The Little White Wedding Chapel
Encyclopedia
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
has been the site of many "quickie" celebrity wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
s. It is noted for its Drive-Thru Tunnel of Vows. It was established in 1951, and has married about 800,000 couples. It employs ten ministers.
Similarly named Las Vegas wedding chapels, such as The Little Church of the West
The Little Church of the West
The Little Church of the West is a wedding chapel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada that is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. Built of California redwood, it was intended to be a replica of a typical pioneer town church...
, The Little Chapel by the Courthouse, and the Chapel of the Flowers
Chapel of the Flowers
Chapel of the Flowers is a wedding chapel located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Chapel of the Flowers was one of the earliest wedding chapels built on The Strip, but has undergone numerous renovations in its history. It is considered one of the more traditional wedding chapels...
are often confused with The Little White Wedding Chapel. The Little Chapel by the Courthouse is also owned by We've Only Just Begun Inc., also the owners of the Little White Wedding Chapel. Charolette Richards, the owner, also has had association with the Little Church of the West.
Richards has worked at the chapel since the late 1950s. She came into the wedding business after her first husband abandoned her in Las Vegas, and Merle Edwards, who worked in the wedding chapel business, rescued her from the street and soon after became her second husband. He died in 1982. Richards is an ordained minister of a "non-denominational church". She has presided over the marriages of Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
, Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
, Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, and Demi Moore
Demi Moore
Demi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...
.
The chapel has been featured on such TV shows as Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
and Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
. Michael Ross and Naomi Defensor, two cast members on the 2011 season of The Real World: Las Vegas
The Real World: Las Vegas
The Real World: Las Vegas is the twelfth season of MTV's reality television series The Real World, which focuses on a group of diverse strangers living together for several months in a different city each season, as cameras follow their lives and interpersonal relationships...
, participated in a mock wedding at the Chapel during the June 1, 2011 season finale of that series.