Las Vegas airport to get a pop-up marriage license bureau

Harriet Baskas | Special to USA TODAY

A pop-up license bureau is being set up at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas to accommodate all the lovebirds with marriage plans who flock to the city around Valentine’s Day.

Getting married in Las Vegas is popular year-round. But each year around Valentine’s Day and the Presidents Day weekend, the Clark County Clerk’s office in downtown Las Vegas office reports issuing more than 1,500 marriage licenses, about twice the number they do during other times of the year.

This year the Chinese New Year, considered by many to be a lucky day to tie the knot, falls on Feb. 16, and marriage license requests in Las Vegas are expected to surge. So to make it easier for couples flying to Sin City to get legally hitched this year, the County Clerk’s office will issue marriage licenses from Feb. 9 to 17 from a pop-up office in the airport’s Terminal 1 baggage claim area.

The pop-up shop hours will run daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and credit cards will be accepted for the $77 license fee. That will help streamline the process a bit, but to make sure there are no glitches on the way to getting hitched, the clerk’s office encourages those planning to get licenses to fill out a license pre-application form online. Couples will need to bring the reference number issued with them to the marriage license pop-up, along with proper identification.

Keep in mind that getting a marriage license doesn’t mean you’ll be legally married. You’ll still need to find Elvis or another legally authorized person to perform a proper marriage ceremony.

For those in a hurry to get married, McCarran International Airport offers several other useful amenities, including a to-go liquor store in the Terminal 1 baggage claim.

“We have 24-hour flower vending machines in baggage claim,” said McCarran airport spokeswoman Christine Crews. “And I suppose if you add a stop or two in the terminal to visit our apparel retailers and/or one of the purveyors of jewelry, you could get everything you need before getting your marriage license in baggage claim. Then hop into a limousine on the curb and be off to the chapel.”

Harriet Baskas is a Seattle-based airports and aviation writer and USA TODAY Travel's "At the Airport" columnist. She occasionally contributes to Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. Follow her at twitter.com/hbaskas.