54 » pink weddings magazine
WEDDINgS ABROAD
ViVa Las Vegas!
PWM hears from the only gay-owned wedding chapel in Las
Vegas about having the wedding of your wildest dreams
I
f you’ve thought about getting married in Las
Vegas, you’re probably picturing a kitschy
ceremony performed by Elvis wearing a flashy
jumpsuit. (And you’ve probably wondered if you
had the cheek for it.) In the most spectacular
wedding entrance your imagination has ever produced, The
King drives you right into the chapel and down the aisle in a
vintage pink Cadillac convertible. Once the fog clears and
the excitement dies down, Elvis blesses your union, curls
his lip and croons a few of his iconic songs. Pure Vegas glitz.
Ron Decar, owner of the Viva Las Vegas Wedding
Chapel, proudly confirms that this is actually one of the
establishment’s incredible offerings. ‘Yes, we do that here,’
he says. ‘But with all the other themed wedding
ceremonies we do – all including theatrical lights and
smoke effects – our Elvis wedding packages sometimes
seem tame by comparison.’
Want to be married by Dracula, stepping out of a coffin
to perform your rites in a graveyard setting, surrounded by
flying vampires? Or maybe you’ve you dreamed of
exchanging wedding vows with James Bond, Darth Vader,
Liberace or Alice Cooper as ‘minister.’ If that’s not your
taste, how about being carried down the aisle on
Cleopatra’s throne by hunky, exotic Egyptians? At Viva Las
Vegas Weddings, it’s a routine part of Ron Decar’s wildly
creative wedding business.
Las Vegas has a reputation that suggests to visitors
‘anything goes’. That’s certainly always been true at Viva
Las Vegas Weddings – with one notable exception. Until
same-sex marriage was legalised in Nevada (and now
across the entire United States), the motto ‘what
happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ held true for same-sex
weddings as well. Before that time, the chapel could offer
only non-legal commitment ceremonies to gay couples.
Apparently, anything could happen back then except a
legal same-sex wedding.
Nevertheless, chapel proprietors Ron Decar and Jamie
Richards have always welcomed any couple who wanted a
ceremony, legal or otherwise, to bind their lives together in
love. In fact, it was the first chapel in Las Vegas to offer
commitment ceremonies. Sixteen years later, Ron and
Jamie are thrilled about their country’s evolution on the
issue of marriage equality. Today, every marriage ceremony
can be performed legally at their chapel.
‘Ron and I were both nurtured throughout our lives by
parents who cherished each other and believed in long-
term loving commitment – relationships that last a lifetime,’
Jamie explains about his perspective on marriage.
