Vow power of Las Vegas

WANT to get married in Vegas? You're in good company, writes Shane Burke.

THE bride comes storming down the aisle with a look that could kill. 'Til death us do part seems a sure thing for this groom.

The bride is blonde, fake-tanned, and decked out on in an off-the-shoulder number topped with a shining tiara.

Baring her impossibly perfect teeth, she shouts at her man in a voice that rises above the cacophony of the slot machines in Las Vegas's Bellagio Hotel.

Few people look up. Sadly, neither does the groom. He is nursing his final beer as a free man with his mates in a nearby sports bar.

It takes a second shout from Bridezilla to snap the groom to attention.

He smiles and, beer in hand, waves at his soon-to-be wife.

Even his groomsmen have enough sense to put their beers down.

The groom, otherwise known as Dead Man Walking, is only a short time from joining the 120,000 people a year who get hitched in Vegas.

Perhaps it's the way his bride glows in the reflected lights of the $1 pokies – my money was on the sight of her bared teeth – but the groom quickly remembers the real reason he is in there.

This wedding is at the AAA five-diamond Bellagio, which charges $US1800 for a no-frills service.

A WED START Five top spots at which to tie the knot in Las Vegas:

CHAPEL OF LOVE
IT has a wedding drive-through and a costume collection if you want a themed service – recent ones have included Adam and Eve sci-fi and gangster nuptials. Flowers and limo rides are free.

GRACELAND WEDDING CHAPEL
THE King lives! Wedding services run every 15 minutes and Elvis is there to tie the knot. A concrete mini-golf front yard is perfect for those special photos.

WEE KIRK O' THE HEATHER
IT means little chapel of the lucky flowers and was one of the first to offer quickie weddings. You can't miss it at night with its blazing neon Star of Bethlehem on top of the chapel.

CUPID'S
THIS is modern Vegas. Each couple gets its own consultant to offer advice. It offers live internet video for guests who can't make it to the special day, a wedding videographer and, for a few bucks more, rose petals and the release of doves.

THE LITTLE WHITE CHAPEL
ONE of the most famous, and relatively classy as far as Vegas weddings go. Five languages are offered, as is a drive-through service. And hey, if it's good enough for Frank Sinatra, Mickey Rooney, Joan Collins, Michael Jordan and Britney ...

Its "Beautiful Thing" wedding package (this does not include the reception, but does strangely offer tickets to a Las Vegas show) will sting you $US15,000 (not including taxes).

But getting married in Las Vegas can be as simple as getting a $US55 marriage licence, then as little as $US25 (not including a tip) for a service, without getting out of your car at a drive-through chapel.

For better or worse, get married in Las Vegas and you share the moment with a long line of celebrities.

Vegas's first wedding reputedly took place in 1931, when silent-movie star Clara Bow married cowboy actor Rex Bell.

Singer Britney Spears and longtime friend Jason Allen Alexander got hitched at the Little White Wedding Chapel in 2004. It was annulled 55 hours later.

Tennis stars Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf are still going strong after their 2001 wedding.

Actors Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton married at the Little Church of the West in 2000, only to split three years later.

Others who have married Vegas-style (and many split later) include singer Marc Anthony (now married to actor Jennifer Lopez) and Miss Universe Dayanara Torres Delgado; daredevil Evel Knievel and Crystal Kennedy at Caesars Palace (married 1999, split 2001); former basketball star Dennis Rodman and actor Carmen Electra at the Little Chapel of the Flowers (married November 1998, divorced April 1999); screen legend Tony Curtis and horse trainer Jill Vanden Berg at the MGM Grand (still going strong); actor-director Clint Eastwood and TV reporter Dina Ruiz (still going strong); actor Richard Gere and model Cindy Crawford (married 1991, split 1995); Demi Moore and Bruce Willis (married 1991, split 2000). The list goes on and on.

Las Vegas weddings range from a drive-through chapel on the Las Vegas Strip to ones overseen by an Elvis impersonator and upscale events such as at the Bellagio.

The first step in making any Las Vegas wedding legal is going to the Clark County courthouse to buy a marriage licence.

Las Vegas Marriage Bureau hours are 8am to midnight, seven days a week.

On holidays it is open 24 hours (Valentine's Day is peak time.)

The next step is to choose the type of wedding and where – you can be married in a helicopter, in the back of a limo, in garden gazebos, in the desert or by a ubiquitous Elvis.

Many still choose one of the old-style, round-the-clock wedding chapels on the Las Vegas strip.

It is as easy as booking a table for dinner, but in this case the menu they give you is a list of possible extras such as music, flowers, photos and snacks (yes, like the King's peanut butter and banana sandwiches for guests). Fifteen minutes later, you're hitched.

Shane Burke travelled to the United States courtesy of QANTAS THE DEAL

Getting there: Qantas flies to San Francisco with connecting flights to Las Vegas.

Staying: Las Vegas has several hotel booking agencies. Typically you call them on an 1800 number, tell them how much you want to spend and they'll find you a room. The older-style Tropicana costs about $160 a night.