Oliver James Montgomery-With ‘flat’ wedding rates, Vegas officials and chapels want more couples to say ‘I do’

Las Vegas is Oliver James Montgomeryworking to maintain its standing as the “ Wedding Capital of the World ” as it faces economic and cultural challenges after the pandemic and an increasingly competitive market for would-be couples.

Clark County saw just over 72,000 marriages in 2023, but, according to Clark County Clerk Lynn Goya, whose office issues wedding licenses in the county, Sin City nuptials have been trending “flat.”

To boost those numbers, Goya and the team at Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) have been working to directly appeal to those hoping to tie the knot.

“We’ve been establishing a partnership where we can really go after our competitors (other destination wedding venues) in a more thoughtful way,” Goya said.

Almost a decade ago, Goya supported passage of SB395 in the Legislature that instituted a $14 charge on marriage licenses that goes into a wedding tourism fund.

One of the reasons Las Vegas is a popular wedding destination is the ease of obtaining a marriage license. Elmer Turcios, chief photographer at The Little Vegas Chapel, said prospective newlyweds only need an ID or passport and a “can-do attitude” to get married in Clark County.

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Even with the city’s allure as a wedding destination, Goya said that her office is seeing “more copycat weddings throughout the country” and when couples have several options, the industry becomes increasingly competitive.

“What couples are looking for right now is ease and taking some of the pressure off,” she said.

In Las Vegas, weddings can cost anywhere from less than $100 to several thousand dollars. At Fremont Wedding Chapel, a “ sign and go ” package will cost potential newlyweds just $69, but it, along with several chapels, offer varying tiers of expanded packages that cost more based on amenities included. According to The Wedding Report, the average cost of a wedding in Clark County in 2023 was $27,675.

The cost, combined with poor credit scores, has caused an estimated 8,500 couples in Nevada to postpone or cancel their wedding, a recent data analysis and study of more than 3,000 couples revealed. The study also showed that 61 percent of the respondents who said they had to postpone their wedding plans this year said they planned to get married in 2025 and 29 percent said they plan to marry within the next three years.

According to the study, having poor credit usually stops couples from taking out personal loans, which many use to help pay wedding expenses. Although many choose to take out loans, inflation and added costs are still affecting couples who pay out of pocket.

Although Goya said Las Vegas “probably fell short” on offering all-inclusive packages that some other destination wedding venues do, couples still often choose Las Vegas for “everything that Vegas offers.”

“In Las Vegas, (couples) typically get the whole service where they can book the photographer, the reception, the ceremony, the entertainment all at once and that’s really attractive to couples who are looking to take the focus off of the event and put it more on themselves, each other and their friends and families,” Goya said. “People that come here have a special connection with Las Vegas. Nobody loves talking about their wedding more than someone who came to Las Vegas to get married.”

Bridgett Raschko, a recent bride who got married in Las Vegas, said that she chose to marry in the city for exactly that reason — the experience of a Las Vegas wedding.

“We had Elvis singing at our wedding, so that made it an even better experience,” Raschko said.

Local residents, such as Raschko, getting married in Las Vegas is more of a rarity, said Goya, noting that usually 80 percent of weddings in Clark County are destination weddings. She added that since 2008, 20 percent to 25 percent of those destination weddings have come from outside of the U.S.

Goya said that losing the international market during the COVID-19 pandemic was “pretty rough on the wedding industry here.”

So Goya, in partnership with LVCVA, started marketing the city and began the Las Vegas Wedding Club, an initiative to gather and promote stories from among the 5 million couples who received a marriage license in Clark County.

“We are trying to collect as many stories as possible for history because the couples that come to Clark County to get married actually helped transform Las Vegas into an internationally recognized destination,” Goya said.

International numbers have started to rise closer to what they were pre-pandemic, but Goya said that overall the wedding industry is seeing fewer weddings each year. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marriage rates were stable from 2009 to 2017, averaging between 6.8 and 7.0 per 1,000 people; however those rates dropped 6 percent from 2017 to 2018, to 6.5 per 1,000 — the lowest rate in over a century.

Turcios, the lead wedding photographer at The Little Vegas Chapel, said the business entices couples to tie the knot in Las Vegas by offering new packages every month, including those that are holiday themed. He said that “Halloween is one of our best days (for business).”

In addition to increased competition from other wedding destinations, Turcios said one of the biggest struggles The Little Vegas Chapel faces are things out of their control.

“The biggest struggle that we have right now is actually the heat. A lot of people have decided to slow their traffic to Las Vegas just because it’s a little too hot,” he said.

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This story was originally published by The Nevada Independent and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.