In Las Vegas, Now It’s Get Me to the Marriage Bureau on Time

In Las Vegas, Now It’s Get Me to the Marriage Bureau on Time

Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: September 3, 2006
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 2 — Jogging up the stairs of the courthouse, clutching hands and looking tense, Holly Otero and Blain Moos became the last couple to secure a wedding license at midnight on Friday, rushing from the airport to the clerk’s office before the door slammed shut. Josh Harris was not so lucky. His flight from Arkansas was delayed in Dallas, felling his chances to surprise his girlfriend with a late-night trip to the court and a witching-hour wedding at the Little White Chapel, which he called after midnight, nearly starting to cry when he realized he would be too late.

There are things people like to do here at 2 a.m. that they cannot do anywhere else, like pulling on a slot machine while their clothes run through the spin cycle, discussing sumo wrestling with a topless circus performer and getting married on an indoor gondola. But anyone who wants to say “I do” in the middle of the night will now be required to use a bit of forethought.

On Friday, the marriage license bureau here ended its tradition of staying open 24 hours a day on Fridays, Saturdays and holidays, limiting licensure to what only here could be considered the outrageously unfair hours of 8 a.m. to midnight, 365 days a year. Of course, ending middle-of-the-night marriages in Las Vegas would be akin to shutting down bikini mud wrestling at Gilley’s, or forcing Celine Dion to wear Ann Taylor.

“People can still get married,” sighed Stacey Welling, a spokeswoman for Clark County, which includes Las Vegas. “As long as they can find a chapel. They just have to plan to get a license earlier.”
more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/03/us/03vegas.html