The taxi ride from “the strip” to my godmother’s house is about 25min. and runs about USD 45.00. The good news is that the ceremony and reception sites are within walking distance of each other (no more than 5 min.) I’ve also found a site that lists all the cab companies, and includes a general listing of prices from the airport to various parts of the strip.

Don’t forget, you can use our custom wedding map to download and print detailed directions from your hotel to any destination in Vegas.

As a sample activity, I’ve created an interactive map for you to show Peter and I some European destinations that you don’t want us to miss while we’re on our honeymoon. We’re starting in Paris, but we don’t know where we’ll go from there. Check it out by clicking here, and try it out. Then add a comment to this post to tell us more about your recommendation and about what you thought of my Scratch animation.

In its place, Mum has helped us come up with a travel friendly alternative: a wishing well. This is an Italian tradition, per se, but is also known to traditional Nisga’a weddings as a common bowl. We will have a bowl set up at the reception for guests to leave gift cards. Monetary gifts can be included if desired. It’s easier to pack in your luggage, and to get through customs, too!

If you do have a gift in mind, send us a comment, or contact us by any means, and we can make arrangements for it to be shipped directly home to save the border crossing hassles.

But most of all – we’re looking forward to seeing you there, helping us to celebrate our union!

Each of the guests and the gifts they offered me touched my heart, but one in particular inspired me to reach out in turn: Kimi Hitsinaga made a donation to an environmental cause to offset the air travel Peter and I will use to get to the wedding. This inspired me to go online and make an additional donation to offset our carbon emissions for our return flight for our Paris honeymoon (Way to “Pay it Forward”, Kimi!).

I found many sights to help me assess the impact of both my consumption and conservation practices, but ended up donating through Conservation International. It really opened up my eyes to the “hidden” costs of our wedding celebration. Click here to visit their sight and consider doing the same.

Vegas is a big place and it’s easy to lose your way because it is constantly under construction. We thought this wedding map would help you get along stress-free!

Peter and I checked out a few places. The strip is about a 30 min. drive away from the ceremony and reception site, so you’ll want to decide which you’d rather be closer to. You might want to consider that driving in Vegas is not very straightforward, even for locals because there is so much new construction changing things, and not much road signage to guide you.

Our favourite hotel is the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa because it has everything including its own luxury lagoon. There are multiple restaurants, bars, their own Starbucks coffee shop, and of course, lots of room to gamble! This place is only 5 min. from the ceremony and reception site, and they have a shuttle service to the strip if you want to explore it on another day. If you book now, a room with two double beds should run you between $170 and $200 a night for August 8 & 9, 2008.

Also close to the wedding events, is La Quinta Inn & Suites – Ft. Apache location (9570 W. Sahara). This place reminds me of a Best Western style hotel, more quiet and meek than the glitzy Vegas resorts. It is a bit cheaper than the Red Rock.

The Marriott and Suncoast hotels are also relatively near to the wedding events. You’re looking for locations near W. Sahara and the Red Rock area of town.

Check out this map I made to give you a few bearings to guide you by.

I’ve done a little research to learn more about the Japanese tradition of using furoshiki to wrap purchases, use as a bag, or for gift wrapping. These cloths can be folded in a multitude of ways to carry anything. The Japanese Minister for the Environment is now calling for a return to this Japanese tradition to reduce the amount of plastic bags being consumed. I saw one site that quoted Japan uses 30 billion plastic bags annually. Just think of how many we must use here in Canada.

I like furoshiki better than the current Canadian craze for post-consumer pop-bottle fabric bags because they are more compact to bring along on errand day and much more versatile. Check out furoshiki.com for more details. Plus, here’s a very informative video showing three different folding options for everyday use.

I’ve just spent two weeks in Ottawa and Kingston and have had a wonderful time soaking up the things I miss so much about home. This includes friends and family (of course), excellent cuisine accessible at even the most unlikely of places; Thunderstorms; White Pine Trees – soooo majestic; the soft and pink granite curves of the Canadian Shield; the smell of clover in the air; fresh corn on the cob; fresh tomatoes; Lakes, Lakes, Lakes, and more Lakes, canals, and rivers… But I never would have appreciated these things as much if I hadn’t become a BC resident.

I’ve posted the rest of my photos on my flickr account, so if you want to see more, you’ll have to register as one of my “friends”. You can write me to find out more about how to do that.