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True Love: The History Behind Las Vegas Weddings
For decades, Las Vegas has been known as the place to go if you want to elope or have your nuptials blessed by Elvis. Around 120,000 weddings take place each year in Vegas, that's equivalent to 300 weddings a day. Quaint wedding chapels, an easy marriage license application process, affordable airfare, and warm weather see couples pick the city that never sleeps to say 'I do'. But not everyone has always been able to tie the knot in the 'wedding capital of the world.' Same-sex couples were not able to legally marry there until the law changed, and in 2014 Nevada became the first state to protect same-sex marriage in its Constitution. Since then, the Vegas wedding industry has continued to go from strength to strength. But how did Las Vegas' reputation for exuberant nuptials start?
Wedding Capital Of The World
Weddings have become an integral part of the Vegas economy, accounting for $2 billion of the city's annual $58 billion tourism industry. Las Vegas established its reputation as the ultimate place to get married in 1912 when neighboring California introduced a three-day waiting time between getting a marriage license and getting married and blood tests. However, Nevada chose not to do the same and instead welcomed couples wanting to marry. It also introduced the shortest residency time required for a divorce at the time. The city soon earned its reputation for offering non-traditional ceremonies and earned its nickname as the marriage capital of the world. Las Vegas has continued to ensure it's one of the easiest locations to get married in across the country. In fact, all that is needed is, of course, the happy couple, a marriage license, and an approved officiant.
Vegas Celebrity Weddings
Even if the unions didn't last, celebrity weddings have helped cement Vegas' wedding notoriety. Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow married there in 1966, while Elvis Presley and Priscilla Anne Beaulieu said their vows in a Vegas ceremony in 1967. Demi Moore and Bruce Willis said 'I do' in the Little White Chapel in 1987, and Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton got hitched in Vegas in 2000 after just two months of dating. Who could forget Britney Spears' surprise Vegas wedding to her childhood friend Jason Alexander in 2004 (annulled just 55 hours later)? Singer and actor Joe Jonas married Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner in a star-studded Las Vegas ceremony after the 2019 Billboard Music Awards.
Las Vegas Wedding Venues
While Vegas may be best known for wedding chapel ceremonies, there are also intimate settings for couples eloping, opportunities for drive-through vows, or having an Elvis impersonator officiating. Luxury Las Vegas weddings are also options at one of the sophisticated hotels in The Las Vegas Strip. Similar to chapel weddings, these can be turned into themed weddings. For their big day, some couples have opted for a casino, Italian, Romanesque, or even Treasure Island theme. However, couples who want something more lowkey can get married in a civil service at the courthouse in downtown Las Vegas or at a wedding venue beyond Las Vegas Boulevard and hold their reception at a museum, restaurant, golf course, country club, or state park.
As loved-up couples from all over the world continue to head to Las Vegas to tie the knot, the city's popularity for weddings goes from strength to strength, offering couples the chance to exchange vows in one of the most famous and eclectic city's in the world.