--- title: Las Vegas’ Elvis weddings are in jeopardy - The Hustle description: A long-time Vegas tradition may be upended as the company that licenses Elvis merch goes after the city’s wedding industry. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1138988089-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-02T011552.480Z.webp --- # Las Vegas’ Elvis weddings are in jeopardy ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: June 02, 2022 Updated: October 11, 2023 It’s a classic move: go to Las Vegas, get hitched by an Elvis impersonator. But those days might [be over.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwNMEYLlr6c) ![Las Vegas’ Elvis weddings are in jeopardy](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1138988089-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-02T011552.480Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1138988089-HS-News-Brief_2022-06-02T011552.480Z.webp) Authentic Brands Group (ABG), the company that licenses Elvis Presley merchandise, issued a cease-and-desist order to several Vegas chapels, [per](https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/kats/vegas-chapels-all-shook-up-by-elvis-likeness-crackdown-2584838/) *The Las Vegas Review-Journal*. #### **The Las Vegas wedding industry…** … is worth [$2B](https://thehustle.co/how-las-vegas-became-the-worlds-quickie-wedding-capital/), attracting 70k couples a year and employing 18k people. There are 55 free-standing chapels in the city, and all of them offer an Elvis impersonator as officiator — even [this zombie-themed wedding package](https://www.vivalasvegasweddings.com/las-vegas-wedding-packages/themed-weddings/zombie-wedding) has one. These demands wouldn’t affect Elvis-themed concerts because tribute shows are protected in Vegas by a [right-of-publicity](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/publicity) statute. But Clark County Clerk Lynn Goya, who oversees the city’s wedding marketing, told the *Review-Journal* that this “might destroy a portion of our wedding industry” — a sector only just rebounding from the pandemic. #### **Why now?** ABG bought the rights to Presley from CORE Media Group [in 2013](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/elvis-presleys-rights-sold-authentic-657924/), from which it also acquired the rights to Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali. It [co-reps](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/universal-music-publishing-group-authentic-brands-group-enter-an-exclusive-global-publishing-agreement-to-represent-elvis-presleys-catalog-301523939.html) Presley’s music catalog with Universal Music Publishing Group. But Baz Luhrmann’s biopic *Elvis* is set to premiere later this month, which may drum up renewed interest in the Elvis wedding. For now, at least one chapel has switched to generic rock-themed weddings, while another [told](https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/elvis-impersonators-troubled-by-talk-of-banning-their-work/) a local news station they’re looking into their legal options. **BTW: **You can still get married by an Alice Cooper impersonator. The [$750 package](https://www.vivalasvegasweddings.com/las-vegas-wedding-packages/themed-weddings/alice-cooper-wedding) includes two songs. 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