Frommer's Las Vegas 2004

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CHAPTER 7 . WHAT TO SEE & DO IN LAS VEGAS
Fun Fact
An Elvis Impersonator’s Top 10 Reasons
to Get Married in Las Vegas
Jesse Garon has appeared in numerous Las Vegas productions as
“Young Elvis.” He arrives at any special event in a 1955 pink, neon-lit
Cadillac, and does weddings, receptions, birthdays, conventions, grand
openings, and so on. For all your Elvis impersonator needs, call & 877/
ELVIS-35 or visit his website at www.elvis-vegas.com.
1. It’s the only place in the world where Elvis will marry you, at a
drive-up window, in a pink Cadillac—24 hours a day.
2. Chances are you’ll never forget your anniversary.
3. Where else can you treat all your guests to a wedding buffet for
only 99¢ a head?
4. Four words: One helluva bachelor party.
5. On wedding night, show spouse that new “watch me disappear”
act you learned from Siegfried & Roy.
6. Show your parents who’s boss—have your wedding your way.
7. Wedding bells ring for you everywhere you go. They just sound
like slot machines.
8. You can throw dice instead of rice.
9. Easy to lie about age on the marriage certificate—just like Joan
Collins did!
10. With all the money you save, it’s dice clocks for everyone!
major hotels offer a chapel as well; though the latter are cleaner and less tacky
than some of the Strip chapels, they do tend to be without any personality at all.
(One exception might be the chapel at the Excalibur Hotel, where you can dress
in medieval costumes, and the lovely chapel at Bellagio, which has personal wedding
coordinators and a high level of customer service, holding only 8–10 weddings
a day—seems like a lot, but it’s nothing compared to the volume on the
Strip.)
With regard to decor, there isn’t a radical difference between the major places
(hence, no star ratings here), though some are decidedly spiffier and less sad than
others. Attitude certainly makes a difference with several and varies radically
depending on who’s working at any given time. Given how important your wedding
is—or should be—we encourage you to give yourself time to comparisonshop,
and spurn anyone who doesn’t seem eager enough for your business.
(Passing note: Standing outside a wedding chapel for a couple of hours makes
for interesting people-watching, as you see brides in full white gowns accompanied
by a whole retinue, pregnant brides in ordinary dresses, or happy couples
wearing sweats, all ready to march down that aisle.)
You can also call Las Vegas Weddings and Rooms (& 800/488-MATE),
which offers one-stop shopping for wedding services. They’ll find a chapel or
outdoor garden that suits your taste (not to mention such only-in-Vegas venues
as the former mansions of Elvis Presley and Liberace); book you into a hotel for
the honeymoon; arrange the ceremony; and provide flowers, a photographer (or
videographer), a wedding cake, a limo, car rental, music, champagne, balloons,
and a garter for the bride. Basically, they can arrange anything you like. Theme