County braces for 08/08/08 couples

By Jeff German

Friday, Aug. 1, 2008 | 2 a.m.

County marriage license officials figure they ought to be able to go at least one better on 08/08/08 than they did on 07/07/07.

“We had a terrible time last year,” Clark County Clerk Shirley Parraguirre said Thursday. “People were waiting in line for four or five hours. They were fainting out front. It was really bad.”

That experience, which came amid a 110-degree-plus heat wave, Parraguirre said, has left marriage license officials determined to notch up their performance for the expected rush of couples next week.

Why the concern about next Friday?

Well, for one thing, the number 8 is considered a lucky number and a symbol of prosperity in Asian countries. It’s no coincidence that Aug. 8 is opening day of the Beijing Olympics. Also, 8 turned on its side is the mathematical symbol for infinity, which could have special meaning for couples getting married.

Greg Smith, longtime owner of the Little Church of the West, said his wedding chapel and others on the Strip are bracing for a stampede of business.

Smith said he doesn’t think the volume of business will be as “supercrazy” as last year’s triple-7 day, but he’s keeping his chapel open 24 hours Aug. 8 and is booked for most of that time.

Strip casinos also are preparing for a lot of action.

“This will be the biggest wedding day of the year, far surpassing Valentine’s Day,” Caesars Palace spokeswoman Debbie Munch said.

Caesars is near capacity for weddings Aug. 8. Paris Las Vegas and the Bellagio are expecting nearly double the number of weddings of a typical weekend, and the Flamingo has booked 60 weddings in its six chapels compared with the 16 on a typical weekend.

Parraguirre said officials are expecting the run on marriage licenses to begin Wednesday.

Last year, she said, the county Marriage Bureau issued 3,766 licenses from July 5 through July 7. The biggest day was July 6, when 1,624 licenses were issued. On a normal day, Parraguirre said, the Marriage Bureau hands out between 300 and 500 licenses.

Officials found themselves overwhelmed last year by the swelling line waiting to get inside the first-floor Marriage Bureau and had to divert it to the air-conditioned lobby of the Regional Justice Center to help people escape the heat. The Marriage Bureau is next to the main entrance on the south side of the courthouse.

This time, officials plan to issue express passes allowing couples to come back to the Marriage Bureau at an assigned time later that day. The passes will be handed out in groups of 30 every half-hour. Temporary canopies will be set up on the 87-foot-long patio outside the bureau’s entrance to shield people from the sun as they get their passes.

Because officials are expecting an influx of international couples, Parraguirre said, rules for the passes have been printed in languages including Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, German and French.

Parraguirre said eight of the 10 windows at the Marriage Bureau will be devoted to couples with express passes. The other two windows will be for people who prefer to wait in the main line.

The courthouse marshals have a plan to move that line, if needed, to roped-off areas inside the Regional Justice Center.

“We’re hoping that it all works out,” Parraguirre said.

And where did the express pass idea come from? Parraguirre said the county is copying Disneyland.

Sun reporter Liz Benston contributed to this report.