Anastatia Coussoulis and Joe Panganiban kiss during a photo shoot after getting married at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel on the Las Vegas Strip Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, in Las Vegas. The couple said they chose the date 2-3-2023 because it would be easy to remember.
Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 | 2 a.m.
M ichael Kelly has participated in thousands of weddings since becoming an officiant at the Little Vegas Chapel in 2014.
On Valentine’s Day, he expects a seemingly endless line of couples, many of whom will have come to Las Vegas for a destination ceremony. Each wedding has a different love story — some Kelly says he will never forget.
At one ceremony, the groom turned to his partner’s daughter at the front of the chapel and gave her a pendant while asking her permission to marry her father. It had everyone in tears, Kelly recalled.
Another Valentine’s Day is Tuesday, and Kelly and his colleagues know they’ll be slammed.
“Las Vegas has always been a popular place to get married. It’s very convenient, you can invite whoever you like, you get a vacation out of it — it’s a lot of fun,” Kelly said. “And everybody wants to get married on Valentine’s Day.”
The Little Vegas Chapel has already seen 30 couples reserve time slots for Valentine’s Day, and other chapels will also operate at capacity.
About 4% of the annual visitor volume to Las Vegas is for a wedding, and Clark County issued just under 80,000 wedding licenses in 2022, said Lynn Goya, the Clark County clerk. The office in August celebrated issuing its 5 millionth wedding license since its establishment in 1909, Goya said.
Goya leads the county’s Marriage License Bureau, the office that doles out and processes all of the marriage applications filed in Clark County. Through the years, she’s seen thousands of people from Las Vegas, across the country and around the world apply to tie the knot here.
“We’ve been the wedding capital of the world for a long time now, and I think that still, (when) people think of weddings and marriage, they think of Las Vegas,” Goya said.
Out of all the visitors Goya’s office receives, she’s seeing more millennials and Generation Z couples — those who are in their late teens to mid-30s — that want to “really put the emphasis on themselves, each other and their close family and friends.”
Las Vegas provides the perfect venue for that, said Melody Willis-Williams, president of Vegas Weddings, which has “sister” chapels, including the A Little White Chapel and Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel..
“This is not your grandma’s wedding anymore. Vegas makes it so easy to get married, and it’s affordable,” Willis-Williams said. “You can get your license and married in the same day, and that is a huge draw for people.”
It’s a process that even attracts celebrities, like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, who tied the knot last summer at A Little White Chapel off South Las Vegas Boulevard.
You can also get married with Elvis, Princess Leia from Star Wars, Emily the Corpse Bride from Tim Burton’s 2005 movie of the same name and other famous figures.
At the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel couples can integrate a number of themes into their marriage ceremony starting at $800.
The Little Vegas Chapel also offers special packages, like a Cupid Special package for $214 — a special Valentine’s Day price. Kelly said it’s a small ceremony that includes a floral bouquet, matching boutonnière and a video recording of the service.
Couples can also take advantage of the Little Vegas Chapel’s 10% discount on vow renewals through Sundayin recognition of National Wedding Month, which also occurs in February.
But before marching into the chapel to profess your vows in front of an officiant, couples should take some important first steps.
Goya stressed the importance of couples completing the online marriage application before heading to the Marriage License Bureau. Other requirements: You must be 18 years of age, provide government-issued identification to prove your name and age and not currently married or nearer to kin than second cousins or cousins of half-blood.
Once the form is filled out, couples can head to the Marriage License Bureau at 201 E. Clark Ave. from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. daily to submit their application and sign the license. There’s a $102 fee.
The marriage bureau has also established a satellite office at Harry Reid International Airport that is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Tuesday.
Making a reservation at your preferred chapel can also make the planning process more efficient, Kelly said. Although Kelly said the Little Vegas Chapel accepts walk-ins, lines can sometimes be long on specialty days like Valentine’s Day, so many patrons tend to prebook a time slot.
That’s Goya’s advice: The more planning, the smoother the process.
“As much as you can, plan (your wedding) ahead of time, but leave all the details and the stress to us,“ Goya said. “Just have a really great day where you can enjoy each other and your family and friends.”
