"There's a real opportunity for Vegas to reinvent itself as the vow-renewal capital of the world," Evarts said. Already- married couples recommitting themselves represent 5 percent to 10 percent of his business, he said.
Dianne Schiller, owner of Las Vegas-based Renta-Dress & Tux Shop, which provides wedding and formal wear, said her business has dropped by 15 percent from two years ago, prompting her to stock more gowns in the lower $150 range.
"People are spending way less," Schiller said. "If it's volume over quality, I don't care as long as my doors are open and I'm in business still."
Schiller said she caters to people who are getting married for the first time and "a lot of vow renewals."
The state's history as a nexus for matrimonial rites of passage dates back almost a century.
In the 1920s, Reno, in northern Nevada about 220 miles northeast of San Francisco, became a destination for wealthy women seeking a quick divorce, particularly after the state changed its law to reduce its residency requirement to three months. By 1931, the mandated in-state time fell to six weeks, said Eugene Moehring, who teaches history at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. The women would live on dude ranches or in Reno apartment houses, he said.
Revenue Generator
"It was a way to draw more revenue and visitors," Moehring said by telephone. "Once they went to Reno, clubs opened catering to them, very posh places, because they had a lot of money. That's when Reno really got on the map."
During World War II, the state began attracting couples seeking a quick marriage, traveling to Reno from Northern California and to Las Vegas from Southern California to wed.
"No one knew whether they were going to live or die," Moehring said.