Famous Vegas Weddings

Las Vegas is known as the wedding capital of the world for good reason. Clark County issues on average more than 80,000 marriage licenses a year due to its lax prerequisites. There is no waiting period, no blood test and you do not have to be a resident. Considering all the extracurricular activities the city offers, Las Vegas is one of the top destination wedding locales in the world, attracting some of pop culture’s biggest names looking to tie the knot. We count down the most famous Vegas weddings.

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward married Jan. 1958

Nights in Rodanthe star Richard Gere and international supermodel Cindy Crawford tied the knot in Las Vegas way back in December of 1991. The intimate ceremony took place at The Little Church of the West wedding chapel. The chapel is the oldest in Las Vegas and has hosted many celebrity weddings since its opening in 1942.

One of The Little Church of the West’s first celebrity weddings took place in 1943 between actress and the original pinup girl Betty Grable. She married bandleader and trumpeter Harry James, who played with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Benny Goodman.

Natalie Louise Maines, one-third of country band Dixie Chicks, married actor and director Adrian Pasdar. Their no-frills ceremony at Las Vegas’ Little White Wedding Chapel took place on June 24, 2000, and cost a whopping $55.

Latin music king Xavier Cugat, who served as the band leader at Riviera in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, and singer Charo, also no stranger to Las Vegas entertainment, were the first couple to marry at Caesars Palace’s new wedding chapel on Aug. 7, 1966.

Movie stars Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward selected El Rancho as the site for their Las Vegas destination wedding. The two wed Jan. 29, 1958, just two years before the historic property was destroyed by fire.

Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow married July 1966

In typical Las Vegas wedding fashion, Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher and his girlfriend Meg Matthews were married June 5, 1997, at the Little Church of the West by an Elvis impersonator. The ceremony was set to Beatles music played by the chapel’s pianist.

There was no crying for Michael Jordan on Sep. 2, 1989, when the NBA legend wed his longtime sweetheart and former model Juanita Vanoy at Vegas’ Little White Wedding Chapel. The reception was a … slam dunk.

The Chairman of the Board spent the better part of the 1960s cavorting around Las Vegas, and on July 19, 1966, Frank Sinatra married actress Mia Farrow at the Sands. Before the ceremony, friend and fellow Rat Pack member Dean Martin told Ol’ Blue Eyes that he had scotch older than his bride to be.

In 1959, under a wedding arbor made of Louisville Sluggers, longtime New York Yankees great Billy Martin married Gretchen Winkler at the Desert Inn. The night before, crooner Bobby Darin, of “Mack the Knife” fame, serenaded the wedding party.

One of the most talked about weddings of the decade, Elvis Presley married Ann-Margret at The Little Church of the West … kinda. The ceremony served as the final scene in the smash hit 1964 musical “Viva Las Vegas.” Actual wedding rumors spread like wild fire much to the chagrin of the duo’s respective significant others. In an interesting twist, both were married to other people three years later in Las Vegas.

Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu married May 1967

Ann-Margret and Roger Smith, who starred as private detective Jeff Spencer in television's "77 Sunset Strip," were married at the Riviera on May 8, 1967. Serving as witness to the wedding was Riviera's manager and public relations director. Only in Vegas.

Arguably the most notable Vegas wedding of all time, The King Elvis Presley and the lovely Priscilla Beaulieu at The Aladdin in the owner’s private suite on May 1, 1967. The entire ceremony was arranged by Elvis’ manager Colonel Parker to maximize publicity. The ceremony lasted only eight minutes and was followed by a press conference. It was estimated that around 100 guests gathered for the reception, including The Aladdin’s owner and his wife, Las Vegas Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun and his wife, and state Supreme Court Justice David Zenoff, who performed the ceremony. The reception set the Presley’s back $10,000.

If you’re planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas, contact a VegasDaze wedding guru today. Our all-inclusive wedding packages take all the guess work out of planning a wedding. Follow us on social media for great ideas when planning your Vegas wedding.