Vegas quickie weddings hit by economy

[marmar]

from Bloomberg Business Week, via Yahoo!:



The quickie wedding, long a Las Vegas tradition for romance-besotted tourists, may be the latest casualty of rough economic times. Fewer couples have been pledging their love in Sin City as the number of visitors has fallen and some couples postpone marriage or shun it entirely. "If you don't have a stable job, it's hard to say, 'Let's get married and start a family,'" says Diana Alba, clerk of Nevada's Clark County, whose office issued 91,890 marriage licenses last year, down 16 percent from 2007.

Dianne Schiller, owner of Renta-Dress & Tux Shop, a wedding and formal wear store in Las Vegas, says her business has dropped 15 percent from two years ago, forcing her to stock more inexpensive gowns. "People are spending way less," Schiller says. Adds Cliff Evarts, founder of chapel operator Vegas Weddings: "Gas prices, airplane ticket prices, all those things impact people's ability or desire to come to Vegas." Some 37.3 million people visited the city last year, down from 39.2 million in 2007, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

The slump is prompting the 90-plus wedding chapels in the county -- where there are no requirements for blood tests or a waiting period -- to shift their focus to husbands and wives seeking to renew their vows and "commitment ceremonies" for same-sex couples who can't legally wed in Nevada. "Just because there is a decline in marriage certificates, there isn't a decline in love," says Charolette Richards, owner of the Little White Wedding Chapel, which offers drive-through service in its "Tunnel of Love." Richards, who in 1987 married Bruce Willis and Demi Moore and has hosted weddings for Britney Spears and Joan Collins, says re-commitment ceremonies now make up about a third of her business, a big increase over prior years. "People today are renewing their vows more than ever," she says. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/113226/decline-vegas-weddings-businessweek?mod=family-love_money