Las Vegas Expected to Marry Five Millionth Couple Early Next Year

Posted on: November 16, 2021, 02:12h. 

Last updated on: November 17, 2021, 08:55h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) says the five millionth wedding license issued in Clark County will likely happen in early 2022. In anticipation, the marketing and promotion agency has unveiled a new campaign to commemorate the milestone.

Las Vegas wedding LVCVA Little White Chapel
Newlyweds celebrate their marriage at Mandalay Bay Beach in a commercial from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Las Vegas is marketing its wedding venues and vast amenities through a new online campaign. (Image: Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority)

Titled “Forever Happens Here,” the commercial spots feature all the ways “forever” can happen in Las Vegas. From couples just beginning their courtship to longtime loves returning to their favorite casino to celebrate their anniversary, the ads highlight Las Vegas as a place where everlasting love is as present as the ringing of slot machines.

Las Vegas is known as the wedding capital of the world, and that includes every aspect of the wedding planning process, from engagements to vow renewals,” said H. Fletch Brunelle, vice president of marketing for the LVCVA.

Brunelle added that the goal is to reach “the next generation of couples,” and demonstrate that there are “endless possibilities that can be tailored to create a celebration as unique as they are.”

The campaign is being funded through a partnership between the LVCVA, Clark County, and the Las Vegas Wedding Chamber of Commerce. The commercials will run digitally online and on social media channels.

Vegas Vows Return

Las Vegas weddings have been on a steep decline in recent decades. In 2001, approximately 121,000 couples said their vows in Clark County. In 2018, that number dropped to 74,500, and in 2019, 73,143 couples said their “I dos” in the state’s southernmost county.

COVID-19 resulted in even fewer couples marrying in Las Vegas, the 2020 tally coming in at just 56,331. This year is set to be the first year-over-year increase in marriage licenses issued in Clark County since same-sex marriages were legalized in 2014.

County Clerk Lynn Marie Goya says the area is currently averaging about 6,000 marriage licenses issued a month. If that pace continues, Clark County will sign off on its five millionth wedding license sometime around mid-February 2022, which could coincide with Valentine’s Day on February 14.

Wedding Rebrand

The first “Forever Happens Here” spot indeed seems to be tailored towards that “next generation,” a diverse group of couples ready to embark on forever together featured. But the commercial also pays homage to the most iconic wedding venue in town — A Little White Wedding Chapel. In the final scene, a couple is seen outside the famed 1301 S. Las Vegas Boulevard landmark.

In 2019, because of the decline in weddings in recent years, A Little White Wedding Chapel owner Charlotte Richards unsuccessfully tried to sell the venue where such notables as Britney Spears, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, and Judy Garland said “I do.” Richards later decided to continue her ownership.

While A Little White Wedding Chapel is in the “Forever Happens Here,” its cameo certainly paints a different image than many of the marriages that have taken place there. And that’s a good thing according to Goya.

“We haven’t really been marketing effectively for the last 20 to 25 years,” Goya opined. “This brand of the drunk wedding by Elvis you regret later needs to change.”