Wedding chamber is committed to the industry

Imagine a “Wedding Way” along Las Vegas Boulevard lined with photogenic vintage neon signs. Imagine a wedding entourage cruising around the Arts District courtesy of the city’s new bike-share system. Imagine an online magazine showcasing the wide berth of weddings held in the region — from an intimate renewal surrounded by natural beauty in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area to a glamorous ballroom affair at the Bellagio.

With one year now under its belt, the Las Vegas Wedding Chamber of Commerce is dreaming bigger and bolder as it figures out how to reverse the decline in weddings taking place in Clark County. And although members of the public-private partnership believe it may take years to see the fruits of their labor, early signs are promising.

The number of marriage licenses issued by Clark County dropped 40 percent between 2004 and 2014. Since then, numbers have stabilized. In 2016, 81,325 marriage licenses were issued by the clerk’s marriage license bureau. In 2015, that number was 81,652 — a difference of just 327.

“That’s negligible,” says chamber president Kris Labuda. “That’s the first time in quite a long time that that’s been the case.”

Part of the stabilization may be a result of the legalization of same-sex marriages, which gave the wedding tourism industry a new market to cater to. This year, Clark County celebrated its 10,000th same-sex marriage license by surprising the lucky couple with gifts donated by chamber members.

Labuda says the event was so well received that the chamber is considering doing additional surprise celebrations for other milestones, perhaps the millionth couple to get married from Duluth or some other random city in the United States.

“We can welcome them to Las Vegas, thank them,” she says, “and show there’s always a little surprise here.”

Promotions like this are especially attractive to the chamber because they showcase real people and fight the stereotype that Vegas weddings are just quickie affairs destined to end in divorce or annulment 55 hours later. (See: Britney Spears and her childhood friend Jason Alexander in 2004.)

“For a while, we couldn’t see marriage mentioned without a breakup involved,” Labuda said. “It was concerning to see the same image of Las Vegas coming up.”

Taco Bell recently received a lot of media attention for opening a chapel in Las Vegas. The venue is gifting a free wedding to one of 10 finalists, including a woman who made a dress out of Taco Bell wrappers. The clever promotion played off the stereotype of the city as an over-the-top, not-exactly-serious place to tie the knot.

“We did think that was kind of cute,” Labuda said. “We would never limit or dictate what people can do — as long as we can promote that it’s not the only type of thing happening here.”

And Labuda said people are beginning to see that, especially as chamber members work with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to connect with travel journalists and other professionals worldwide.

“People ... agree that Las Vegas has so many facets to putting on weddings,” she said. “There is such a richness when it comes to the types of weddings that people can create here.”

Chamber member Jodi Harris agreed. Her event business, Sight & Sound, has been operating for more than two decades and caters mostly to tourists.

“In Vegas, there’s no limit,” she said. “If you want a classy wedding ... have you ever seen some of the chapels at Bellagio or Mirage? You can have an elegant wedding with a mini-doughnut station. You can surprise people with showgirls. Or you can do it just like you would at home. There are just so many options. … I had one client who couldn’t afford a wedding in Paris, so she had her wedding at Paris Las Vegas. It looked great, looked like she got married (in France).”

“There wasn’t an Elvis,” she added.

Harris was a wedding tourist herself 23 years ago. She lived in Los Angeles but was attracted by the glitter and glam of Las Vegas. She is proud of the mini-Vegas wedding she had, but recognizes that times have changed for many couples.

“Couples are more tech savvy than they’ve ever been,” Harris said. “A lot of my business comes from YouTube because people will go to YouTube and type in ‘Las Vegas wedding at Mirage.’ They are doing their homework. Instagram and social media platforms are very popular.”

The chamber is clambering to capitalize on that front, too. It has purchased content management software to help connect members — more than 130 now — with potential customers from around the world. The goal is to make the process of planning a destination wedding in Las Vegas as easy and exciting as possible.

According to the county clerk’s office, about 80 percent of marriage licenses are given to non-locals. Clark County has welcomed wedding tourists from all 50 states and 119 of the world’s 195 countries. (Of tourist weddings, about 22 percent are international.)

One promotional partnership gives couples a free dot-vegas website where they can upload photos and information about their wedding. A German couple even live-streamed their Vegas wedding to the world through their free dot-vegas site.

The chamber also is floating the idea of creating an online magazine or blog to highlight the diversity of wedding choices.

“That will really be how we redefine the market,” Clark County Clerk Lynn Goya said. “Seeing real weddings. How charming, how heartfelt, how lovely they are here.”

Harris echoed the sentiment.

“That’s why we do weddings here,” she said. “It’s to build these long-term relationships.”

Showcasing real relationships may be the foundation of the chamber’s mission, but members are exploring grander ideas. According to Goya, the chamber is talking to the city about the possibility of creating a “Wedding Way” that plays off the theme of being the nuptial capital of the world. It could run along Las Vegas Boulevard from near the Stratosphere toward downtown and include a public park with vintage neon wedding signs.

“This is in our dream stage,” Goya said, “pre-planning.”

But what’s a wedding if not the perfect avenue for dreaming?