Valentine’s Day weddings a dearly beloved economic boost

By Becky Bosshart

Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The economic stimulus package for the Las Vegas wedding industry: Put Valentine's Day on a Saturday, over a long holiday weekend, during a recession.

Love-struck couples lined up outside the Clark County Marriage Bureau, where a handful of tuxedoed promoters of local wedding chapels waved them over, two-by-two, to a curbside taxi service that resembled an airport terminal.

They're keeping an eye on the price tag, but for three couples who plan to marry this weekend, the availability of an inexpensive wedding in Las Vegas is not the only reason they've chosen to marry in the entertainment capital.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, the county had issued 548 marriage licenses, county spokesman Dan Kulin said. The downtown office stays open until midnight. Friday evenings, particularly before Valentine's Day, are typically busier, he said.

After three years living in Las Vegas, Tamara Frost and John Hochstetler are blowing town Monday. They chose to spend their last weekend getting one of those fast and inexpensive weddings the city is famous for.

This weekend is an adventure for Lydia Davis and Hollie McLeod. She's an accounting manager. He owns several businesses in California. It was the right time for love and marriage, after more than 20 years as friends.

It's about time for David Sisco and Brandy Eldridge, of Casper, Wyo. They've been together for seven years and have three children together. Her mother booked the accommodations at the Stratosphere.

Couples come from all over the world for the Las Vegas wedding experience, said Wynndy Johnson, manager of Vegas Weddings, 555 South 3rd St., just down the street from the marriage bureau.

Because of joblessness, more couples are seeking out $500-$1,000 white weddings, Johnson said.

"As opposed to the $20,000 you'd spend (at home,)" she said. "And you get the honeymoon and the wedding all wrapped into one."

On Friday and Saturday, Vegas Weddings will host about 100 ceremonies, three times what it did last year. Many of those who waited in line Friday for their marriage license said they would be tying the knot at chapels downtown and on the Strip.

Eldridge and Sisco

Even untraditional relationships have their moments.

Sisco, 25, a pipe inspector at an oil field in Casper, proposed about two weeks ago to the mother of his three children — after his future mother-in-law had planned their Vegas wedding. But he did it the old-fashioned way.

"He even took her dad aside and asked for her hand in marriage," said Vicki Eldridge, mother of the bride.

But it did come with a prompting, Sisco said: "I got a call out of the blue one day — them asking if I was ready to marry her."

He was. They booked a family wedding vacation in downtown Las Vegas.

"I think they just wanted a vacation," Eldridge joked.

All of the family members work in the oil fields, so they're not hurting for discretionary spending. Sisco expects they'll spend from $5,000 to $7,000 on this trip.

The couple married Friday night at Stratosphere's Chapel in the Clouds. Eldridge's choice for her traditional blue wedding item? Her hair.

"I needed something blue. So I went with blue," she said.

They plan to return to Vegas every five years to renew their vows.

Davis and McLeod

When you know someone so well for so long, the timing just has to be right, said Davis, of Fairfield, Calif.

They got a sign from heaven that showed it was time to deepen their commitment after 20 years of friendship, she said, though she declined to share what that sign was.

They became engaged in November. The couple — she is 47 he is 48 — will marry Saturday at the Always and Forever Wedding Chapel.

The choice of Las Vegas made sense for them, McLeod, a Sacramento, Calif., resident, said.

"It's a nice place, a memorable place," he said. "It's always nice to come back. I like the atmosphere."

They plan to do some shopping while in town and see the show "O" at Bellagio.

Frost and Hochstetler

Some things are better planned than others.

Frost, 22, and Hochstetler, 26, spent a year thinking about their Saturday wedding. They picked Hollywood Weddings as their chapel, and planned to spend only about $1,000. Most of this weekend they'll be at their Las Vegas home before moving to California on Monday.

The tattoo was the one part they hadn't thought through.

As a sign of their love, Hochstetler had the red imprint of Frost's lips permanently placed on his neck. The couple has been together for about four years. They have a 2-year-old son named Jaret.

"What were we thinking?" Frost asked, laughing.

"I don't think we were thinking," Hochstetler said. "It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing there at the tattoo shop."

Although they've had a lot of fun in this city, they are moving to be closer to family. They're worried about moving in this economy, but both of them have jobs lined up. She is a waitress. He will work in an oil field. The honeymoon will come after they've settled into their new home.

"I love you Michael," she said.

"I love you too, babe," he said, and they kissed before moving up in the long line.

Becky Bosshart can be reached at 990-7748 or [email protected].