Red Rock Resort Spa & Casino – Franki + Chris – Las Vegas Wedding Videographers
Wedding Planner- Paulina Clute Events, LLC, Venue- Red Rock Casino & Resort, Photographer- Jenny Frazee Photography Floral & Decor- Flora Couture, Video- Memory Lane Video , Stationary- Paper & Home, DJ- Spencer Davis, Cake- Red Rock Casino & Resort
Chris’ proposal was awesome. It happened on a Friday; December 18th, 2015 to be precise. We had decided to have a Christmas dinner for just the two of us every year. This was to become our own little tradition. Even though we had talked about marriage a lot, I really didn’t think he would propose that night. Chris knew how important family was to me so he planned with my little brother, Sal who had just moved out of town. That night, we first went to Gram and Dunn to grab a drink. Then we went to Capital Grill to have dinner. As we walked to Capital Grill, it was really freezing so I had to walk really fast. Chris on the hand stopped to look at a bed through a shop window. Whenever he tells the story, he always insists that he said something like “Oh look at that set up”. I actually think it was just his mind playing tricks on him because I didn’t hear him say anything. He just stood there until I said, “Chris it’s freezing, what are you doing?”
I discovered later that he had stopped because his best friend Max was supposed to be there to take pictures and he couldn’t find Max. As soon as Chris made eye contact with Max, he begins to walk with me again. While walking, Chris mentions that we should go to Hawaii. He says this quite often and my usual response is that we would go there for our honeymoon when we get married.
On this particular night, however, I was freezing. I was only concerned about getting to the restaurant as soon as possible. So my answer that night was just “Ok”. I am sure this simple unusual response threw off his game plan.
Chris then went on to say how much he loved me. Honestly, I really can’t remember everything that was said that night. Chris can’t remember most of the things he said too. The last thing I remember was that he said, “Francesca Mari Belfonte will you marry me?” He then got down on one knee. I was so surprised and excited that I didn’t even look at the ring. I just kept hugging and kissing him until he said, “Can I put the ring on you?”
After this whole drama, we went to have dinner at Capital Grill. They had champagne and roses waiting for us and little hearts decoration on the table. It was indeed splendid.
Chris then suggested that we go get some dessert and meet my parents to celebrate. I didn’t know he had a few other tricks up his sleeve. We went to Bristol downtown. When we got there, we were taken to the back of the restaurant where I found our parents, our grandparents, his brothers and sister in law and my brothers. Yep, both of my brothers! Sal had flown in from California to see me get engaged! Everyone was there! We had cake, Champaign, presents, and speeches. It was just awesome! This was however just the beginning.
As soon as Chris proposed, my family and Chris had texted all my cousins and said, “Chris just purposed to Franki, everyone meet at Cigar Box.” How it happened I am not sure, but all of them stopped what they were doing on a Friday night and came to Cigar Box to celebrate with us. When I walked into Cigar Box and saw all my cousins, I couldn’t hold back my tears. We all danced, sang, drank and celebrated throughout the night. It was a night full of love and family. A night we will never forget.
The choice of our wedding date wasn’t something so romantic or special. Chris didn’t want to get married in the winter and I didn’t want to wait for over a year to get married. So we compromised to do it anytime from Aug-Oct. Luckily for us, the resort had August 27th free so we took it!
Most Italians in Kansas City love big extravagant weddings. Just a year before we got married my cousin Henry had broken the tradition by getting married at Red Rock. His wedding was a small one with just family and some close friends. It was really personal and special. You could practically feel the love. This was the same thing Chris and I wanted. We wanted our wedding to be focused on our love and two families coming together, rather than a flamboyant wedding. This was why we chose the Red Rock as our venue.
Weddings are quite expensive. Chris and I were lucky as we didn’t have to worry about the financial aspect of the wedding. This was because my mom planned the entire wedding. She only called us from time to time to know our preference on certain things. The wedding was so beautiful. It was completely breathtaking. My mom did an excellent job especially with her choice of vendors. Everything was indeed money well spent. We were very happy with all the vendors especially Memory Lane Video. I had to actually ask my mum how she was able to find Memory Lane Video. According to her, she had found Memory Lane through our wedding planner, Paulina Clute. We thus decided to use Memory Lane because they had really awesome reviews. On the day of the wedding, Memory Lane did a really good job especially with the interviews. We really can’t wait to see the video.
