Unique date draws couples to Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve weddings

Aside from the New Year Eve revelry and fireworks, couples from across the country came to Las Vegas to get married on 12/31/23, which creates a 1-2-3-1-2-3 pattern.

The happy couples included a pair who first met as children, two newlyweds married by the drag queen “Sh-Elvis,” and a couple who rode into the ceremony in a pink Cadillac.

“You’ve got people who look at the date and go, ‘That’s a date I’m going to remember,’” said Diana Moran, the head minister at the Little White Chapel, Vegas Weddings and the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel.

Moran said New Year’s Eve is always a busy day for Las Vegas’ wedding industry, but the unique date raised demand even higher on Sunday. She planned to officiate about 25 weddings by the end of the night.

An estimated 356,000 visitors were expected to be in town for Sunday’s New Year’s Eve celebrations. Fireworks were set to light up the night sky above the Strip at the MGM Grand, Aria, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, The Venetian, Resorts World and the Strat, while the Fremont Street Experience hosted the “NYE Time of Your Life Festival” with live performances including Third Eye Blind, Big Gigantic and Blackstreet.

As revelers prepare for the celebration Sunday night, the National Weather Service is expecting relatively calm weather this year. Meteorologist Trevor Boucher said there is a less than 5 percent chance of light showers at midnight, and the weather service is not tracking any significant wind. Higher elevations may see a snow flurry or two, but there will likely only be a few passing clouds in the Las Vegas Valley. Temperatures at midnight are expected to dip to about 48 degrees, Boucher said.

“Looks like it’s going to be pretty quiet overall,” he said.

At the Vegas Weddings’ three locations, couples patiently waited their turn for a quick ceremony and ring exchange. The couples who chose to be married by an Elvis impersonator were treated to vows full of song lyric puns and a serenade as their first dance. The company has said it expects to marry more than 120 couples Sunday.

Jeff and Amanda McIntire traveled from Brenham, Texas, to get married on New Year’s Eve. Amanda McIntire said she was eager to get married and had already legally changed her name, but a Facebook meme of the Sesame Street character Count von Count inspired her to select Sunday’s date for the ceremony. But more important than the date was having a casual celebration in Las Vegas.

“How can you go wrong with Elvis?” said Amanda McIntire, who got married in a bright red blazer by Elvis impersonator Ron DeCar.

DeCar, who used to own the Viva Las Vegas Chapel before he sold it to Vegas Weddings, said Sunday was a particularly busy day for him because of the date. By Sunday afternoon, he made it to the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel to officiate the marriage of Billy “Blade” Traughber, 47, and Karie “Tiffany Payne” Rockwood, 48.

The couple has been together for six years and frequently travels to Las Vegas for their entertainment jobs, said Traughber, who owns the wrestling company MicroMania. The two got into the back of DeCar’s pink Cadillac, which he drove into the wedding chapel as it filled with smoke from a fog machine, Elvis’ songs pumping through the speakers.

Rockwood said the unique New Year’s Eve date added to the fun.

“It’s also so he won’t ever forget,” she joked.

Yvan Devergranne, 32, and Samantha Castrejon, 28, weren’t initially thinking about Sunday’s date when they decided to get married in Las Vegas, but the couple figured they might as well aim for the best time possible. The two planned their outfits for weeks, and arrived at the Little White Wedding Chapel in fur coats over their white suit and dress.

“We’ve been obviously trying to plan it and look the best we can, and we’re obviously very excited for that,” Devergranne said.

Devergranne’s service dog, Xena, had white flowers attached to her collar as she watched their ceremony from the aisle. After their wedding, the couple planned to take in the view of the Bellagio fountains during the New Year’s Eve festivities.

Shannon Rogers, 51, and Ruby Hartman, 51, came to Las Vegas from Louisiana to fulfill Hartman’s dream of getting married by Elvis. Rogers first had a crush on Hartman when the two met in the third grade, but their lives diverged as the two married other people, had kids and went through divorces before reconnecting nine years ago. Hartman said the two sneaked off to Las Vegas without telling most of their friends.

“We got on a plane and said, ‘Let’s do it,’” she said.

Annamarie Popoca, 23, and Michelle Antonio, 21, said they wanted to take advantage of the New Year’s Eve celebration across the Strip after their wedding, which was officiated by drag queen Elvis impersonator Martina “Sh-Elvis” Brookshire.

Popoca and Antonio met through the military while they were stationed together in Japan. The two have been living long distance for a year, and decided to get legally married in Las Vegas while they had the chance. They didn’t realize getting married by a drag queen was an option until they started planning the ceremony.

“It’s Vegas! We’re already gay,” Antonio said with a laugh. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, we might as well do it.”

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.