Real Las Vegas Love Stories: Stephanie and Britt

For Stephanie and Britt, their love story began the way so many great ones do — completely by accident. Two New Yorkers, a bus, and a hit HBO series set the stage for a romance that would ultimately lead them straight to the heart of Las Vegas.

“If we didn’t meet on that bus, it’s possible we never would have crossed paths,” Stephanie says.

Extras on Set, Soulmates in Life

Both Stephanie and Britt were working as extras on Boardwalk Empire, the acclaimed 1920s-era drama, when fate intervened in the form of a shuttle to set. Britt spotted an open seat next to Stephanie, asked if it was taken, and the rest, as they say, is history.

What started as a friendship forged on set blossomed into something much deeper. And given the show’s Prohibition-era world of speakeasies and jazz, it seemed only fitting that their romance carried a little of that vintage magic with it.

“We always wanted to have a speakeasy-themed wedding,” Britt says, “with a 1920s, Gatsby kind of flair.”

A Moment on the Couch That Changed Everything

Like many of the best decisions in life, the vision for their wedding came in an unexpected moment of stillness. The two were sitting on the couch one evening, watching a movie, when Stephanie paused, turned to Britt, and said: I want to get married in Las Vegas — at the Mob Museum.

Britt’s response was immediate.

“Done. Let’s do it,” he said.

It was, as Britt describes it, the perfect choice — not just for the atmosphere, but for a deeply personal reason. In the lobby of the Mob Museum sits a suit worn by Steve Buscemi on the set of Boardwalk Empire, the very show where the couple had first met.

“That’s pretty serendipitous,” Britt says. “That’s definitely the vibe we’re going for.”

Finding The Dress

For Stephanie, the search for her wedding dress was about one thing above all else: confidence.

“I wanted to look sexy. I want to feel confident, I want to feel beautiful,” she says. As a bride in her 40s, she was clear-eyed about what she was looking for, and she wasn’t going to let anything, including age, stand in the way of that vision.

She found her answer at Glamour Closet, a bridal boutique specializing in donated gowns from brides and designers. She had picked out about seven dresses to try on. The winning gown was only the second one.

“Just looking at it — the embroidery, the way it was cut, the open back, the way it flowed…” she says. She may not have wanted to admit it to herself right away, but the woman helping her already knew.

“She kind of looked at me and said, ‘Do you want to try on that second dress again?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, actually, I really do.'”

When Stephanie stepped out in that dress, Britt saw it immediately.

“The second you put it on, you just came out and were so glowing. It was always that dress. You looked incredible in it.”

For Stephanie, the moment was bigger than the wedding itself. It was about seeing herself fully.

“To feel so confident in wearing something, and to feel just radiant — not just being radiant for someone else, it’s for yourself. That was what really struck me. Looking at Britt looking at me, looking at myself — oh my gosh, look at this woman in the mirror. She looks spectacular. This is how I want to be.“

The Perfect Finishing Touch

No outfit is complete without the right shoes, and Stephanie found hers on the Betsey Johnson website: slingback heels at just under three inches — enough height without the wobble — with rhinestone detailing and bright blue soles.

“It was like my something blue, technically my something new,” she says with a laugh. “It was like that pop of pizzazz. I have this beautiful dress, and then — bam — the rhinestones pop out.”

A Wedding Entirely Their Own

Stephanie and Britt’s Las Vegas wedding was many things: glamorous, personal, steeped in history and entirely, unapologetically theirs. From a chance encounter on a shuttle bus to a ceremony in one of Vegas’s most storied venues, their story is a reminder that love — and the celebrations that honor it — doesn’t have to fit inside a box.

“It’s choose your own adventure,” Stephanie says. “I hope that people enjoy the adventure that I chose. I hope it inspires them for their own adventure — but that they still stay true to themselves and have what is really special to them and what will make their wedding the best.”

In the Wedding Capital of the World, that’s exactly the kind of story we love to tell.