Contributing expert Ken Van Vechten writes:
The answer is a resounding YES ... and NO.
Just as hotel-casinos pass off 6-5 blackjack as if it's good for the player ("bigger numbers" than 3-2), the Las Vegas love business is as much about making money as wedded couples. So if you show up beneath the faux Arc de Triomphe with your E-Z UP Chapel and Dance Hall, and 150 of your nearest and dearest, you'll get someone from hotel management, Clark County, and perhaps both asking you to move along ... or to buy a wedding package.
While a hotel-casino will grant public-access rights across its property, the joint still has the say-so over organized massed events like weddings. Management, of course, wants the wedding business, and in the case, for example, of the scaled-down Brooklyn Bridge in front of New York-New York, they can put together one Big Apple of a ceremony for you, at a cost. Also, if your troupe of celebrants takes over an area designated for the public to pass, the county can legally require a permit for the event, even if Corporate Big Brother can't stop you.
If this sounds anal, well, it is. That's the way of the lawyer stuff. But honestly, we're confident you won't get shipped off to Siberia if the two of you hire a minister, bring along a couple friends/family members, head on over to one of those alcoves in front of Bellagio's fountains, and have a quick round of "I dos."
Don't forget that wedding license — you want to keep this legal, right? And don't forget the license bureau is now open 8 am to midnight, 365 (plus one more every fourth year, ladies!)
Ken is a freelance travel and lifestyle writer, and author of Neon Nuptials: The Complete Guide to Las Vegas Weddings.
