Here's what Doug and Rebecca Wilson thought they were getting with the Las Vegas Garden of Love's "Angel of Love" wedding package: a ceremony at the Bellagio fountains, limousine service, flowers, tuxes and gowns, photographs and a reception for the families afterward.
What they got, Rebecca said, was a "nightmare" that left her in tears and their bank account drained. The groom had to borrow his brother's tuxedo pants because his never arrived.
That was July 7, the "lucky" 7-7-07 that saw couples flocking to Vegas for their nuptials.
The Wilsons were back in town on Wednesday, to watch the Garden of Love's owners struggle to keep their business license -- and to get the Vegas wedding ceremony they didn't have this summer.
In July, the wedding was bad from the start, with details large and small going wrong.
"We arrived, and the Garden of Love was a nightmare. It was dirty, it smelled really bad," Rebecca said. "We weren't having the ceremony there, thank God."
No pants were available for Doug, but they were promised before the service. Then the service was moved back three hours to 9:30 p.m., with the given reason that the Bellagio fountains would look better.
The limo was two hours late, and Doug still didn't have his own pants. When they reached the Bellagio they had to track down the minister, who didn't know who they were and demanded $400 to marry them.
Now hitched, they set off for the reception, but the limo driver didn't know where it was, and no one had told the Wilsons, either.
"He had strict rules not to go back to the chapel because I guess there was already chaos over there," Rebecca said.
They had a late supper at the Mirage, where they were staying, and called it a night.
But, they said, the nightmare continued.
Though they had already put up $2,000 for the proceedings, their checking account kept getting hit by the Garden of Love for $1,000 at a time. The damage ended up being about $8,000, Doug said. Their bank so far has managed to secure $4,000 of that for them.
But they still haven't received their pictures, although they say they've been sent photographs from four other weddings at the Garden of Love.
Other Las Vegas chapels hunted down the couple and paid for their return trip. Though the Wilsons were brought in for the City Council's examination of the wedding chapel strife, the couple never testified Wednesday.
They were to renew their vows later Wednesday -- for free -- at the Vegas Wedding Chapel.
Doug and Rebecca said they would "definitely" encourage people to get married in Vegas, as long as couples avoid the Garden of Love.
"The only thing they did was get me married, and we had to pay the $400," Rebecca said.
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