How to Get Married in Las Vegas (It's Easier Than You Think)

Las Vegas is the easiest place in America to get legally married — no residency requirement, no blood test, no waiting period, and a license bureau that's open every single day of the year. Here's the entire process, start to finish, plus the planning details couples actually ask me about.

Step 1: Pre-apply online

Clark County lets you fill out the marriage license pre-application online before your trip. Do it — it turns your visit to the bureau into a short line and a signature instead of paperwork in a lobby. Search "Clark County marriage license pre-application" or go through the county's official site (clarkcountynv.gov).

Step 2: Pick up your license in person

• Where: the Clark County Marriage License Bureau, 201 E. Clark Ave, downtown Las Vegas.
• When: open daily, 8:00 am to midnight — 365 days a year. Yes, including holidays. This is Vegas.
• Who: both of you, in person, each with a valid government-issued photo ID (driver's license or passport). You must be 18 or older.
• Cost: $102 at the time I wrote this — check the county site for the current fee.
• Good for: one year from issue, anywhere in the state of Nevada. There's no waiting period — you can marry the same hour.

Step 3: The ceremony

A legal Nevada wedding needs a licensed officiant and at least one witness. Practically, you have three routes:

• A chapel: officiant, witness, coordination, and a pink Cadillac if you want one — all handled. See my guide to Vegas chapel weddings.
• An independent officiant at a location you choose: the route for desert elopements at Red Rock Canyon or Valley of Fire. Vegas has a deep bench of great officiants who will meet you anywhere, and I'm happy to recommend the ones my couples have loved.
• The civil ceremony: the county's Office of Civil Marriages — quick, inexpensive, and legally identical to every other option.

After the ceremony your officiant files the license, and you order a certified copy of the marriage certificate from the Clark County Recorder — that's the document you'll use for name changes, insurance, and immigration paperwork. Order two copies; future-you will be glad.

When to get married in Las Vegas

• October–November: the sweet spot. Warm days, cool evenings, desert light at its best. Book everything early.
• March–May: the other sweet spot — wildflowers in the desert if the winter was kind.
• December–February: underrated. Mild afternoons (50s–60s), dramatic winter skies, low crowds, and the earliest sunsets — golden hour at 4:30 pm means an evening ceremony fits before dinner.
• June–September: hot. Genuinely hot. Completely workable — Vegas does it every day — but we build the day around sunrise, shade, air conditioning, and night. Some of my favorite frames are summer frames; none of them were taken at 2 pm outdoors.

The simple checklist

1. Pick your date and your spot (start with the best places to elope in Las Vegas).
2. Book your photographer/filmmaker and your officiant or chapel. Popular dates go months out.
3. Sort the location logistics — permits for Red Rock or Valley of Fire, a photography-policy check for chapels, timed-entry reservations in season. (I walk my couples through all of this.)
4. Pre-apply online for the license, then pick it up together once you're in town.
5. Get married. Eat an outrageous dinner. Take neon portraits at midnight.
6. Order certified copies of the certificate when you're home.

That's the whole machine. The paperwork takes an hour of your life; the photographs and the film are what's left of the day fifty years from now — which is the part I'd love to help you with.