STORY:
Millennium Marriages in Vegas

Las Vegas braces for influx of brides and grooms this New Year's Eve

(Everything2000) Thousands of couples are betting the new century will be a great place for new beginnings, and Las Vegas is the land of weddings. This New Year's Eve wedding chapels up and down the Vegas strip are booked solid with millennium marriages.

Usually Valentine's Day is the jackpot for wedding ceremonies in Vegas. However, this year it looks like New Year's Eve will win big in the numbers game. Thousands of couples from around the world have chosen to ring in the New Year and a new life in Las Vegas.

Vegas is ready for the onslaught of loving couples and wedding packages abound. With so many brides and grooms, the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel decided to do one mass midnight marriage ceremony. Thirty couples will say their vows in the chapel surrounded by television cameras. The Fox Network promises to broadcast the event live on New Year's Eve.

If group weddings aren't for you there's always the drive-thru wedding ceremony at Richards' Little White Chapel. The Tunnel of Love Drive Thru allows couple to marry from behind the wheel of a car or atop a motorcycle and the ceremony just takes minutes. The newlyweds can speed off to celebrate their life together in just minutes. Richard's also offers a menu of wedding packages for the end of the 1900s, including the $999 Countdown Special and the $2,000 New Beginning. Couples are lining up for the services, Richards expects to perform marriage ceremonies for 200 to 300 couples on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

Theme weddings are big in Las Vegas. You can have an Elvis wedding, where "Elvis" will actually sing your wedding song for you. There are beach party weddings and Star Trek theme weddings, which take place on the bridge of the Enterprise. How about an Egyptian wedding? Male slaves carry the bride down the altar.

Why Las Vegas you ask? It's easy to get a marriage license here, cheap too; only $35. No blood test is required and there is no waiting period. So if you're considering popping the question and you want a millennium marriage you still have time. Las Vegas is open for weddings around-the-clock and you can bet they will fit you in!

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

DATE: 12/30/99

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