RE-VOW LAS VEGAS!!!

Re-knotted, and it feels so good.

By Stacey Gualandi

Photography by Steve Spatafore

We’ve all heard the famous phrase “Viva Las Vegas!” But “Re-Vow Las Vegas” might have a better ring to it, considering almost 300 couples from across the globe just did a “re-do of their I do’s” on September 3rd at Caesars Palace! (Including me, but I’ll get to that shortly.)

Speaking of ring(s)—this lavish and first-ever mass vow renewal was the main event at the 70th anniversary of Las Vegas being declared the “Wedding Capital of the World” in the London Daily Herald on September 23, 1953.

Since then, over 5 million love stories—and counting—have passed through the Marriage License Bureau downtown, making Las Vegas the world’s #1 wedding destination.

In honor of that marital milestone, the Clark County Commission even proclaimed September “Wedding Capital of the World Month.”

“We got the whole community involved, the entertainers, and Caesars Palace donated the space,” said Clark County Clerk Lynn Marie Goya. “This is also benefiting the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth. It’s amazing the community spirit that came together so we could share the vow renewal with all of you!”

The besotted who re-knotted came from as far away as the Netherlands; one bride I saw was pregnant, while another brought her infant! Some couples were old, some new; some dresses were borrowed; some wore red, white, and blue.

Self-described first-generation Americans Charles and Diana Printzen (yes, that’s what they said) came dressed in the American flag.

“We’ve been high school sweethearts since 1988,” said the couple. “We will love each other for eternity.”

Philip Tolk said he hit the jackpot when he married Rada Katz last year at the Graceland Chapel during quarantine. That sentiment appears to have inspired their matching his-and-her deck of cards wedding ‘fits.

“We love Elvis, and we love Vegas,” said Katz. “We live here and will continue on our love fest in the capital of romance!”

The Tolk-Katz union wasn’t the only pandemic partnership to take place on the Strip. Several couples who met and married while in quarantine saw this as a chance to reseal the deal.

Adriana and Ryan Pardey, who just delivered twins, said they were in denial when they first exchanged vows at the Neon Museum on February 16, 2020.

“The [Pardey wedding] was known as the end of the world party,” laughed Adriana Pardey.

Quite the opposite for Lando and Heather Cardona, who first married alone at the Denny’s chapel on Fremont Street.

“When we eloped, it was just the two of us because it was during Covid,” said Lando Cardona. “We had an audience this time. Ha!”

Of course, no super-sized Strip ceremony would have been complete without a vintage Vegas lineup of Sin City’s showstoppers—an Elvis wedding cake; Seinfeld’s Patrick Warburton as officiant; and a procession of partners-in-love, led by—you guessed it—showgirls.

You can’t get more Vegas than showgirl Dani Elizabeth and America’s Got Talent-winning magician Murray Sawchuck.

They joined a long list of celebrity couples (think Frank and Mia, Elvis and Priscilla, and Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw) two years ago when they threw a spectacular wedding at the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas.

But the couple who perform regularly in Vegas couldn’t wait to retake a vow.

“We haven’t been up this early in a long time!” joked Sawchuck. “It’s just so nice to worry about looking decent and watch everyone else sweat.”

He’s referring to the who’s who of Las Vegas legends like Clint Holmes, The Bronx Wanderers, Lorena Peril, Bob Anderson, Travis Cloer, Anne Martinez, Zowie Bowie, Earl Turner, and The Righteous Brothers, who took to the stage to sing love songs through the decades.

“It was pretty scary, so I tried to get offstage before I was married again,” joked four-time groom Bill Medley.

The show—written, directed, and produced by Dennis and Lorraine Hunt-Bono and co-producer Damian Costa of Pompey Entertainment—was a musical celebration of love and marriage. It even had its own catchy new theme song, “Las Vegas Will You Marry Me,” written by composer Dan Slider and sung by Bono.

Now, I’ve asked my husband Marty to re-marry me many times and we did revisit our vows at Windsor Castle five years ago (right outside the gate :), but this occasion was a full-circle moment for us.

In 1998, we married at Caesars Palace (complete with a Centurion and a wine goddess), so we certainly couldn’t pass up an opportunity to mark our 25th at the 70th. In the same wedding dress, no less.

It was very special not only to cover the event for Inside Edition but also to share this day with good friends (Chic Compass publisher Ann Parenti and her husband Curtis McCoy, who were celebrating their 27th three days later on September 6th) and actor Patrick Warburton!

Best known as “Puddy” on Seinfeld, The Tick and the voice of “Joe Swanson” on Family Guy, Warburton appeared on stage through a thick blue fog, proudly wearing an original Lansky Bros. coat—the same designer who made Elvis Presley’s famous wedding tux.

I told him I couldn’t think of anyone more perfectly suited for the “I duty.”

“I was terribly honored, but you can’t think of anyone better?” laughed Warburton.

With equal parts sass and sweetness, he told all of us to “deepen our dedication to one another” and then say, well… you know.

Presiding over 300 couples ready to rinse and repeat was a first for this veteran marriage officiant.

“I’ve married four couples in the past ten years, and they’re all still together,” said Warburton. “So, I’m batting 1000!”

From (Vegas Wedding Chamber’s) Elvis impersonator Brian Mills taking photos with all the happy couples to an inspirational version of Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s six-tiered 1967 wedding cake, the King was certainly in the building for all the hunk of burning love.

Carlo’s Bakery general manager Christina Nasso took on the 12-hour challenge of recreating that iconic cake. After the ceremony, couples got to pose with it and have a Champagne toast.

“I know for me I’m going to remember this the rest of my life,” said Nasso, who has two tattoos of her idol Elvis.

Jag Jaeger, the son of the original Elvis cake baker Bjorn, was also on hand to see the marriage license bureau memorialize his father’s work.

“I am absolutely honored to be his son, and I know he would be proud of Christina’s work,” said Jaeger.

After meeting the Millers—Andrew and Tiffany—who first tied the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel two years ago, it became clear that all the couples on that day love Las Vegas almost as much as they love their spouses.

“I think it’s really great to celebrate all of the history, everything that Las Vegas has meant for weddings and probably the reason people continue to choose, literally every day, to get married in Las Vegas,” said Tiffany Miller.

Our close friends JJ Snyder and Bill Scigliano married 14 years ago in Washington State.

“We married on a farm with goats, chickens, dogs, and horses, so this is a little more upscale,” joked Scigliano.

They have no regrets, but they always wanted to have a Vegas wedding. Now they are officially re-newlyweds, Sin City-style.

“It’s a city about love, but it’s also about being spontaneous and having fun,” said Snyder. “If you didn’t like your first wedding, come do it again here!”

Goya is happy to report there were no Bridezillas, and this unique wedding event went off…without a hitch. (But also 300 re-hitches.)

“People from around the world come here just to celebrate their vows,” said Goya. “They need to know we are very grateful, and they are very welcome.”

So, is this the start of a new Las Vegas tradition?

Goya laughed; “Let me have a drink first.”