Inspiring a Rush to the Altar

Setting the foundation

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

• The site needed to be mobile-first. Simple, yet engaging.
• It had to reflect the soul of the city with a modern, cutting-edge design.
• Resources needed to be easily accessible for those planning (or considering) a wedding.
• It had to be easily translatable for world travelers as well as meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards
• It had to launch before the 5 millionth wedding license was issued.

We also knew that the Clark County Clerk’s Office generated $2 billion annually to the local economy—just in weddings. Needless to say, the new site needed to garner more attention and inspire even more couples to take the leap in Las Vegas. We really had our work cut out for us.

What were people looking for?

First and foremost, we had to get strategic. Who are we building this site for? What information do they need? What would inspire them to book Vegas as their wedding venue? 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.

What we found was pretty surprising:

1. Younger couples aren’t rushing to the altar. Millennials (ages 26 to 41) represent the largest share of industry demand in 2021 and contribute greatly to spending on wedding services.
2. By generation, millennials make up 51% of licenses issued in Clark County.
3. Tourists make up 79% of marriage licenses issued within Clark County.
4. Contrary to popular belief, couples actually save money by planning destination weddings as the guest list is usually smaller, and the venue is often less expensive than in their hometown or state.

That last piece was pivotal to the project direction: If tourists make up 79% of marriage licenses in Clark County, and it’s cheaper to plan a destination wedding, according to our research, our primary target would be millennial women who are in the early stages of planning.

Planning the website

But how could we influence millennial women to consider a destination wedding? Especially one in Las Vegas?

Style, budget, and logistics, of course.

Style. One of the most important components of the site is the “Wedding Styles” section. It is featured on the homepage and highlights outdoor weddings, glamorous ballroom affairs, vintage chapels, and artsy observances in The 18b. We brought this to life with engaging photography, videography, and theme-specific content. We also added a layer of functionality that showcases photographers and allows our users to “pin” these photos to their vision boards.

Budget. Vegas offers it all–from $50 to $50,000+. But let’s face it—no one wants to talk about money or have their dreams constrained by it. We wanted to show the breadth of budgets that can build a Vegas wedding. We made sure our photography reflected this, conveying everything from fancy settings with hundreds of guests to small chapel services and beautiful elopements.

Logistics. A crucial piece to any wedding—but especially important when it comes to having one away from home. The content assured couples that getting married in Las Vegas was cake. What other city offers a legendary location, no matter your budget, with a roster of wedding experts guaranteed to be longer than your guest list? International airports, hotels, and activities for attendees were placed 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. 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 (and translatable) to all. There are projects where design is sacrificed for accessibility, but not this one. Just because a website is compliant, doesn’t mean it can’t be beautiful. Every step, every page, and every choice was made with accessibility in mind, but style in heart.

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, we broke out experiences, began outlining important resources, and developed a new logo, homepage design concepts, and the build of a beautifully interactive website.

Finding our identity

Our team came up with three distinctive directions that echoed the sundry flavors of Las Vegas, past and present. It was important that both the content and design gave a nod to Vegas’ history while still incorporating its current culture and dazzling future.

Photography

A huge part of this site would lean on the photography we chose. 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 days. If a user fell in love with a photo for its style, venue, or composition, we wanted it to be easier for them to find the photographer that took it, so we included photo credits when users hovered over the image.

Typography, color, & texture

We chose two separate fonts: one that would evoke a sense of timelessness (Ivymode), and one that would ground the design and could be easily read (Freight Sans Pro).

The big day

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. Just like prepping for a wedding, we had our own list of things to check off before we launched (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.

Love, Las Vegas style

Las Vegas has always been for lovers—no other place in the world hosts more destination weddings than this city. With this site, we made it clear to anyone seeking a wedding that if you can dream it, Las Vegas can deliver. Highlighting the endless possibilities that can be uniquely curated to fit any couple, any budget, any style, and any kind of venue is what makes Vegas the city of Five Million Love Stories & Counting.