What a vow renewal is, legally
A vow renewal is a ceremony, not a legal event. You are already married, nothing is filed, no licence is needed and no one at the county is involved. That removes every piece of paperwork from the Las Vegas wedding process and leaves only the fun part: choosing where, how and with whom. It also means you can renew vows as a surprise for your spouse, on a whim on a Tuesday night, or with 60 guests on a resort terrace, without any of the eligibility rules that apply to a marriage.
Every chapel and resort wedding department in the city offers vow renewals, usually at the same price as the equivalent wedding package or slightly less, and the ceremony script is adapted: the officiant references your years together, you reaffirm rather than make vows, and rings can be exchanged again or blessed. You will receive a commemorative certificate that has no legal weight and is nonetheless the thing most couples frame.
Why Las Vegas is good at this
Because the city marries so many people, it has a vast range of ceremony styles ready to go with no lead time. The same afternoon you could renew vows in a 1940s wooden church, in a resort chapel with fountain views, on a helicopter over the Grand Canyon, in a gondola, or with Elvis. The venues are used to couples flying in for an anniversary weekend and will often fold the ceremony into a dinner and suite package. And because there is no licence, an international couple can do the whole thing without a trip downtown.
The most common occasions are the tenth, twentieth and twenty-fifth anniversaries, a milestone birthday trip, a return to the city where you originally married, and, increasingly, a "do-over" for couples who had a courthouse or lockdown wedding and never got the ceremony. All of them work. Combine it with the romantic stays guide for the rest of the trip.
Chapels and resorts that do it well
Graceland Wedding Chapel is the vow-renewal capital: its Elvis renewals are the most popular in the city, particularly with visitors from the UK and Australia, and the chapel is charming even without the jumpsuit. Little Church of the West is the choice for a traditional, beautiful setting. Chapel of the Flowers is best if you are bringing family and want polished photos. For resorts, Bellagio's fountain-view ceremonies and Wynn's salons are the most elegant, and The Venetian's gondola renewal is a small, sweet option for two. Full profiles are on the chapels and resort weddings pages.
For something less conventional, everything on the unique venues page applies, and it is simpler for a renewal because there is no legal requirement for an authorised officiant; anyone can lead the ceremony, including a friend or one of your children.
Costs
Vow renewal packages track wedding packages closely. As of 2026: a simple chapel renewal for two with a few photos and a bouquet is roughly $200 to $500; an Elvis renewal $400 to $900; a chapel package with photographer, limo and flowers $800 to $2,000; a resort chapel renewal $1,500 to $5,000-plus depending on the resort and day; and an outdoor or helicopter renewal $1,500 to $8,000. Officiant gratuities (roughly $50 to $100) are expected as at weddings. Dinner is the other real cost, and a tasting menu for two at a top restaurant runs $300 to $700 with wine.
Because there is no licence, you save that $100-plus and a trip downtown. If a chapel quotes you the same as its wedding package, ask whether there is a renewal rate; several offer one. Check each venue's site for current pricing.
Making it meaningful (or gloriously silly)
- Write your own words. The standard script is fine, but two sentences each about what the years have actually been like beats any template. Officiants will happily read them for you if you would rather not.
- Involve the people who matter. Children as ring-bearers, the original best man as witness, a friend as officiant. None of it needs approval.
- Recreate or reverse. Couples who married in Las Vegas often return to the same chapel; couples who had a big formal wedding often go full Elvis. Both are correct.
- Book a photographer. An hour of a good independent photographer, $400 to $800, is the best money in the budget.
- Dress up. Nobody regrets wearing the dress again, or a new one; nobody remembers wearing shorts.
- Plan the dinner. The ceremony is twenty minutes; the meal is the evening. See fine dining and view restaurants.
A sample anniversary weekend
Friday: arrive, check into a quieter resort or a casino-free tower, dinner somewhere with a view, a walk past the Bellagio fountains. Saturday: a lazy morning and the pool; hair and make-up mid-afternoon (chapel partner salons or in-suite); a sunset vow renewal at a chapel or resort terrace; a photo session on the Strip or downtown; a tasting-menu dinner. Sunday: brunch, a couples spa treatment, a drive to Red Rock or a helicopter flight over the Strip at dusk, then home Monday. The romantic things to do page has more to fill the gaps.
This weekend costs roughly $2,000 to $6,000 all in for two, depending on hotel and dinner choices, which is in line with a nice anniversary trip anywhere and far below a second wedding.
Mistakes to avoid
- Booking a wedding package by mistake and being asked for a licence. Tell the venue it is a renewal from the first message.
- Choosing a Friday or Saturday night at a busy chapel if you want a calm, unhurried ceremony; go midweek or early evening.
- Skipping photos because "we already have wedding photos". You do not have these ones.
- Leaving the surprise renewal until the last night; if anything slips, there is no time to rebook.
- Assuming resort fees are waived because you booked a ceremony. Ask; see resort fees.
