Wedding Bells Quiet As Las Vegas Hit 10-Year Low

Elvis impersonators, all-night casinos and chapels abound in Las Vegas, once a popular spot for couples wishing to tie the knot in quick, cheap weddings. However, statistics from the county clerk show the number of Vegas weddings are dwindling each year.

Statistics from 2004–2014 show Vegas weddings dropped 37 percent over the last decade, from 128,000 in 2004 to 81,000 last year.

“The wedding business here in Las Vegas has fallen off since 2004,” said Pastor Jean-Claude Chevalme, Vegas’ Graceland Wedding Chapel, to international news agency AFP. “We haven’t had ups and downs, and ups and downs — it’s just been a consistent drop every year.”

Pastor Chevalme cites a weak economy as the reason for the downturn. Another reason, according to AFP, could be the city’s association with ill-fated celebrity marriages. A number of celebrity couples got hitched in Las Vegas, including Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman as well as Britney Spears and Jason Alexander, and then quickly divorced after the ceremony.

In addition, popular films with Vegas imagery like The Hangover have not helped better the city’s image.

“One of the misconceptions over the past few years is that people only come here when they are drunk and they get married last-minute, and that’s just not true. That makes great movies but that’s just not true,” said Lynn Marie Goya, clerk, Clark County, to the AFP.

Though the city has been experiencing a decrease in weddings, Las Vegas still remains the most popular destination to tie the knot in the United States. The city recently launched a new publicity campaign designed to restore the allure of Vegas weddings with the hope couples will visit to exchange vows.