The Wedding March is playing once again...it's another big day at the legendary Little Church of the West and what better backdrop for the eventful day than the glitter and glamour of Las Vegas, Nevada, "The Entertainment Capital of the World".

One big day after another; that's how it has been since 1942, when the quaint Little Church of the West was the only chapel on that isolated stretch of highway that would one day become the Famous Las Vegas "Strip". Originally built as part of the Last Frontier Hotel, the Little Church has played a major role in the evolution of the city's star spangled image, and has been the scene of more celebrity marriages than any other chapel in the world. From Betty Grable & Harry James (the first celebrity wedding in 1943) to Zsa Zsa Gabor & George Sanders, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Dudley Moore...even Elvis Presley & Ann Margaret (well, sort of...they recited their vows in the movie "Viva Las Vegas", filmed at the Little Church of the West). More recently, Richard Gere & Cindy Crawford chose the intimate chapel for their secret ceremony. Through the years the stars have marched and marched and marched to the Little Church of the West.

Upholding the frontier heritage of Las Vegas, The Little Church of the West is a free standing minaturized replica of an old west mining town church. With an exterior of cedar and an interior of California redwood, the chapel looks much the same today as when it was first built. It speaks of the early days of Las Vegas when its business district consisted of only the first three blocks of Fremont Street. As the town grew with the population boom caused by the construction of the near by Boulder Dam (now called Hoover Dam), Fremont Street began to pulsate with wall to wall casinos. As first class resorts began to dot the desert skyline and big name entertainment lit up the beckoning marquis, the stage was set for the Little Church of the West to take its place in the annals of Las Vegas history.

Attesting to its historical significance, the Little Church is listed on the National Registry of Historical Places, published by the U.S. Dept. of the Interior; the only place on the "Strip" with such an honor. One of the requirements for inclusion is that the structure retains its original integrity. In 2002, the Little Church of the West celebrated its 60th anniversary and remains the oldest existing structure on the Las Vegas Strip.

We're often asked about our Celebrity Weddings

Angelina Jolie & Billy Bob Thornton, Richard Gere & Cindy Crawford, David Cassidy & Kay Lenz (right), Greg Allman, Shirley Bassey, Ray Conniff, Broderick Crawford, Deanna Durbin, James Farentino, Rhonda Fleming, Red Foxx, Judy Garland, Bob Geldof, Zsa Zsa Gabor & George Sanders, Robert Goulet, Betty Grable & Harry James, Johnny Hallyday, John James, Fernando Llamas & Arlene Dahl, Dudley Moore, Buck Owens, Mickey Rooney, David Sanborn, Telly Savalas, Heather Thomas, Mel Torme, Dinah Washington, Margaret Whiting, and many more have been married at the Little Church of the West.

A Historic Treasure

Little Church of the West occupies a big niche in Nevada history
Reprinted from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, October 12, 1992

It was a good year to open a wedding chapel in Las Vegas. When the Little Church of the West wedding chapel opened in 1942, it not only had the advantage of Nevada's easy marriage and divorce laws, it also gained in business from young GIs who wanted to get married before going off to war.

Business has never slowed.

In 1992, as the chapel turned 50 years old, it was honored with an election to the National Register of Historic Places.

"Properties on the National Register can be significant at the local, state or national level," explains Michelle McFadden, architectural historian with the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology in Carson City. "This chapel is significant at the statewide level because it's one of the earliest chapels in the state and is representative of a type of architecture we do not have much of."

The Little Church of the West is said to be modeled after a church in a California mining town, according to a current owner, Greg Smith. With an exterior of cedar and an interior of California redwood, the small chapel looks much the same today as it did when it was built. One of the requirements for being placed on the National Register is that the structure retains its original integrity.

"It hasn't changed," says Smith. "I mean, there's been some painting and recarpeting. But the pews in there are believed to be the ones built in the chapel in 1942."

The four Victorian lamps that light the chapel are believed to be from 19th-century railroad cars and have since been converted from gas to electric.

The chapel was orginally built along with the Last Frontier Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, just north of Spring Mountain Road. The chapel was moved from its location on the north side of the hotel to the south side in 1954. In 1979, the chapel was moved onto the grounds of the Hacienda Hotel to accomodate the building of the Fashion Show Mall. In 1996, the chapel was moved to its current location on the corner of Russell Road and Las Vegas Boulevard South.

The chapel qualified for it's National listing primarily because of its link to the state's notorious wedding industry, which is famed for its quick and easy ceremonies.

Ironically, Las Vegas developed rapidly as a marriage minded city when state divorce laws were relaxed in 1931. While the one-year residency required in 1910 for a divorce was changed to six months by 1915, it was reduced to just six weeks in 1931. The number of weddings in Clark County went from 584 in 1930 to 1,048 the next year.

In 1942, when Little Church of the West opened, there were more than 20,000 weddings in Clark County, according to records kept at the county clerk's office. (Last year [1991 - ed.] there were 74,655 weddings.)

The wedding-chapel business flourished not only because of loose divorce laws, but also because of easy marriage laws. Unlike other places, Nevada did not require a waiting period and there were no requirements for blood tests.

Today, those particular reasons for traveling to Nevada to get divorced or married have become less significant as laws in other states have changed. But Smith says those reasons remain significant for people from such countries as Germany, which has strict laws governing marriage.

"So far this year [1992 - ed.], we've done 250 weddings just from Great Britian and Germany," says Smith.

For Americans, however, getting married in Las Vegas remains hassle-free, inexpensive and something to remember.

The Rev. Bob Richards, who estimates he has performed around 50,000 weddings in his 23 years as a chapel minister, says people still fall in love and get married the same today as 20 years ago.

"I suppose I get more people today who ask that I leave out "Till death do us part' and the 'obey' thing," says Richards. "But I don't include those anyway. People today are sensitive about being married forever. While they hope they will be, they realize, practically speaking, they may not."

Smith says the chapel has been popular because of its historical significance and its unique appearance.

"There's a lot of mystique about the chapel," says Smith, adding that last year people from 22 countries were married there.

National Register

There are about 66,000 properties listed on the National Register. Only 215 are located in Nevada; 35 in Clark County.