Las Vegas bills itself as "the wedding capital of the world," but
late-night revelers who decide they want to tie the knot now must wait
until morning.
The county's marriage-license office, as of last Wednesday, will be closed
between midnight and 8 a.m., when much of Las Vegas is still very much
alive.
"It's one of the things Vegas is known for -- you can gamble, get drunk
and get married all in the middle of the night," said Jay DeLeon, manager
of the Graceland Wedding Chapel.
Probably the best known late-night marriage seeker was pop star Britney
Spears, who shocked the world in 2004 when she married a childhood friend
just before sunrise in Las Vegas. That union was quickly annulled.
People can still get married around the clock at one of the city's few
all-night wedding chapels; it will just take a bit more planning to obtain
the $55 license, said Cheryl Vernon, who supervises the marriage-services
office.
Vernon said the new office hours were not the result of a push to curb
irresponsible life decisions, but simply because too few early-morning
customers ---15 to 30 people, came in to justify a late-night shift. About
300 to 500 people seek licenses on a normal shift, she said.
Last year the office issued 122,259 marriage licenses.
Vernon said most late-night license seekers have been jet-lagged
travelers lugging suitcases and trying to avoid daytime lines, rather than
spontaneous celebrants. Still, there were notable exceptions.
"Yes, we did have our few -- like Britney
(Spears). She came in at five in the morning," Vernon said.
(Agencies)