Everybody knows Vegas is where couples madly in love gather to exchange nuptials in a well-thought-out plan that includes a small but tasteful ceremony. And it is also the place where people who hooked up earlier in the night and are still drunk go and get hitched by an Elvis impersonator.
150 weddings per day, yes, per day, take place in Sin City, but it is not going to be as easy, or maybe even possible, to have a middle-aged man in a white jumpsuit doing a bad Elvis impersonation as he pronounces a couple man and wife.
The company that controls Elvis Presley’s likeness rights is cracking down on the wedding chapels that offer Elvis-themed weddings. There are dozens of chapels that do it, so this affects a lot of potential newlyweds.
Authentic Brand Group is the company that bought a controlling stake in the Elvis estate nine years ago, and they control how and where his likeness can be used. They sent cease-and-desist letters to companies that offer these types of weddings. The party is over.
This is not a popular move. You might not find anyone saying, “Thank you, thank you very much.”
Here’s what Jason Whaley, the Wedding Chamber for Vegas president, told AFP.
“Elvis Presley long called Las Vegas his home and his name has become synonymous with Las Vegas weddings. The Vegas Wedding Chamber shares a concern that many of our chapels and impersonators’ livelihoods are being targeted, especially as many are still trying to recover financially from the hurdles we all endured with Covid shutdowns.”
An Elvis impersonator who officiates weddings in Vegas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he does up to 30 Elvis-themed weddings in a day. 100 in a week is very common.
There is a way for wedding chapels to continue to offer the Elvis weddings, but it’s not cheap. ABG is offering a $20,000 licensing package for chapels that want to keep doing them, and it might be a good investment considering weddings are a $2.5 billion industry in Las Vegas.
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