The fantasy of getting married in Las Vegas with an Elvis impersonator by your side is an endearing one, but cease-and-desist letters from the licensing company that controls the Elvis name and image is putting an end to the festivities.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported during the week that Elvis may indeed be leaving the building as Authentic Brands Group sent cease-and-desist letters in early May to multiple chapels.
The licensing company oversees the estates of other big names including Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali.
With Elvis so closely tied to the Vegas wedding industry, some business owners say the move could damage business.
Elvis became bonded with the city in the 1960s, with his song 'Viva Las Vegas' becoming an unofficial anthem for the city, and The King is credited as the performer who defined the concept of Las Vegas residency for pop stars.
Elvis performed over 600 shows in Vegas between 1969 and 1976.
The industry, still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic, said the move could not have come at a worse time.
Cark County Clerk Lynn Goya, who has presided over Las Vegas’ wedding marketing campaign, said "it might destroy a portion of our wedding industry and a number of people might lose their livelihood.”
"This could be very damaging to our industry,” Melody Willis-Williams, president of Vegas Weddings and Viva Las Vegas Weddings, told the paper.
"Most of us are small businesses, and we’re up against a superpower with a lot of money. It could kill us in lawyer fees to fight this."
“Elvis weddings are synonymous with Las Vegas,” Williams said, and stated "we keep Elvis alive.”
Kent Ripley of Elvis Weddings has been an Elvis impersonator for 25 years and has criticised the move.
"We get bookings that have been planned for three, four, five years to have an Elvis wedding," Ripley said.
"They want to protect the Elvis brand. But what are they protecting by taking Elvis away from the public?"
Elvis fever is set to take the world by storm again, with Baz Luhrmann's blockbuster due for release later this month, with sales of the late star's music and merchandise tipped to skyrocket as a result of the film.
