It really does seem like the end of an era, not to mention a plot device in dozens of television shows, soap operas and movies. The Las Vegas marriage bureau has approved a new schedule for their marriage counter eliminating a 24-hour license service on Fridays, Saturdays and holidays. Since the bureau didn’t maintain overnight hours Monday through Thursday anyway, this means if you want to get married in Vegas, you’ll have to do it between the hours of 8 a.m. and Midnight.
Spontaneous No More
There are a number of celebrities who have been married in hastily planned ceremonies including Britney Spears, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis and Nicky Hilton. The bureau cited financial savings as the largest reason for why they are making the changes. The bureau will save approximately $200,000 a year and considering only about 4% of their licenses are issued during those hours – the trade off is more than fair.
While some people may think that this move will endanger the reputation of Las Vegas as the Quickie Wedding capital of the world, it may also help save couples from acts of extreme spontaneity that ends in a great deal of grief. The celebrities mentioned above all married in quickie, middle of the night ceremonies and all but one ended in a fast divorce. Demi Moore and Bruce Willis lasted 13 years, but they did eventually divorce as well.
The Marriage Capital
The Las Vegas wedding business will not be hurt overall by the change, considering that the license bureau will still be open 16 hours a day, 7 days a week – couples will just have to forgo a pre-dawn wedding that they haven’t planned ahead for. Contrary to written reports, the only marriages that will be affected are those made on the fly during a particular wild night or because the couple drove all night to get there.
Here’s a thought – if you drove all night to get married – waiting a couple more hours isn’t going to hurt you. For those keeping track, the Las Vegas marriage bureau issued about 122,259 licenses in 2005. So if you want that pre-dawn ceremony in Las Vegas, get there a day ahead of time and apply for your license.
Do you know anyone who was married in Las Vegas?
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