Charolette Richards (died December 13, 2023) was a woman who was known as the "Wedding Queen of the West".[1]

She arrived in Vegas on June 10, 1959, from Kentucky, thinking she was following her then husband, but he was not at their intended meeting place. Needing to earn a living to support their children, Richards ended up in the wedding industry and opened the first drive-through wedding chapel and officiated the first helicopter wedding in Las Vegas.[2][3][4] On "Blackjack Day", July 7, 2007, Richards performed 547 weddings.[5][6]

When the chapel went to auction she bid, putting down $50,000, loaned from a friend and to pay off the rest, lived there and operated 24 hours a day until the Las Vegas marriage bureau changed its hours.[7][2] She subsequently owned A Little White Wedding Chapel for more than sixty years and outside of her chapel, served as wedding coordinator for Elvis and Priscilla Presley's 1967 ceremony.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Katsilometes, John (2024-01-01). "Las Vegas' 'Wedding Queen of the West' to be honored". Retrieved 2025-03-08.
  2. ^ a b Patterson, James; Seal, Mark (2023-12-04). "6". What Really Happens in Vegas: True Stories of the People Who Make Vegas, Vegas. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-40700-7.
  3. ^ "What Really Happens in Vegas". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
  4. ^ "After Tragedy In Las Vegas, The Weddings Must Go On". NPR. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
  5. ^ George, Cassidy (2019-10-12). "Why Won't Anyone Buy the Most Famous Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
  6. ^ "When I married Elvis". The Herald. 2008-02-09. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
  7. ^ De La Cruz, Kimberly (2016-02-12). "Owner of famous Vegas chapel started on a whim". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2025-03-08.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charolette_Richards
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