"We wanted to get married on the 11th and we didn't want a big wedding with all the family around. We wanted it to be with the two of us. We decided to go to Vegas," Femke Bollen describes why she and her fiancé, Marcel Bels, traveled from their home in Holland to get married in Las Vegas today. No family. No friends. Just the two of them.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Femke Bollen waits for her morning wedding appointment at the Graceland Wedding Chapel.

But why the 11th? Bels explains that in Holland the 11th is a special day, the start of their carnival. Turning to his bride he says, “from the beginning when we got together I've said, 'I want to marry you on the 11th'." After nine years together,  today they became husband and wife.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Femke Bollen and Marcel Bels emerge from their brief wedding ceremony.

More 11/11/11 Vegas weddings coverage:

No fries at this drive thru, just nuptials

A marriage license issued every two minutes

Celebrating with The King

Picking the date before the man

"We really didn't plan on getting married for another year or two," said 25-year-old Vincent Conn as he waited for his fiance, Sarah Pindur, outside the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nev., on Friday, Nov. 11, 2011. "We wanted to kind of plan things out better, but she was like, 'I really want that date'. And actually, when we planned it, we didn't know this but she was pregnant. So now, she's seven months pregnant." 

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Vincent Conn, left, and his best man, Steve Hall, both from Flint, Mich., wait outside Vintage Vegas Memorabilia for Conn's fiance to arrive for their 8:30AM wedding at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nev. on 11/11/11.

"We're staying at the Stratosphere," he said, adding, "She wanted to ride all the rides and stuff like that and drink and gamble, but she can only gamble now. She can't drink or go on any of the rides. She can barely walk for more than 10 minutes at a time, so it's been kind of rough, but we're having fun."

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Wedding parties rotate in and out of the Graceland Wedding Chapel on 11/11/11. The chapel says that they'll marry about 100 couples today.

Conn and Pindur, both from Flint, Mich., were among thousands of people getting married in Vegas today -- 11/11/11. Conn is a car porter at a Cadillac dealer in Flint and Pindur is on maternity leave from her job in the financial aid department at a community college. 

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Best man Steve Hall opens the door to the chapel for bride-to-be Sarah Pindur moments before her wedding.

Sarah's father, Patrick, kept looking up the street for the cab that was bringing his daughter to the chapel. His daughter and Vincent recently moved in with him in Flint, with their dog, their cat and a baby boy on the way. When asked what Sarah's dress looked like, Pindur replied, "I don't know.  I haven't seen it yet, but my credit card has."

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Arm-in-arm, Sarah Pindur and her father Patrick walk down the aisle.

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Elvis impersonator Mike Conti throws down while Conn and Pindur profess their faith for one another at the Graceland Wedding Chapel

"I like 11, 11; that's when people are supposed to make a wish, when you see it on the clock," says Sarah Pindur, now Sarah Conn, seen here kissing her now-husband. "So I picked the date a long time ago, so this is my dream wedding."

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

"I like eleven eleven; that's when people are supposed to make a wish, when you see it on the clock," says Sarah Pindur, now Sarah Conn, seen here kissing her now-husband Vincent Conn.

Video: Meet the couple and hear how the bride picked the date before the man

Story: Thousands flock to Las Vegas for 11/11/11 weddings

Posted Thursday night: Even though Patrick Nonnon and Sunny De Vuyst of Belgium just got off a 10-hour flight from Brussels, it didn't stop them from heading straight from the airport to the Clark County Marriage Bureau in downtown Los Vegas to get their marriage license.  They were among more than a thousand couples getting a license on Thursday night so they could wed on Friday - 11/11/11. 

Jim Seida / msnbc.com

Patrick Nonnon and Sunny De Vuyst, both from Belgium, fill out forms to get their marriage certificate on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, in Los Vegas, Nev. The couple are getting married on Friday, 11/11/11, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Most couples picked the special date because they believe it's good luck, but Nonnon and De Vuyst have a more personal reason.  "She was adopted on November 11," says Nonnon of his fiance, "So we decided we should celebrate another event on that same day."  The couple have known each other for 20 years and have had two children together.  But why not get married in Belgium?  Why travel all the way to Vegas? "When you live in Europe and you think of Las Vegas, you think quick marriage, easy to do," De Vuyst says, adding, "We decided to come here, without the children, just the both of us."  

Mariah Consiglieri, Clark County Marriage Services Supervisor, thought the number of applicants on Thursday might break the one day record at the Bureau.  "The day before 7/7/7 we did 1,624 (licenses), and right now we're at 1,152, so if we keep up this pace…maybe," she said." Right now we doing about one every two minutes.  We'd love to see it happen.  It'd be great if we could break that record." 

Nonnon and De Vuyst are getting married at the Mandalay Bay Casino.  Leaving the building with their license in hand, Nonnon said, "We didn't want to have the usual wedding, we wanted to do something private."  But with more than 1,000 weddings happening in Las Vegas in a single day that privacy might be hard to come by.

Updated Friday morning: The marriage bureau didn't break the 7/7/7 record, but did issue a whopping 1,427 licenses by day's end.

Isaac Brekken / AP

Dario Franchitti (back to camera) returns to the pit row following tribute laps in honor of Dan Wheldon, who was killed earlier in a crash during the IndyCar Series' Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race on October 16 in Las Vegas.

Tom Pennington / Getty Images

Team members line the pitlane as the drivers complete five memorial laps to honor Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16.

Robert Laberge / Getty Images

A fan waves a sign after Dan Wheldon died of injuries after a fifteen car crash during the Las Vegas Indy 300 on October 16.

Tom Pennington / Getty Images

Dario Franchitti surrounds himself with crew members and wife, Ashley Judd, after Dan Wheldon was killed on October 16.

Nick Laham / Getty Images, file

Dan Wheldon waves to photographers during the 95th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race Trophy Presentation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 30, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The AP reports:

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon, who died on Sunday after his car became ensnared in a fiery 15-car pileup, came to the United States from England in 1999 and became one of IndyCar's biggest and most popular stars.

In his honor, drivers, many sobbing openly, took part in a five-lap salute around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway oval as thousands of fans stood and cheered from the grandstand.

"One minute you're joking around at driver intros and the next, Dan's gone," said Dario Franchitti, whose wife, actress Ashley Judd, had to bring him a box of tissues. "I lost, we lost, a good friend. Everybody in the IndyCar series considered him a friend. He was such a good guy. He was a charmer." Read the full story.

Reuters

A general view shows the resort of Avaza June 8, 2011.

Reuters

A woman relaxes underneath a photo displaying Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the resort of Avaza June 8, 2011. Turkmenistan's all-powerful leader promises that, one day soon, he will build a Las Vegas on the windswept shores of the Caspian Sea.

Reuters

A general view shows the resort of Avaza June 8, 2011.

Reuters

A general view shows the resort of Avaza June 8, 2011.

Dmitry Solovyov of Reuters writes:

Turkmenistan's all-powerful leader promises that, one day soon, he will build a Las Vegas on the windswept shores of the Caspian Sea.

Illuminated by distant gas flares, thousands of construction workers toil through the night to build the next stage of Avaza: a fantasy resort built on the reclusive Central Asian nation's fabulous energy riches.

Seven colossal, marble-fronted hotels ordered by President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov line the coast. At least another 23 are planned in a project which some say could divert up to $5 billion from Turkmenistan's state coffers.

But state publicity and lavish spending cannot hide the fact that Turkmenistan is one of the world's most authoritarian and secretive nations, where Berdymukhamedov's word is final and opposition among the 5.4 million population is non-existent.

Continue reading...

It's pretty amazing to consider how much of recent American popular culture involved the Sahara Hotel. Full story.

Isaac Brekken / AP

Margarita Pinos embraces a friend as the Sahara hotel and casino is closed Monday, May 16 in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas News Bureau via AP

In this March 7, 1956 photo released by the Las Vegas News Bureau, Elizabeth Taylor, right, and Micahel Wilding relax at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

The marquee of the Sahara Hotel & Casino scrolls the message "Thanks for the memories" shortly before the property was closed on May 16 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Sahara's current owner SBE Entertainment Group closed the 1,720-room resort, which first opened in 1952, and plans to redevelop the site in the future. The stalled construction site of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas is in the background.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Visitors stand outside the Sahara Hotel & Casino behind locked door handles shortly before the property was closed on May 16 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Sahara's current owner SBE Entertainment Group closed the 1,720-room resort, which first opened in 1952, and plans to redevelop the site in the future.