Las Vegas Weddings: A Brief History, Celebrity Gossip, Everything Elvis, and the Complete Chapel Guide [Paperback]

Susan Marg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 2004

Fast, fun, and incredibly well researched, Las Vegas Weddings is the ultimate guide to getting hitched, Elvis style. Covering everything from the rise of the town to legendary star marriages and an entire section devoted to "The King," it even has a chapel guide to help budding young couples plan their own Vegas wedding getaway. Filled with rare photographs and never-before-heard stories, it also includes:

• Colorful descriptions of the town's funky stand-alone chapels and the Strip's swankiest resorts
• A unique look at Elvis impersonators
• More than fifty celebrity weddings, from Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thorton to Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
• Theme weddings, like Star Trek, Camelot, or Elvis's Blue Hawaii
• And much, much more

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although Las Vegas is in a county that boasts less than .5% of America's population, it's host to about 5% of the country's weddings. With everyone from Britney to the couple next door getting hitched there, the city's matrimony industry is indeed fascinating and rife with quirky detail. First-time author Marg captures some of the phenomenon, but the book's lack of a cohesive organization often makes it feel as rushed as a quickie wedding. After giving a history of the city and its wedding establishments, Marg presents lengthy stories of celebrities who've married there, complete with observations on their relationships. This kind of chatty commentary wears thin quickly; it's followed by an extensive section on Elvis that seems far too detailed, even for the king of Vegas. Another shift occurs when Marg writes about Ron DeCar, who owns one local chapel. Although DeCar is charming, Marg's abrupt change in writing style from essayistic prose to article format is jarring. Marg does excel in describing the city's wedding history, juxtaposing Vegas's rise as gambling capital with its pursuit of bridal traffic, and the result is compelling. In general, though, readers looking to tie the knot in Sin City will gain more by cruising down the Strip in person.
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About the Author

Susan Marg has made many trips to Las Vegas. After beginning to wonder what stories might be found in the city’s many wedding chapels, she undertook the research that culminated in this book. She lives with her husband, the author James C. Simmons, in Del Mar, California. They did not get married in Vegas, but they are planning a renewal-of-vows ceremony with an Elvis impersonator for their next anniversary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: It Books; 1 edition (November 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060726199
• ISBN-13: 978-0060726195
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,275,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some good info.., March 24, 2006

By 

Michele L. Stumm (Maryland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Las Vegas Weddings: A Brief History, Celebrity Gossip, Everything Elvis, and the Complete Chapel Guide (Paperback)

This book gave me some good information about places to get married. It had a little bit more "fluff" that I had to sift through to get the information, but it was useful.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VERY CONVINCING, January 2, 2005

By 

L. Kinser "ljkinser" (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Las Vegas Weddings: A Brief History, Celebrity Gossip, Everything Elvis, and the Complete Chapel Guide (Paperback)

My fiancée is a huge Vegas fan. He tries to go there once a year with the guys. He gave me this book as a joke, hoping that I might consider Vegas for our nuptials. Well, guess what? I'm thinking about it. Like most people, I think, I have always considered Las Vegas weddings a bit cheesy, but that's all in the past. As the author points out, Vegas stands for fun with glitz and glamour thrown in. Well, I probably won't get married in Vegas (although I now know where to turn for chapel-shopping), but I can certainly see why so many people visit Las
Vegas again and again.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT POP CULTURE BOOK, December 16, 2004

By 

J. C. Simmons (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Las Vegas Weddings: A Brief History, Celebrity Gossip, Everything Elvis, and the Complete Chapel Guide (Paperback)

Last March my wife and I had a renewal of vows ceremony at a Las Vegas wedding chapel with an Elvis impersonator. This book perfectly captures the fun and excitement of our experience. This book makes a perfect souvenir of the occasion. We are giving copies to all our guests who had joined us. For all pop culture buffs this is a perfect book for their personal libraries.