11/11/11 Las Vegas: World's Largest Wedding Reception (PHOTOS)
What do you get when you combine the "wedding capital of the world" and one of the luckiest numbers in blackjack? More than 3,500 weddings in Sin City on 11/11/11, of course.
On Friday Nov. 11, couples from across the U.S. will descend on Las Vegas, the unofficial "wedding capital," to say their "I Do's." After they've tied the knot, over 3,400 couples will head over to the Tropicana Hotel and Casino for what is being billed as the world's largest wedding reception.
The Tropicana event -- which will host the city's newest newlywed couples in a massive group wedding reception -- is the first of its kind in Vegas.
The event is the brainchild of Tiffany Masters, a Kansas native and noted Vegas event planner, who designed the event to be a destination for couples who have nowhere to go after getting hitched.
Masters came up with the idea for a mass reception to re-write the story of her own woeful wedding night at the city's Chapel of the Flowers 15 years ago: "I didn't [have a place to go] when I got married here," Masters told HuffPost Weddings."I sat there and ate a cheeseburger watching my now ex-husband gamble on the tables with my ex-father-in-law and thought, 'This is it?' So this is my vendetta -- to throw the world's largest wedding reception. I feel that [the couples] deserve it."
As an ordained minister, Masters says she may even perform a few ceremonies herself.
"We'll do it drive-through style where we'll go up to the bar, slam a shot and I'll make sure they get officiated and they can still enjoy the reception," she says. "I am ordained, and I will have some ordained ministers on hand that night to make sure there aren't any crying brides."
In an accidental twist, Masters is sure to be officiating the wedding of at least one lucky couple at her mass reception on Friday. Earlier this month, she posted a note on her Facebook page saying she would marry one couple at 11:11 pm on Nov. 11, and would give them a complimentary bottle of champagne, a table and 11 roses. Thinking that only her friends would enter the unofficial "contest," Masters was shocked when her email inbox was flooded with stories from couples, and friends of couples, explaining why they deserved the free wedding.
One such email came from Michelle Badour, who wrote on behalf of her aunt, Patty Reinert. In her email, Badour explained that her aunt was a big influence on her growing up, and helped her to get out of an abusive home situation. To pay it forward, Badour reached out to Masters to win a memorable wedding for her aunt.
"Patty isn't used to having all the focus on her and being the center of attention," Badour wrote in her contest entry email. "That is exactly why she is the perfect candidate for this wedding. For that moment at 11:11 on 11/11/11 everyone will see her as I always have, up on a pedestal with the bright lights shining all around her."
To ensure that all of her guests feel comfortable at the door, Masters plans to decorate the outside of the club like a wedding reception. "No stuffy suits, no mean men," she says. "I want everyone smiling and treating the brides like they are the stars that evening."
UPDATED -- Nov. 12: Photos from the "world's largest" wedding reception below.
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The Huffington Post Stephanie Hallett First Posted: 11/11/11 03:43 AM ET Updated: 11/12/11 10:47 AM ET