Local chapels prepare for busiest day

Wednesday, Feb. 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Charlotte Richards, queen of the Las Vegas wedding industry, says one Valentine's Day wedding, out of the thousands she has performed, stands out in her memory.

During the Vietnam War, a young legless man, whom she believed was an ex-soldier, came into her chapel. His bride walked at his side while he wheeled in on a short wooden platform.

"For some reason, I'll never forget that wedding because I was so moved at how he could so easily have been stepped on (by a line of people waiting to get married), but still chose busy Valentine's Day," said Richards, who has performed more than 250,000 Las Vegas weddings in 38 years.

"I sat down on the floor and had the bride sit down so that I could marry them. And while most Valentine's Day weddings take about five minutes because there are so many couples waiting, I spent a little more time on that wedding. I just really got into it."

Richards has always had a soft spot for the military, having waived the $45 chapel fee for soldiers since the Gulf War. She expects a lot of soldiers and their sweethearts to visit her chapels this week.

This Friday is expected to be one of the busiest days in Las Vegas wedding history. The Clark County Marriage License Bureau will be open round-the-clock from 8 a.m. Friday until 12 a.m. Tuesday because of the Presidents' Day holiday Monday.

Richards, who operates five chapels, including her flagship Little White Chapel, personally will perform 100 of the 300 weddings she already has scheduled for the Valentine's Day weekend.

She says she will have five other ministers working through the busy holiday.

Richards is set to perform a 20-couple simultaneous service at 5:30 a.m. Friday at the Little White Chapel on Las Vegas Boulevard. The group is coming in from Cincinnati for the unusual multiple service.

Performing unique services is nothing new for Richards, who, along with her late husband, Merle, opened the Little Chapel of the West in 1959 and sold it shortly after he died 20 years ago.

Today, Richards operates a drive-through wedding service at the Little White Chapel and a giant hot air balloon she calls the Little White Chapel in the Sky. She is building a wedding chapel at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which is expected to be open for business in the late spring.

She has an interesting theory on why couples -- especially men -- pick Valentine's Day over any other to get hitched.

"A lot of the grooms tell me they get married on that day because it is easier to remember their anniversaries," Richards said. "Otherwise, it's just a romantic day for sweethearts."

A lot of couples will endure lengthy waits in seemingly endless lines at the Marriage License Bureau to get the paperwork required to tie the knot.

Based on the numbers of marriage licenses issued -- and assuming that all of them are cashed in for wedding bands and an exchange of sacred vows -- the number of marriages performed hourly in Las Vegas has grown from 6.7 in 1980 to 11.9 last year, or roughly one every five minutes.

On Valentine's Day, the number of marriages hourly came to 25.5 last year (based on licenses issued on Feb. 13). It was even higher in 1995, with 30.2 per hour -- one every two minutes.

"We'll have six windows open and will tell people the wait could be as long as four hours," said Cheryl Vernon, supervisor at the Marriage License Bureau in downtown Las Vegas.

"Still, it is a happy place because the people in line know they will soon be getting married."

Assuming people have their paperwork in order, the average time at the counter will be 15 to 20 minutes, Vernon said.

Couples need to provide the clerk with identification papers ranging from a driver's license for those over 18 to a notarized letter of permission and a certified copy of a birth certificate for minors.

Also, those who have been divorced must provide the date and place where the divorce occurred. The divorce must be final, Vernon said.

Couples also have to fork over $35 for the license.

Still, the process is more convenient than practically anywhere else in the country.

Most states require a blood test -- not required in Nevada -- and many have a waiting period.

Long-standing liberal wedding and divorce laws have attracted a lot of people to Las Vegas -- many of whom stayed and helped build the booming community. Since the 1940s, Hollywood actors and actresses have flocked to Las Vegas for quick ceremonies.

Richards, who has married many celebrities, including actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore -- "I didn't know who they were at the time," she says -- notes that not too many famous people pick Valentine's Day to get married in Las Vegas.

They prefer quieter times of year, without too many folks around, Richards said.

However, she says many married couples renew their vows on Valentine's Day.

Although they technically don't need a license, Richards suggests they get one because the service cannot be performed unless there is proof they indeed are married and have not been divorced in the meantime.

Richards, an ordained minister in the Grace Cavalry Church of Faith, does not have the only show in town.

The Sprint phone book contains 16 pages of ads for wedding chapels. The book's yellow page features 50 wedding chapels, many of which are conveniently located in hotel-casinos.

Many of them have unique features, including the Graceland Wedding Chapel with an Elvis impersonator on duty and the Stratosphere Tower, where couples can get married 800 feet above the Strip.