Las Vegas has become known as the wedding capital, a city with over 50 wedding chapels, Elvis impersonators, lax marriage laws, and even speedy drive-throughs that will have you saying “I do” in a jiffy.
Rising prices are making people more interested in an elopement, with wedding planner platform, Zola, reporting that the average wedding expense for couples getting married in 2024 totaled around $33,000 which is a slight rise from $29,000 in 2023.
In 2023, Clark County reported over 70,000 marriages and in the past few years, even celebrity couples like Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker and Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have gotten married in Vegas.
Vegas is a city where there are plenty of kitschy and themed chapels perfect for a whimsical elopement like THE Wedding Chapel across the street from the Marriage License Bureau (which you need to get before eloping), Chapel of the Flowers‘ gorgeous and climate-controlled glass garden and Graceland Wedding Chapel, which started in 1977 and was the first space to do an Elvis-themed wedding.
There’s also the unique The Sure Thing Chapel that has showgirl “Surely,” who officiates the retro ceremonies, and the only female Elvis impersonator in the Vegas chapel circuit.
None are quicker than the Little White Wedding Chapel, a world famous chapel that that has a 24 hour drive through window called the Drive-Thru Tunnel of Love that lets you get married in as little as 15 minutes.
The chapel was even the venue of choice for iconic celebrities like Elvis, Judy Garland, and Frank Sinatra.
The window opened in 1991 on Valentine’s Day and became such a novelty that couples started to line up to elope here. The Drive-Thru Tunnel of Love includes a unique romantic ceiling with cherubs and sparkling starlights, making it the perfectly kitsch and unique venue
Requirements for getting married are a pre-application process that lets you skip the queue and a government ID from both parties. Marriage license fee is $77.
There are a few different packages you can enjoy, from the standard $80 Tunnel of Love Ceremony that includes a religious ceremony, witness if necessary, and two poker chips. The minister/officiant fee is $60 and added to the cost of the package.
Then there’s the Pink Cadillac Ceremony that costs $150 and includes their pink cadillac (that’s parked and doesn’t move) but is perfect for photo-opps and includes 10 guests.
Finally, they have a Tunnel of Love Extravaganza for $225 that includes a religious ceremony, 3 rose bouquets, matching boutonniere, a witness if needed, and a marriage certificate holder. The package includes 10 guests and a minister/officiant fee is an extra $60. Couples who want an Elvis impersonator will pay up to $250 more.
With all that being said, this is an extremely unique and fun way to celebrate your love in Las Vegas and if you do, you can join the ranks of famous celebrities who were married in Vegas like Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner, Britney Spears and Jason Alexander, Lily Allen and David Harbour, and Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, to name a few.