Oasis star ties knot in Las Vegas

Friday, June 6, 1997 | 5:48 a.m.

Oasis star Noel Gallagher, 30, wed Meg Mathews, 31, in a small, private ceremony late Thursday at the Little Church of the West, chapel owner Greg Smith said Friday.

Gallagher's mother, Peggy, the bride's parents, Stan and Christine Mathews, and the band's manager and his wife attended the ceremony.

Gallagher's brother, fellow band member Liam, was not at the wedding. He wed Patsy Kensit earlier this year.

Smith said the couple wanted to marry in Las Vegas to avoid the paparazzi

of a London wedding.

The chapel's resident Elvis impersonator made a special visit during the ceremony.

"He came in and sang a few songs. Then our pianist played Beatles music, which they requested," Smith said.

The five-member group, with admitted influence from the Beatles, has had two best-selling albums. Last month a series of outdoor shows near London attracted the country's largest-ever paying audience for a single rock act.

At the 1996 Brit Awards, Oasis won three major awards for best group, best album - "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" - and best video, "Wonderwall."

Smith said the couple spent a lot of time milling around the chapel's grounds taking photos. He described Gallagher as a "very pleasant man" and "very serious."

The newlyweds were already en route to New York where Gallagher will perform solo in aid of the Tibetan Freedom Concert Saturday afternoon, his agent said.

The Little Church of the West has drawn more than 300,000 couples from around the world. Judy Garland wed Mark Herron at the chapel in 1965 and Harry James and Betty Grable married there in 1943. Other celebrities exchanging vows at the church include Dudley Moore, Zsa Zsa Gabor, David Cassidy and Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford.

Mickey Rooney married each of his eight brides at the Little Church.