Graceland Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas

...One such chapel is the Graceland chapel, built in the early fifties. We chose it after browsing through various websites, mainly because it was one of the prettiest chapels, resembling a New England church, and because it offered a relatively inexpensive package that included being picked up and returned to our hotel by limousine. We also liked the fact that it was a stand-alone chapel, not one attached to one of the newer hotels. It looked small ...
...wedding/renewal package, which covered the use of the chapel, a buttonhole, a rose for the "bride", music, a few photos, a certificate and the limo. I have checked the latest prices on their website, www.gracelandchapel.com, and this package is currently priced at $199 plus sales tax (about 7%). On top of this, there was a fee to be paid direct to the minister ($50) and a tip for the limo driver. If you were getting married, as opposed ... more

Las Vegas, Nevada is a funny ol' place. It is, of course, most famous for gambling, but the second most popular thing to do there is to get married. In fact, weddings are the second largest State industry. This trend started back in the thirties, when Nevada re-legalised gambling and relaxed its marriage and divorce laws, which continue today to be less onerous than in the rest of the country. In most of the USA, there are waiting times and blood tests to be taken before you can marry; however, in Nevada, all you need to do is pay a fee. (Similarly, it is easier to end a marriage, through a "quickie" divorce than elsewhere in the country, although you must reside in the State for six weeks first for this to be granted).

The ease, and relatively low cost, of obtaining a marriage license is one reason why Las Vegas continues to be a popular place for nuptials; another is the choice of ceremony available now, from the traditional to the increasingly wacky and bizarre. As well as actual weddings, most venues offer a "renewal of vows" ceremony. My husband and I were passing through Vegas in July 2003 on the way to a friend's wedding in California, and we decided that it would be romantic to renew our vows while we were in Vegas. This was partly because we thought that it would be a fun thing to experience, but there was also a genuine desire to re-affirm our commitment to each other.

So, how did we choose where to do this?

Back in the thirties, Vegas was still a small town, with a "wild west" image. As the gambling and wedding industries grew, so did the infrastructure to service them. Wedding chapels were built, at first in the downtown area closest to the courthouse, and then down the now-famous "Strip" (Las Vegas Boulevard South) as development spilt out into the desert. Las Vegas was, and still is, constantly changing, and most buildings don't last long; there is always something bigger, better and more obscenely ostentatious to replace it with. We were surprised to learn, then, that nestled between the enormous casinos, some of the old traditional chapels still survive, even though they have been joined by facilities within the resort hotels, ceremonies out in the desert, and even a drive-through window.

One such chapel is the Graceland chapel, built in the early fifties. We chose it after browsing through various websites, mainly because it was one of the prettiest chapels, resembling a New England church, and because it offered a relatively inexpensive package that included being picked up and returned to our hotel by limousine. We also liked the fact that it was a stand-alone chapel, not one attached to one of the newer hotels. It looked small and cute.

We chose the basic traditional wedding/renewal package, which covered the use of the chapel, a buttonhole, a rose for the "bride", music, a few photos, a certificate and the limo. I have checked the latest prices on their website, www.gracelandchapel.com, and this package is currently priced at $199 plus sales tax (about 7%). On top of this, there was a fee to be paid direct to the minister ($50) and a tip for the limo driver. If you were getting married, as opposed to renewing your vows, you would also need to purchase a marriage license from the downtown marriage bureau at a cost of $55. When we were there, it was possible to arrange for the limo to take you to the bureau first and then onto the chapel, but I notice that they now recommend that you visit the bureau in advance, as the waiting time is usually more than an hour, possibly as the bureau is no longer open 24 hours a day.

I wanted to have a small bouquet of flowers, to include my favourite lilies, so we emailed the chapel to see whether that was possible. We received a prompt, polite reply that they were very happy to arrange this for us for a small additional fee. We paid $100 as a deposit.

On the day that we were to renew our vows, we had arranged to meet up with two other friends who were touring the area before also heading to the wedding in California. Unfortunately, they got a little lost on their way and only arrived at the time that we needed to leave for the chapel. We were staying at the Luxor Hotel at the far south end of the Strip, and there was some slight confusion as to exactly where the limo was picking us up, as there are two entrances. A mobile phone that worked in the USA would have been helpful but unfortunately we didn't have one! We were waiting at the wrong entrance but eventually we located both the limo and our errant guests, and piled into the car. Fortunately, this was spacious and air-conditioned, as we also had our 18-month-old son with us, and his pushchair.

The limo headed up the interstate, which runs parallel to the Strip; this was a slight disappointment as we had envisaged cruising down the Strip in our limo, but our driver explained that traffic would be crawling and we would never get there. So we settled for seeing the backs of the hotels.

The exact location of the chapel was also a slight disappointment. The website had described the chapel as being "right on the Strip". It is true that it is on Las Vegas Boulevard, the road running out of downtown Vegas from the original gambling area based around Freemont Street. However, what we hadn't realised was that this road is about four miles long, and there is actually a gap between the downtown and Strip casino areas, with the latter only starting at the Stratosphere hotel at 2000 Las Vegas Boulevard South. The chapel is located at 619. Unfortunately, this gap between downtown and the Strip is a bit run down, and seemed to reflect the seedier side of the city. It was very quiet, and there was no one else on the streets at that time in the late afternoon.

When we walked round to the chapel entrance from the car park at the side, we noticed that it was next door to a cheap motel which had seen better days, and which we thought probably rented rooms by the hour. We actually found this hilarious, but I can imagine that some people might not be so amused. The photos on the chapel website are obviously taken from a very carefully chosen angle, or have been photo-shopped, or both. (Compare our photo below with the official photo).

The entrance door led into a small reception area with a desk immediately to the left and three or four seats on the right. On the wall there were photos of past weddings, which we looked at while hubby did the paperwork at the desk. He showed them our marriage certificate to prove that we were already married, but it turned out that we didn't need this, and in fact it confused them a little as they were expecting to see a marriage license, as they thought we were getting married, not renewing our vows. However, that was no problem and quickly sorted out.

Hubby and our guests were led through into the chapel, and the hostess fetched my bouquet from a room off to the side. This was exactly what I had requested, and in good shape considering that it was extremely hot outside! When I was ready, she opened the double doors into the chapel and I walked self-consciously down the aisle to the strains of the wedding march (from a CD). The chapel was lined with wooden pews that can seat up to 33 guests, and had cream walls and modern stained glass windows. The large stained glass windows at the end depicted a dove and some intertwined red flowers, and were flanked by tall arrangements of white silk flowers. There was also a window on the left hand side that had a blue design.

Once I was at the altar, the middle-aged minister introduced himself as Rev Gayle, and reassured us that he was a real minister, who worked through one of the Anglican churches in the city. I have no reason to doubt that this was the case, although hubby and I did laugh together later about how anyone in the States can call themselves a minister if they have bought membership of the clergy from an internet course. However, Rev Gayle seemed sincere, while also being jolly and fun. We repeated our traditional wedding vows, with the addition of "ONE MORE TIME!" at the end. The ceremony included lighting a unity candle, which was something that we had wanted to include in our original wedding, but had not been offered by the church, so that was special.

The hostess from the chapel took photos during the twenty-minute service and at the end, and we took the film home with us to be developed. I can't remember whether we were offered the choice of digital photos instead, but according to their website, this is now how they take them and the chapel can upload photos for your friends and family to view straight away. You can also, for a fee, have your wedding broadcast through their site, although this is not live. The photos were not brilliant, although they did manage one in front of the stained glass window that my mother in law was particularly fond of. I have included it below so that you can see the quality. One of our guests made a video, and the chapel made no objection to this.

We also took photos outside - shame about the big sign saying "Jon Bon Jovi married here" at the door, but then I guess we wanted the full tacky experience! The outdoor area is very small, but pretty for photos, with a cobblestone bridge, plus a tiny white gazebo and some potted plants. We had plenty of time to take photos before returning to our limo and didn't feel rushed at all. However, if you were having lots of guests, particularly if you were marrying at a busy time when you might need to wait outside first, then the lack of space might be an issue.

Our friends were embarrassed about turning up in scruffy shorts and trainers, having not had time to change, but the hostess laughed and said, "Hey, this is Vegas". And that sums it up really - anything goes. We chose a traditional service, but you can alternatively choose to have an Elvis (who married Priscilla in Las Vegas in 1967) themed wedding with the King providing entertainment. If you are renewing your vows, he can even perform the ceremony (and you can choose to have special "Elvis vows"). I can imagine that some Elvis fans will choose this particular chapel because of the name, but Elvis never came here; apparently one of the owners knew him though and he gave them permission to use the name Graceland.

So, overall, would I recommend this chapel? Well, it was a lot of fun. The staff at the chapel tried their best to be helpful and accommodate exactly what we wanted, although the limo pick up could have been better and they did come across as being slightly disorganised when we arrived. However, the minister was fantastic, making the experience a lot of fun, while still making the ceremony something meaningful and special. The chapel itself, despite its location, was pretty and intimate, and we had it to ourselves. The photos taken by the hostess ranged from very average to pretty bad, but we had enough with our own camera and our friend's video. So yes, despite the slight disappointments, overall I would recommend it, as an unforgettable experience.

For more information, please see the website, www.gracelandchapel.com. 

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