Adrienne & Billie Joe Armstrong's Neon Museum Vow Renewal

Some events you plan, deliver and lovingly file away. This one I still measure things against. Twenty years after their 1994 wedding, Adrienne and Billie Joe Armstrong renewed their vows at the Neon Museum, and more than a decade later couples still ask me about it.

Here is what I remember most: two of the most down-to-earth, loving people I have ever worked with. When Adrienne first reached out, she said two words that made my heart jump: vintage grunge. Mixed textures, mismatched furniture, lawn games, and an all-around relaxed vibe for their guests. I spend my free time at live shows, so this was the event I had been waiting my whole career to design.

A ceremony in the Neon Boneyard

The Neon Museum's boneyard of retired Las Vegas signs was the perfect backdrop, glowing, storied and a little rebellious, just like the couple. Shuttles delivered guests to cocktails and passed hors d'oeuvres, and once Adrienne, Billie Joe and their two sons arrived, close friend and Green Day bandmate Jason White officiated the vows. Dinner came from Divine Events, florals from Layers of Lovely, and lighting from LED Unplugged.

Then the night really started

The celebration moved to Beauty Bar in Downtown Las Vegas. I will never forget Adrienne walking in, taking one look at the henna artist, the hundreds of balloons streaming floor to ceiling, the taco cart and the shaved ice stand, and declaring: "This is so us. This is perfect."

And then the band played. Billie Joe on stage with Green Day's Tre Cool, Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses and Tim Armstrong of Rancid, in a bar, for a crowd of their closest people. You cannot plan lightning like that. You can only build the kind of night where it happens.

What a vow renewal can be

We planned the entire celebration in one month. That is not the timeline I recommend, but it proves a point I share with every couple: a vow renewal does not have to be a smaller, quieter echo of your wedding. It can be the party your wedding never had room for, built entirely around who you are now.

Dreaming about a Las Vegas vow renewal or a celebration that does not look like anyone else's? Tell me what you have in mind, and take a look at more Scheme celebrations while you are here.

Photography by Adam Trujillo. Florals by Layers of Lovely. Catering by Divine Events. Lighting by LED Unplugged.