Countdown: Vegas to South of the Border: Filipino+Korean Wedding=Partytime

Las Vegas is one of the few places in the lower 48 where you can schedule an outdoor wedding for February 9 and be reasonable certain that the weather will be mild and the sun will shine. (And people still say, “Why do you want to live in Las Vegas?”- as they shovel 6 feet of snow LOL)

And so it came to be, as I was privileged to officiate at the wedding of Nannette (age27, who I’ve known since she was three years old, and James, who I’ve known about a month).

Jesse and Nanette's parents, Manny & Sun Hee

Their union epitomized the melting pot that Las Vegas has become. Both were born in the United States and raised in Christian households, but James’ parents are Korean and Nannette’s father is Filipino and her mother Korean.

The Silverado Congregation has a long history with the Koreans, as they were a group associated with us for about ten years until they formed their own congregation. So there are a lot of friendships there.

Giving a wedding talk is always special, particularly when you’re close to the family. Nannette’s father is one of my best friends and we’ve serve together on the Elder body for many years. The couple themselves are both in full-time pioneer service and James is an MTS grad, so they may be moving around as he receives additional assignments.

The wedding took place in Las Vegas at Sunset Gardens, a self-contained wedding facility where the ceremony and reception can all be held at one site.

As always, the Koreans know how to host a party. There was music, dancing, joke-telling, videos, good food and great association. I don’t speak Korean (and neither does Manny, Nannette’s father, even though he’s been married to a Korean sister for more than 30 years), so most of the festivities were in English (just about all of the Koreans are bilingual) while reflecting aspects of Korean culture.

Here are some photos so you can see how things went: