If there are two things Las Vegas is synonymous with, it is casino gambling and shotgun weddings. Both have left an indelible mark on popular culture, and in the case of the latter, have led to a lifetime of matrimonial harmony, or a hasty annulment after a matter of weeks (or days, or even hours). But Vegas remains a popular destination for both committed couples and loose cannons, and many travel there to wed as part of a larger holiday in the Entertainment Capital of the World.
Besotted celebs are drawn to Sin City like moths to a lightbulb, and the city has a rich history of celebrity weddings, from Elvis and Priscilla tying the knot in 1967 (an eight-minute ceremony followed by a $22,000 cake), to Britney Spears’ 55 hour matrimonial attachment to Jason Alexander in 2004.
The Entertainment Capital of the World
That’s quite the moniker to live up to. But Vegas has no shortage of exciting and entertaining things for visitors to do — amazing live shows by A-list performers, incredible venues such as the newly opened and highly immersive sphere, and of course, the ever-present casinos, all of which serve to make the city an iconic mecca for fun and frivolity. It’s a magnet for the bright and beautiful, and celebrities flock there to see and be seen, as well as have fun in the gaming halls and other attractions.
Indeed, the casinos of Las Vegas have driven an industry that is now popular the world over, and the games you’ll find in Sin City can now be played online via computer or mobile, including slot games that follow popular themes. At some sites, these come in their 1,000s and many of them with jackpots – pooled, fixed, daily – similar to those you’d find in Vegas.
But of course, just off the Strip lie a multitude of wedding ‘chapels’, icons in their own right, and sites of some of the most renowned, notable, romantic, but sometimes fleeting weddings in celebrity history.
J-Lo and Ben Affleck
Bennifer, aka Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, first started dating in 2002, having met and become friends on the set of Gigli. They became engaged in 2003, but broke it off just before their wedding, apparently due to media attention and pressure. Both went on to marry and have children but always held each other in deep affection and began dating again in 2021, marrying in Vegas the following year. If you can say there’s one Sin City wedding that wasn’t rushed into, it’s Bennifer’s.
Nicolas Cage (Twice)
Nic Cage is known for his wild performances, full of spontaneity, so it’s no surprise that two of his five marriages ended fairly rapidly. The first of these, to Lisa Marie Presley, lasted just 107 days. His first Vegas marriage was to Erika Koike in 2019 and lasted four whole days before an annulment.
However, perhaps it’s the fifth time lucky for the eccentric Oscar winner, who married his girlfriend Riko Shibata in an uncharacteristically low-key ceremony also in Las Vegas, in 2021. The couple welcomed their first child, August Francesca Coppola Cage, the following year. Maybe the Wild At Heart star is finally going to settle down this time.
Travis & Kourtney
Weddings in Sin City don’t always have to be legally binding, and the Vegas vows between socialite/reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker were symbolic. The pair met in 2020 and began dating, and tied the knot in 2022. Although their Vegas ceremony wasn’t official, they were legally married a month later in California and recited religious vows, as Barker is a devout Catholic, in Italy a little after that.
The couple are very much in love, although in the glitzy world of celebrity, it seems that doesn’t count for much. Nonetheless, the newlyweds gave birth to their first child together late last year.
Celebrity dating is a bit of a merry-go-round, and our A-listers aren’t immune to the alluring locale of Las Vegas when it comes to tying the knot. Short and sweet or long and bitter, Vegas will always be associated with quickfire weddings.
