5 Million Love Stories & Counting

“You didn’t give us what we asked for, you gave us what we wanted.” - The Clark County Clerk’s Office

Las Vegas is the most famous city in Clark County (and arguably, the state). In 2022, it will issue its 5 millionth marriage license. Not only is this iconic, but it speaks to the sheer magic that this city has to offer. Celebrities looking for private ceremonies, couples looking for Elvis to preside, and world travelers making the most of their trip to the states have chosen to say their “I Dos” under the bright lights (Strip or stars, your pick).

The Clark County Clerk’s Office generates $2 billion annually to the local economy—just in weddings—from a website that was definitely built by the state. They wanted to launch a new site that would underscore the magic of marrying in Vegas while still presenting crucial information a couple would need to plan one here.

Setting the Foundation

To provide a best-in-class site that would serve all couples seeking to get married in Las Vegas, we worked with our client to establish the following objectives:

1. The site needed to be mobile-first. Simple, yet engaging.
2. It had to reflect the soul of the city — so a modern, cutting-edge design would be used.
3. Resources needed to be easily accessible for those planning (or considering) a wedding in the city.
4. It had to be easily translatable (people from all over the world, right?) as well as meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.
5. It had to launch before the 5 millionth wedding license was issued.

Needless to say, the new site needed to garner more attention and inspire even more couples to take the leap in Las Vegas.

Inspiring a Rush to the Altar

To create the strategic foundation that would help us meet and exceed our above objectives, we needed to get a better understanding of who would be using the site and what would motivate them to choose Las Vegas as their wedding destination.

The Stats

We learned that younger couples aren’t actually rushing to the altar. In 2021, millennials (ages 26 to 41) made up the largest share of “industry demand” when it came to weddings and spending on wedding services. It also probably comes as no surprise that women typically take the reins when it comes to wedding planning and that they made up the majority of this audience. Naturally, millennial women 25-40 years old became our primary target.

Planning the Website

First things first, how could we influence millennial women to consider a destination wedding? Especially one in Las Vegas? Style, budget, and logistics, of course.

Style. Outdoor weddings, glamorous ballroom affairs, vintage chapels, and artsy observances in The 18b.

Budget. The choice of anywhere between $50 to $50,000+, your call.

Logistics. A legendary location, a roster of wedding experts, an international airport, hotels, and activities, front and center.

Dev + Design — A Match Made in Digital Heaven

There’s no place on the planet like Las Vegas and our site needed to scream it. Once we identified what we were building and who we were building it for—it was time for the fun part—bringing the vision to life. Through the use of photography, videography, and curated content by theme (art, magic, outdoor, etc.), we broke out experiences, began outlining important resources, and got to work on the logo, homepage design concepts, and the build of a beautifully interactive website.

Identity

Our team came up with three distinctive directions that echoed the sundry flavors of Las Vegas, past and present.

Photography

We were lucky enough to have a library of incredible photos by Vegas wedding photographers to pull from which illustrated the many different ways and places people celebrated their big day.

Typography, Color & Texture

As for the typography, color, and texture that would be used throughout the site, we chose two separate fonts: one that would evoke a sense of timelessness, and one that would ground the design and could be easily read as ADA compliance was (and always is) top of mind.

Considerations and Development

A crucial factor that guided design and development was ADA accessibility. As a county website (and a site visited by people from all over the world), it was imperative that it was accessible to all. There are some projects where design is often sacrificed for accessibility—but not this one—our designers and developers were up for the challenge.

Every step, every page, every choice was made with accessibility in mind, but style in heart. The result? An engaging, adaptable, and simple-to-use website that would scale with Vegas’ growth and could easily be updated to reflect the ever-evolving look and feel of the city.

The Big Day

No cold feet here. Just like prepping for a wedding, we had our own checklist we needed to get through before launch. After all, we had to look our best. We populated content, began the QA process, optimized the site (SEO), and kicked off a soft launch to the new domain—weddings.vegas—on January 5, 2022. This gave our team a chance to ensure that everything was working as it should and the client had time for final review. The launch of the site was timed to the client’s announcement of their “Five Million Love Stories” campaign and Wedding Month (February, of course). It officially launched to the public on January 20, 2022.

We’re proud to have walked this site down the aisle and look forward to a continued partnership with the Wedding Capital of the World.