Everyone knows that if you want a quick, no-fuss, low key and low cost commitment to a life’s worth of commitment via the exchange of wedding vows then Vegas is the place to do it. Many a registry office will be waiting to do business with you and give you that special day (or twenty minutes) for a very nice price and with all the secrecy you’d expect from flying half way around the world without telling anyone.
But one ‘wedding shop’ rises above the rest when it comes to helping the rich and famous get hitched on the quick over the years. It’s called The Little Church of the West and is best known for playing host when Elvis Presley and Ann Margret exchanged their vows in the 1963 film Viva Las Vegas which, with its highly revered soundtrack when stepping in a casino has proved to be the catalyst for the many couples that have followed in their footsteps since. Here are a few of the most weird and wonderful we could find…
Chris Evans and Billie Piper
Billie Piper burst onto the scene with Number 1 hit ‘Because We Want To’ in 1998, aged just 15, and three years later she was walking down the aisle at The Little Church Of The West with red haired Virgin Radio presenter, Chris Evans (not Captain America). The 16 year age gap caused quite a media frenzy so it’s little wonder they headed off overseas to tie the knot. Unfortunately, as the vast majority of people predicted, it didn’t end well and by 2004 they were separated, finally divorcing in 2007 with Piper taking ‘not a penny’ of Evans’ vast wealth. Fair play to the lass.
Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie
Hollywood bad boy Billy Bob won over 24 year old Angelina Jolie whilst filming Pushing Tin (no, me neither) in 1999 and in May the following year the couple were married in Vegas. After doing a lot of weird lovey dovey stuff in the public eye and announcing that they would adopt a Cambodian child (something Jolie did go on to do), the relationship came to a crashing end in 2002 with the Tomb Raider star declaring that they had absolutely nothing in common. Guess that kind of scuppers things..
Cindy Crawford & Richard Gere
Here’s another glamorous, yet, ultimately doomed Hollywood couple. Cindy Crawford and Richard Gear lasted four years after their marriage at The Little Church Of The West before deciding enough was enough. Crawford, who was once glued to every young man’s wall in her swimwear, has been happily settled down ever since whilst Mr Gear separated from his subsequent wife in 2013 before a rather long drawn out court battle was finally put to bed in 2016....
Dudley Moore & Brogan Lane
At just 5ft tall Dudley Moore may look like a cute little thing but he had a wild and impulsive side, that’s for sure. That was never more in evidence than when he waltzed Brogan Lane down the aisle in Las Vegas and the wee man went on to have four marriages and four divorces before it all took its toll with his death in 2002.
John Daly & Sharon Miller
Top golfer, sometimes. Awful haircut, always. Those are fair appraisals of the man mountain that is John Daly. Never far from a negative newspaper column, all of which he denies, the two time major winner has had some rocky relationships along the way. He married Sharon Miller at The Little Church Of The West in 2001 and after a fight in a steak house which ended with Daly turning up to the Stanford St Jude’s Classic 2nd Round with cuts on his face and a prison sentence for Sharon, they were divorced.
Noel Gallagher & Meg Matthews
Oasis singer and guitarist Noel Gallagher had been on and off with Meg Matthews for a few years before the couple pitched up in Vegas for a quick life rearrangement. They never looked happy if memory serves correctly and they were divorced a year after the birth of their little girl, Anais. A lady called Sara MacDonald was cited as one of the reasons for the divorce and she and Gallagher are still together today, with two young sons and seemingly as happy as ever.
Judy Garland & Mark Herron hero
You’d never think that the actress behind such a sweet young character like Dorothy would go on to endure such a hectic life of multiple relationships alongside her huge success. Husband number four was tour manager, Mark Herron, and after a brief fling they headed to The Little Church Of The West to make it official. Six months it lasted… I mean, come on. What’s the point?