For some, ‘I do’ is followed by ‘I did?’

Thursday, Oct. 29, 1998 | 10:07 a.m.

Unlike the volcano outside the Mirage, the pirate fight at Treasure Island or the fruit atop Rio Rita's hat, weddings in Las Vegas are real.

But many love-struck couples forget that simple fact. Instead, they're swept up in the emotion of the moment, hypnotized by a billion flashing lights and, perhaps, buffeted by judgment-impairing liquids.

"We get calls all the time from people here for a weekend saying, 'I want to cancel my marriage,' " Cheryl Vernon, supervisor of the Clark County Marriage Bureau, said. "They think they can erase it."

Vernon, whose office issued nearly 110,000 marriage licenses in 1997 and nearly 90,000 so far this year, has heard a myriad of excuses from newlyweds suffering the morning (and mourning) after.

"They'll say, 'I was drunk when I went in there and this can't happen,' " Vernon said. "They always have a set period of time in their mind that they can undo a marriage. Some say 48 hours, or 72 hours, or say, 'I was told that if I called within 90 days or six months, I could cancel this.' "

No chance. In fact, Vernon and staff frequently fire a preemptive strike at couples who seem to be, shall we say, in an altered state.

"If we really believe you're intoxicated, we can turn you down," Vernon said. "We can tell you to go have a cup of coffee and come back in three hours, or the next day, and some people don't come back."

Vernon recalls a particularly miffed newlywed.

"One woman called from back East who was really irritated," Vernon said. "She told me, 'It's because of the stupid lax Nevada laws and all the lights and everything -- you enticed me to get married!' She was really mad, but if we'd had told her she couldn't have a license, she would've thrown a fit."

Regretful newlyweds are routinely advised to seek a legal divorce in their home states. Nevada statutes forbid divorces unless one or both partners have established residency in the state for six weeks.

"It irritates me when people think that because they get married here, for some reason it doesn't count or isn't legal," Vernon said. "The last time I checked, Nevada was part of the United States."