Why so many people marry in Las Vegas
Clark County issues somewhere around 70,000 to 80,000 marriage licences a year, which is more than any other county in the United States. The reasons are practical rather than romantic. Nevada has no waiting period and no blood test, the Marriage License Bureau is a walk-in office open every day of the year including holidays, and a licence costs roughly $100 to $110 as of 2026 (check the county site). You can land at Harry Reid International Airport at noon and be legally married by dinner.
The second reason is choice. Within a few miles of Las Vegas Boulevard you have historic stand-alone chapels, resort chapels at every major casino, ballrooms that seat 500, and outdoor venues in Red Rock Canyon and the Valley of Fire. The third reason is cost: because the volume is so high, Las Vegas wedding vendors are efficient and competitive, and a complete ceremony with photos, flowers and an officiant can cost less than the deposit on a venue at home.
The options, from cheapest to grandest
Think of Las Vegas weddings as a spectrum.
- Drive-through or civil ceremony (roughly $100 to $300 plus the licence): the Little White Wedding Chapel's Tunnel of Love or a commissioner ceremony at the county office. Legal, fast, minimal.
- Stand-alone chapel package ($300 to $2,500): the famous chapels along the Boulevard, with officiant, a few photos, flowers and music included. Add an Elvis officiant for a few hundred more.
- Resort chapel ($2,000 to $15,000): the wedding chapels at Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Wynn, The Venetian, Aria and Cosmopolitan, with polished coordinators and reception spaces a lift ride away. See resort weddings.
- Destination or unique venue ($1,500 to $10,000-plus): a helicopter to the Grand Canyon, a canyon floor at sunrise, a High Roller cabin. See unique venues.
- Full resort wedding with reception ($20,000 to $100,000-plus): a ballroom, seated dinner and a room block. This is where Las Vegas starts to cost like a wedding anywhere else, though the food and entertainment are usually better.
What it actually costs
The honest answer is that most couples who marry in Las Vegas spend between $1,500 and $8,000 on the wedding itself, excluding travel and hotel. The licence is roughly $100 to $110; a mid-range chapel package with a decent photo allowance runs $800 to $2,000; a good independent photographer for two hours is $600 to $1,500; flowers beyond the package bouquet are $150 to $500; and a celebratory dinner for two at a serious restaurant is $250 to $600 with wine. Guests change everything: once you are feeding twenty people, budget $150 to $300 a head at a resort.
The costs that surprise people are the small ones: officiant gratuities (chapels expect $60 to $100 or more), the fee to have your own photographer in a chapel that sells photo packages, minister travel fees for outdoor venues, and permits for public land. The full breakdown, with five sample budgets, is on the costs and budget page.
How far ahead to plan
A chapel wedding on a weekday can genuinely be booked the day before, and many chapels keep walk-in slots. But if you care about a specific date, a specific chapel, an evening slot or a weekend, book two to three months out, and six months or more for resort venues, popular photographers and anything in the wedding-heavy windows: Valentine's week, dates with repeating digits, the week around New Year's Eve and spring weekends. October and April are the busiest outdoor months because the weather is perfect.
The paperwork can be started before you arrive: the county runs an online pre-application that saves time at the bureau, though you must still appear in person with ID to be issued the licence. Full sequencing is on the timeline and checklist, and if you are planning the whole thing in a weekend, the eloping guide is written as a 48-hour plan.
Legal basics you should know
Both parties must appear in person at the Marriage License Bureau with valid government photo ID showing date of birth (a passport for international visitors). You must be 18 or older, or 17 with a court order; you cannot be currently married to anyone else, and you need to know the date and place your last marriage ended if you have been married before. No witnesses are required for the licence, but one witness is needed at the ceremony, and every chapel supplies one if you arrive alone. The licence is valid for one year and must be used within Nevada.
The ceremony must be performed by someone authorised in Nevada: chapel ministers, commissioners of civil marriages and many resort officiants are. Afterwards, the officiant files the certificate with the county; you order certified copies from the Clark County Recorder, usually within a couple of weeks. A Nevada marriage is recognised throughout the US, and for most countries too, though some require an apostille from the Nevada Secretary of State, which you can arrange by post. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Nevada since 2014.
Before and after: the parties and the honeymoon
The other half of this hub is celebration. Las Vegas is the national capital of the bachelor party and the bachelorette party, with dayclubs, nightclubs, group suites and shows that cater specifically to groups of eight to twenty. It is also the easiest place to organise a milestone birthday or reunion, because nobody has to host and every restaurant has a private room.
Once married, the honeymoon guide makes the case for the quiet side of the city: casino-free towers, adults-only pools, tasting menus and the canyons an hour away. And if you married here years ago, or somewhere else entirely, a vow renewal needs no licence at all and is one of the best-value romantic things you can do in the city.
Mistakes to avoid
- Arriving without ID for both of you. The bureau will not issue a licence to one person on behalf of the other. Passports for anyone born outside the US.
- Assuming the package photos are enough. Chapel packages often include a handful of images with the copyright retained by the chapel. Read the photo terms before you book, and consider an independent photographer.
- Booking the ceremony before the flights. Chapels charge for reschedules; airlines charge more.
- Forgetting the desert. Outdoor ceremonies at Red Rock or the Valley of Fire in July start at sunrise or they do not happen; 110°F is normal.
- Skipping the certified copy. You need it for name changes, immigration and insurance. Order two.
- Picking the hotel last. Where you sleep determines walk times, resort fees and how the day flows. See where to stay.
