The ease of getting a marriage license built the popularity of Las Vegas for quick weddings. No blood test or waiting period is required, according to the Clark County website.
"Applicants must be a biological male and a biological female, at least 18 years of age, and no nearer of kin than second cousins or cousins of half-blood, and not having a husband or wife living," according to the county's website.
Drawing Celebrities
Over the years, celebrity marriages in Las Vegas have fueled the city's popularity as a launch pad for matrimonial bliss. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow, Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere, and Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton all married in Vegas chapels.
"It's part of the entertainment of the city that people can come here for a quick marriage," Stephen Brown, an economics professor at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, said in a telephone interview.
Vow renewals are a new phenomenon, Moehring said. "Nobody was doing that 15 years ago."
Richards, who has owned the Little White Wedding Chapel for 53 years, said the economy has brought couples together.
"Let's face it: They've lost their homes, they've lost their jobs, but they haven't lost each other," she said.