer/videographer you really like, these are the solid, physical memories that you’ll have forever to look back on for years to come!
Be open to changes and know sometimes things do not go as plan, take a deep breath, and know it will be okay!
Photographer: Petite Cherry Photo @clauddoingthings | Ceremony Location: Sure Thing Chapel, Las Vegas, Nevada | Reception Location: Golden Nugget, Drai’s Night Club | Flora: Lucid Juliet @lucidjuliet | Hair: Ruby Finch Salon @rubyfinchsalon + Aiga Beauty @aigabeauty | Catering + Beverages: Aloha Kitchen @alohakitchenlv, Diakon Vegan Sushi @daikonvegansushi | Cake: Mary's Cakes @maryscakeslv | Matchbooks: Custom For Your Party @foryourparty | Realiza’s Dress: Selfie Leslie @selfieleslie | Dustin’s Suit: Zara @zara | Shoes: Dr Martens @drmartensofficial (Groom) + Steve Madden @stevemadden | Groom’s Bolo Tie: MJ Moss Designs (Etsy) @mjmossdesigns | Bride’s Locket: Cat Bird NYC @catbirdnyc