Getting married in Las Vegas part 1 - Orlando / Florida Guide
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A few years ago a friend was about to get remarried. After looking at the costs involved in a typical UK wedding he started to think about other options. Knowing that I had a home in Florida he asked me about finding out what was involved. Well to cut a long story short once he had started to think about non UK weddings he then started to look further afield. Las Vegas came up as a possible location and as I was about to attended CES (Consumer Electronics Show) I said I would see what information I could pick up. So this set of articles is about what I found out from driving around, talking to some hotel services people and picking up a lot of info packs.
As well as being a popular entertainment and convention destination Las Vegas has also become known as the place to go for weddings. Currently they are performing almost 150, 000 marriages every year. The city has dozens chapels many of which are old Victorian homes which have been converted. All of the resort hotels also have at least one chapel. Weddings here can range from simple ceremonies to over the top themed events. You can hire an Elvis impersonator to serenade the happy couple, fly off in a romantic hot-air balloon or take a helicopter through the Grand Canyon. There is even a 24-hour drive-through chapel for those who don’t want to spend too much time on the ceremony. The next articles in this series will give more details of the options you have here.
Legalities
If any of you reading this have looked into getting married in other parts of the U. S. then it can be a little off putting with the need for blood tests and regulation wait periods after the application. However this is Las Vegas and everything needs to happen right now. The requirements are less controlled here, to the point that they are almost non-existent, other than being adult and single. There are no blood tests or wait periods after the license has been issued. The only legal requirement is that you must be at least 18 years and single. If you are between 16 and 18 then you must have parental consent.
You can save time by applying for the licence on-line before you attend the County Clerk’s office. This means you have a registration number and can go to the Express window when you arrive; this is valid for 60 days. To actually get the license both people taking part must appear at the County Clerk’s office in the Clark County Court house. Currently the licence fee is $60 (2015) but may be higher in the future. Once issued these licences are valid for a year ahead.
If you only want a civil ceremony these are performed one block from the court house in the office of the Commissioner of Civil Marriages. The cost of this is $75.
To get the licence you will need proof of identity and a passport fits the bill best. If you are divorced then you must know the month, year, and location where the final decree was granted, but you do not have to show any documents. If you are planning on Valentine’s Day or New Year’s Eve, which are the most popular days of the year you should get your licenses in advance to avoid the queues and make sure you have booked a chapel.
Las Vegas which is located in Nevada has been very conservative politically. The state approved a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriages at one point. This meant that none of the main chapels in Las Vegas would perform a same-sex marriage. However this was repealed on Oct 9th 2014 and there are now a few chapels for which this is their speciality, although the services are now available everywhere.
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