The north end of Las Vegas Boulevard (“the strip”) is home to about a dozen wedding chapels that provide an amusing assortment of options for those looking to get hitched in Sin City. Couples can say their vows at the “Say I Do” Wedding Drive Thru, the Candlelight Chapel, Wedding Wonderland, Cupid’s Chapel, and the infamous Little White Wedding Chapel where—as the red and white sign boasts—Michael Jordan and Joan Collins were married.
The Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel (also called the Elvis Wedding Chapel) is known for its themed weddings, in particular, those involving “ministers” that bare a striking resemblance to—and shake, rattle, roll, and sing like—Elvis Presley.
Yes, there are plenty of Elvis impersonators hanging out on the strip posing for pictures with tourists for tips. Some are fat, some are thin; some are old, some are young; some wear white jewel-encrusted jumpsuits while others don more somber black costumes. But none of them can belt out a tune like Viva Las Vegas’ owner Ron DeCar and fellow impersonator Roland August. Both men not only look the part, they give truly believable performances that can render both sexes weak in the knees.
Fast Lane Nuptials
Walter J. Stickley and Lorraine DarConte, who photograph weddings in Tucson, Arizona, were tapped by Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel’s co-owners Ron DeCar (a former Folies Bergere singer) and Jamie Richards (who skated with the Ice Capades) to help their photographers with the overflow at their chapels (there are numerous venues to be married at including two outdoor garden-style chapels and one that looks like a 1950s diner). There was close to 200 weddings scheduled, beginning at midnight 7/7/07, and ending before the stroke of midnight, 7-8-07 (with each ceremony lasting approximately 30 minutes).
Some chapels on the strip had as many as 500 couples booked to say their “I do’s” with ceremonies lasting about as long as the words themselves. Much of their time, unfortunately, was spent standing on the sidewalk waiting for their 60 seconds with the preacher. The sweltering 114-degree temperatures didn’t make it any easier.
The Strip, which was chock full of brides (so many sporting tattoos!), grooms and assorted bridal parties and family members, was literally choked with black and white stretch limousines, Hummers, and, what else, a pink Cadillac or two—Elvis’ preferred form of transportation. Motorcycle cops directed traffic as cameramen from various news stations conducted impromptu interviews with those waiting to tie the knot. The event was part love fest, part media circus, and oh-so-very Las Vegas!
In 2006, Las Vegas’ Clark County recorded 122,000 marriages. It was estimated that some 3,000 weddings took place at the city’s 40 or so chapels on 7/7/07—about ten times more than usual. Stickley and I photographed the majority of the weddings assigned to us at The Hartland Mansion where the real Elvis married Priscilla many moons ago. We literally had about 10 minutes following each ceremony to shoot family groups, bridal parties and the couple themselves. Talk about working under pressure! In addition, I ran a video for each wedding that was handed over to the couple before they left.
Stickley used a Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II and a Canon 70-200 USM L 2.8. DarConte worked with a Canon EOS 5D and an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM with a Canon 580 Speedlite. Everything was downloaded, tweaked and put on CDs the next day, then handed over to Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel’s photo lab to upload and process (with Noritsu dDP-411 dry printers).
