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With more than 1,400 slot machines, an aviation museum, smoking areas, a liquor store, a kids play area, and Las Vegas-themed shops and bars — as well as Capital One, Chase Sapphire and several other airport lounges — Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) has plenty of year-round attractions and amenities to keep flyers occupied and entertained.
And because the airport is the gateway to the city known as the Marriage Capital of the World — and Las Vegas weddings always spike around Valentine’s Day — the airport sprouts a temporary marriage license bureau each February.
The pop-up, hosted by the Clark County clerk’s office, takes up residence in the Terminal 1 baggage claim area. This year, it is open from Wednesday, Feb. 4, to Monday, Feb. 16.
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The pop-up’s service is extremely popular and convenient.
Lovebirds landing in Las Vegas must do all the paperwork required to get a marriage license before they can legally get hitched at, say, a drive-through chapel, in a gondola at The Venetian Resort or at the altar with an Elvis-impersonating officiant. Usually, that entails a time-consuming trek from the airport to the clerk’s office in downtown Las Vegas, roughly 8 miles away. The downtown clerk’s office is open from 8 a.m. to midnight every day. But the pop-up marriage license bureau at LAS, which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during its run, allows couples to skip the trip downtown.
“Couples can grab their bags, get the marriage license right there at the airport and then go get married and have fun,” Clark County Clerk Lynn Marie Goya told TPG. “It gives them a few more hours to enjoy Las Vegas.”
Couples can fill out the forms and pay the fees upon arrival at the airport. (It costs $102 for a marriage license and $21 for a vow renewal certificate; couples must pay via credit or debit card only, as no cash is allowed.) And many have done so on a whim after seeing the digital signage at the airport, Goya said.
They can also begin their applications online up to a year before they fly to Las Vegas to save more time.
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Once they fill out the marriage application, couples presenting themselves at the pop-up clerk’s office at the airport will need to meet some basic requirements.
According to the Clark County clerk’s office, each person must be at least 18 years old and present government-issued identification proving their name and age to be approved. They also must not be currently married to other people, and they “must not be nearer to kin than second cousins or cousins by half-blood.” Both people in the couple must be present.
For those thinking of heading to Las Vegas to tie the knot around Valentine’s Day, the Clark County clerk’s office website also notes that in Nevada, there is no waiting period between when you receive your marriage license and when you get married; there are also no blood tests required to get married, and Nevada marriage records are public documents. So, if you’re a celebrity or are determined to hide from your ex, there is no way to seal your marriage record or have it marked “confidential.”
The Clark County clerk’s office first opened its pop-up marriage license bureau at LAS in February 2018, and has returned to the airport each February since (except in 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The first year, the pop-up issued 180 marriage licenses during the nine days it was open. In 2020, it issued 307 licenses over 17 days. And last year, in 2025, it issued 380 licenses over 15 days.
This year, the Las Vegas County clerk’s office is looking forward to issuing even more licenses during the 13 days the airport pop-up will be open. But Goya acknowledges that fluctuations affecting U.S. tourism nationwide, plus the overall dip in Las Vegas tourism numbers, may affect the final totals.
Tourist travel to Las Vegas was down 7.5% year over year in 2025, according to Tourism Analytics. And at an annual State of Wedding Tourism presentation held recently in Las Vegas, Goya said Clark County experienced a similar approximately 8% year-over-year decline in marriage licenses.
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Still, Goya said, Clark County outperforms many other destinations around the country in its ability to attract nonlocal couples for weddings. She said 80% of the marriage licenses issued year-round are to out-of-state couples, and more than 20% of those licenses are issued to international visitors.
“As far as I know, Las Vegas is the only place in the world where you can get your marriage license at the airport,” Goya said. “We make it fun for couples, because we adore them.”
