Valentine’s Day weddings in Las Vegas drawing steady numbers

As Valentine’s Day ushered in a three-day weekend this year, Clark County’s Marriage License Bureau drew longer lines of lovebirds on Friday.

While 200 licenses are issued each day on average, 316 were issued as of 6 p.m. Friday, according to the county. It included 23 at McCarran International Airport, where the county has temporarily operated a pop-up marriage license office since 2018.

“It’s the most consistent day,” County Clerk Lynn Goya said. “When it falls on a weekend, it’s a great time for us.”

Over the past three days, the county issued at least 877 licenses to couples seeking to get hitched in the “wedding capital of the world,” officials said. The number is likely to grow since the bureau is open until midnight.

In three previous years, no more than 855 licenses were issued over the same period — the two days preceding Valentine’s Day and then Valentine’s Day itself.

The number of marriages performed in the county on Valentine’s Day has remained steady over the past three years, hovering in the low to high 500s. It will be 10 days before officials know how many ceremonies occurred Friday.

Couples who entered the county office were given special keepsake licenses with a February 2020 logo and “Be Mine” candy hearts, officials said. That logo was also printed on envelopes that held their paperwork.

Although couples continue to be drawn to Las Vegas for a Valentine’s Day wedding, Goya said it seems less popular overall than it used to be. Instead the period around Halloween has become more en vogue because of typically pleasant weather.

Whatever the day, people tend to enjoy having their wedding part of something bigger, Goya said.

“I think one of the reasons that couples come on Valentine’s Day or any big days is they like that group experience,” she said.

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.