Las Vegas weddings tipped to break record on New Year’s Eve
New Year's Eve is expected to be a record night for weddings in Las Vegas. Photo: Getty
A wave of couples saying “I do” in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve could set a record for the US city’s busiest wedding day ever.
That is because December 31 2023, abbreviated in the US to 12/31/23, is known in the massive Las Vegas wedding industry as a “specialty date”, thanks to the repeating 1-2-3 1-2-3 pattern, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The icing on the cake? This specialty date falls on a holiday famous for blowout celebrations.
“It’s a double whammy,” said Melody Willis-Williams, president of Vegas Weddings, which operates multiple venues.
“Anytime you get these specialty dates, they’re always hugely popular. But tie that in with New Year’s Eve and it’s a showstopper.”
Clark County clerk Lynn Marie Goya said such dates were often described by couples as “magic dates.”
“I think the celebration that has a group dynamic is really appealing,” Goya said. “When everyone is in line and they’re all getting married and excited about being in love, it just enhances their own experience.”
Local authorities are expecting such a one-day boom that the City of Las Vegas has even opened a pop-up wedding licence office at the city’s international airport to cope with the rush.
Handily located near the baggage pick-up carousel, the booth allows couples to pick up marriage licences or vow renewal certificates until 5pm on December 31.
Tweet from @CityOfLasVegas
The number to beat on New Year’s Eve is 4492 – the single-day record for marriages in Las Vegas set on July 7, 2007.
The second-most popular specialty wedding date on record with the county’s marriage bureau is November 11, 2011, when 3125 couples tied the knot.
Typically, New Year’s Eve has drawn somewhere between 450 and 550 couples to wed in Las Vegas since 2018, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
But not this year for Vegas Weddings.
The company is fully booked on midnight at its multiple venues, including its brown-brick chapel in central Las Vegas with a white steeple and red awning.
Willis-Williams said her company alone expected to wed more than 120 couples on New Year’s Eve.
Five of those couples will tie the knot just as the clock counts down to midnight.
-with AAP
TikTok love ‘tests’ fail to prove much on loyalty
Penny Wong ties knot with Sophie Allouache
