Weddings

Getting married in Vegas conjures up images of quickie ceremonies performed by Elvis impersonators. Although you can still do a Vegas wedding this way, you can also opt to have a formal ceremony that you will cherish and remember -- not that you won't remember or cherish being married by Elvis!

This section deals with wedding services offered by hotels/casinos. We may add independent chapels at a later date. If you want to share your experiences, please email us!

Obtaining Your Marriage License
Las Vegas makes it easy for you to get married. Most state or federal buildings require you to go through metal detectors and have your bags scanned before entering.

At the Clark County Clerk's Office in downtown Las Vegas, there's a separate line to get your marriage license -- no need to get scanned -- plus, it's open til midnight every day.

There is no blood test and waiting period required prior to obtaining a license, which is valid for up to one year. You can download the license application and get more info from the Clark County Clerk's Office website.

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Packages and Costs
Most casinos offer a variety of wedding packages for you to choose from. You can have a wedding for as low as $359 at the Flamingo or splurge on a $15,000 wedding at the Bellagio. The key here is to do research to figure out what you want and to compare prices. Here are some basic information about wedding packages:

• There's something for everyone. Each hotel/casino package offers several different packages in different price ranges. The more amenities in the package, the more expensive it is. If you have your heart set on getting married at the Venetian, be assured that you won't necessarily have to break your budget to do so.
• Location, location, location. Hotels/casinos will normally offer you a choice of location on their grounds. You can usually choose from the following settings: chapel, garden or pool. But some places offer you unique locations. For example, at TI, you can get married aboard the pirate ship; at Paris, you can say your vows atop the Eiffel Tower; at the Bellagio, you can get married in front of its fountains; while at the Venetian, you get do it aboard a gondola. Also note that certain locations can hold a set amount of people. Chapels can hold as little as 20 to 100 people, while the Eiffel Tower can accommodate about a dozen!
• Basic amenities. The basic package offered usually comes with a wedding coordinator to help plan your day, pre-recorded music, flowers for the bride and groom, photography and a marriage certificate holder. Sometimes, the officiator's fee is included. Upgraded packages can get you additional items such as video services, flowers for your bridal party, upgraded flowers for the bride and groom, flowers for the location, live music, hair and make up and more. Some packages offer honeymoon suites too.
• Getting ready. You can do your pre-ceremony pampering at the on-site salon and spa. This includes massages, hair and make-up and manicures and pedicures. The groom can take advantage of these services as well! Some packages include some of these services. If not, just check out their salon menu.

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Hints to Help You Choose

• Create a spreadsheet. It's hard to do a comparison between venues because you're not comparing apples to apples. The basic package at Caesar's does not offer the same amenities as the basic package at Mandalay Bay. So create a spreadsheet, list your "must have's" and check off the "must have's" that each package offers. If all the packages you are interested in meet your "must have's" requirements, the "extra stuff" may be the deciding factor in which venue you choose.
• Try going "ala carte." You want the hair and make-up included, but you don't need the spa robes they're going to throw in for free. Try going down one package and see how much it would cost to do the hair and make-up separately. The upgraded package may cost you an extra $500, while the hair and make-up costs may only cost you $150.
• Pick a date. The ceremony time is normally 30 minutes. So imagine this: if your venue is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. That's 20 weddings they can hold for one location, per day! So you'll probably have a choice of when you want to hold your wedding. Of course, the earlier you reserve your date/time, the better. Holidays such as Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day fill the fastest as well as certain dates, such as 05/05/05 or February 29, leap year.

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Venue Listing
Here's a listing of hotel/casino venues you can choose from. We've included a link to their wedding section as well as their salon and spa sections of their website. Please note that the websites give you lots of other helpful hints to planning your ceremony, from where you can purchase wedding cakes, to where you can rent tuxedos.

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Changing Your Name in Hawaii
If you get married in Hawaii, you can request to have your name changed on the marriage license. That means, when you finally receive your marriage certificate, your new name will be reflected on it. And since it the marriage certificate is a legal document, you can use it to change your name on your social security card, driver's license, state ID, bank accounts, etc.

In Vegas, however, you don't have this option. The marriage certificate is recorded in the name that you used when you applied. So, if you want to change your last name to your spouse's, you'll have to get your name legally changed when you come back home to Hawaii.

Be prepared. All this stuff is gonna cost you a pretty penny -- hope you gambled and won some money when you got married in Vegas -- and some time.

Here are some helpful hints:

• Your wedding officiator has five days to record your marriage certificate with the Clark County Recorder. You can check on their website five days after your wedding to see if it's recorded. You can also order copies of the certificate ($10 each) via the web, and you should order a few copies. You'll probably get in the mail, flyers for services offering to pull your certificate for you. Don't use these services as they are a rip off.
• While you're waiting for your marriage certificate to come, go to the Lieutenant Governor's (Uncle Duke's) website and download the forms (usually Form A) you need to change your name. You'll need to type the information in on these forms.
• Read carefully and follow instructions or else your application will be rejected. You'll have to gather some stuff and make a gazillion copies.
• The filing fee to change your name is $50.
• Some documents you'll need are: your birth certificate (has to be pulled within 90 days of submitting the name change request, so you can't use the one you pulled two years ago!), marriage certificate, and other legal documents such as adoption papers, divorce certificates, etc.
• You can obtain a copy of your birth certificate online at the Department of Health's Online Vital Records Ordering website. The cost is $15 per birth certificate.
• After you fill out the forms, you'll have to get the documents notarized. Most banks and credit unions have a Notary Public, who normally charges a small fee for this service. If you are a member of a credit union, you can usually get this service for free!
• Pick a newspaper! After submitting your documents and money to Uncle Duke's office, they'll send it all back to you signed. But you're not done yet! You have to put a Legal Notice in a local newspaper that is "regularly published." They don't specify which newspaper -- you can opt for the Honolulu Advertiser or the Honolulu Star-Bulletin or you can pick a lessor known, but cheaper one, such as the Hawaii Hochi. All those copies you made? You'll need to send one to the newspaper of choice with about $100 (depending on which paper you choose). Once it's printed, the paper will send an affidavit back to Uncle Duke's office. Only then will Uncle Duke's office send you back the final record of your name change. Whew!

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