You can do it all at the airport: Hudson News, Cinnabon, wedding license.
Planning on getting married this Valentine’s Day? Travelers whose plans include visiting Las Vegas for their nuptials will soon have a convenient option for their wedding license.
From February 11 to February 25, Clark County will operate a pop-up Marriage License Bureau at Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport. In addition to a round on the slot machines while waiting for checked luggage to arrive, would-be wedding participants can also get a marriage license or a vow renewal certificate.
The pop-up Marriage License Bureau will be located on the second floor of baggage claim, next to the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum at Terminal 1. Most domestic airlines use Terminal 1 for baggage claim. Passengers with checked bags arriving on Alaska, Breeze, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Sun Country, or United will have to claim their bags at Terminal 3 first. Passengers on those airlines arriving without checked bags can follow the signs for Terminal 1 baggage claim to visit the pop-up Marriage License Bureau. Passengers arriving on international carriers must clear Customs and claim their bags at Terminal 3.
The pop-up will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, including weekends. While marriage licenses can be issued at the airport, weddings at the airport, which is also owned and operated by Clark County, are not permitted. However, there is no shortage of other venues in Las Vegas, the city that invented the drive-thru wedding.
Couples wanting to wed in Las Vegas must get a license from the Clark County Clerk (Marriage License Bureaus are staffed by deputy clerks). Nevada has long been notorious for “quickie” weddings because it was one of the first states to significantly reduce most barriers to marriage in the 1930s, at a time when many states had requirements for blood tests and waiting periods. In Nevada, weddings must be performed by an officiant licensed by the state, and a witness is required.
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Other states have since dropped some of those requirements, but the panache of the Las Vegas wedding endures. While the city made weddings easier to help promote tourism, Las Vegas still touts itself as the “Wedding Capital of the World”.
Las Vegas is also popular for novelty date marriages. More than 2,300 couples were married in the city on 2/22/22. This year, popular dates include 2/25/25 and 2/5/25.
Aside from the February pop-up at the airport, couples can go to the main Marriage License Bureau in downtown Las Vegas from 8 a.m. to midnight 365 days a year. The Bureau was once open 24/7, but budget cuts led to the end of the overnight shift in 2006. At the time, the County estimated that fewer than 4% of marriage licenses were issued during the overnight period from midnight to 8 AM.
The pop-up Marriage License Bureau is particularly convenient for couples who have booked hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. The southern end of The Strip, a mile from the airport, is nearly eight miles away from the downtown Marriage License Bureau. The pop-up eliminates the need for a trip downtown for visitors anticipating nuptials.
It’s also worth noting that couples who do decide to get married, either onboard their flight to Las Vegas or earlier on, should refrain from indulging in large amounts of alcohol onboard their flight. Deputy clerks staffing Marriage License Bureaus in Clark County will turn away couples who appear to be intoxicated.
Known for decades as Las Vegas McCarran International Airport before being renamed for Nevada Senator Harry Reid in 2021, the airport welcomed a record 57.6 million passengers in 2023, making it the country’s eighth busiest airport by passenger volume.
