Contributing expert Ken Van Vechten writes:
There are about 20 chapels "downtown," which in this context means the area from just north of the Stratosphere to Fremont Street. Yet with the closure of the Heritage Wedding Chapel at the Plaza, there are no casino-based nuptial dens in Old Vegas.
Quality, cleanliness, and service run the gamut from little/none/nonexistent to loads/next to godliness/four-star, and prices can run from $25 at a drive-through window to several thousand bucks. Every chapel attempts a "nice inexpensive" ceremony offering, and from researching my book, Neon Nuptials: The Complete Guide to Las Vegas Weddings, I know that a good number actually pull it off, and none perhaps as well as Little Chapel of the Flowers (www.littlechapel.com).
Located about two miles south of downtown proper on Las Vegas Blvd., Little Chapel offers attentive service, three gorgeous chapels, and two outdoor venues (that I'd skip because the chapels are so nice and you don't have to contend with weather or the urban buzz that surrounds the site when you're inside). The least expensive package goes for $75 midweek, sans photos, with another $60 for the minister's fee, a ridiculous practice that's endemic to most chapels in town. (You see, "complete" wedding packages often don't include the cost of the minister. But at least those that advertise the fee have a leg up on the chapels that brag about how they don't extort innocent couples by charging more for the guy or gal who actually makes the wedding possible, then they hand out a little envelope into which you're supposed to deposit a "voluntary" gratuity.)
This is a rather bare-bones ceremony, but if the plan is to get hitched for little coin in a place actually fit for humans -– trust me, there are some wretched chapels in town –- it's your ticket. Photos, video, flowers, more chapel time, in fact an array of services and niceties can be tacked on, if needed. Just remember that you need to head downtown before whatever ceremony you choose to pick up your wedding license. And that will set you back $55.
Congrats.
