Come Aug. 7, couples seeking a quickie Las Vegas wedding can tie the knot at a Taco Bell Cantina on The Strip.
The $600 fast-food wedding includes a dozen tacos, a Cinnabon Delights cake and a bouquet made of hot sauce packets. Irvine, Calif.-based Taco Bell first announced its nuptials package on Valentine's Day. At the time, Taco Bell held a contest for couples looking to be the first lovebirds hitched at the Las Vegas Taco Bell.
More than 150 couples entered the wedding contest. Dan Ryckert and Bianca Monda won. They celebrated their wedding Sunday.
"Now that Dan and Bianca have paved the way, starting August 7, fans everywhere can have their own Taco Bell wedding, which they can walk in and order right off the Las Vegas Cantina menu," the Irvine-based chain said in a statement released Monday.
The wedding ceremony is performed by an ordained officiant. Couples are allowed to have a private reception area for up to 15 guests. Weddings take place on the second level of the Cantina.
Taco Bell is partnering with Las Vegas-based Flora Pop, which specializes in traveling pop-up weddings. Once a wedding package is paid for at the fast-food counter, Taco Bell said couples can expect the ceremony to take place in the upstairs wedding chapel within four hours.
An officiant with Flora Pop, not employees, will conduct the ceremony.
With roughly 114,000 weddings in a year, Las Vegas is the second most popular destination in the world to get married. The No. 1 location is Istanbul, Turkey.
"This is unlike anything we've ever done before, so we are excited to see the response from our fans and see how many do take their love _ both in their relationship and with Taco Bell _ to the next level," the company said.
Taco Bell is not the first restaurant chain to offer an inexpensive wedding in Las Vegas. The Denny's on Fremont Street in downtown has been offering a $199 wedding package since 2013.
Taco Bell opened the first Cantina restaurant in Chicago in 2015. The restaurant _ with its sleek design, exhibition kitchen and comfortable seating _ aims to lure experience-driven millennials who seek urban environments to live, work and play.
The restaurants feature alcohol and a tapas-style menu in addition to the regular Taco Bell menu. Others have opened in Las Vegas, San Francisco and Austin, Texas. Each Cantina store is slightly different, designed to embrace the surrounding community. The Las Vegas restaurant is open 24 hours and is the first Cantina to have a retail store selling Taco Bell swag.
