All Shook Up: Elvis-Themed Weddings May Soon Disappear Due To Cease-And-Desist Filed By Owners of The King’s Image
Elvis fans may soon have to take their “Burning Love” somewhere besides Sin City.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the licensing company that controls the name and image of the King of Rock and Roll is ordering Las Vegas chapel operators to stop using Elvis in their wedding ceremonies.
The cease-and-desist letter said all unauthorized use of “Presley’s name, likeness, voice image, and other elements of Elvis Presley’s persona in advertisements, merchandise and otherwise” would not be permitted. The letter also said “Elvis,” “Elvis Presley,” “and “The King of Rock and Roll” are protected trademarks.
The company, Authentic Brands Group has already sent those cease-and-desist letters in early May to multiple chapels, and expect them to be compliant with their wishes by now. This move could put the hurt on a the Vegas wedding industry.
“We are a family-run business, and now we’re hanging with the big dogs,” Kayla Collins told NPR. Collins operates LasVegasElvisWeddingChapel.com and the Little Chapel of Hearts with her husband. “That’s our bread and butter. I don’t get it. We were just hitting our stride again through COVID, then this happens.”
Clark County Clerk Lynn Goya led a marketing campaign promoting Las Vegas as a wedding destination. She said the order for chapels to stop using Elvis couldn’t have come at a worse time for the sector, which generates $2 billion dollars a year for the city.
“It might destroy a portion of our wedding industry,” said Goya. “A number of people might lose their livelihood.”
For now, chapels are coping by going the generic route. One had their Elvis impersonator change into a leather jacket, jeans and a fedora, branding the ceremony as a “rock and roll” wedding, according to the Review-Journal.
The licensing company also manages the images of top-tier celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Muhammed Ali.
Still “Can’t Help Falling in Love”? As of this writing, the Graceland Wedding Chapel, which performs 6,400 Elvis-themed weddings per year, has yet to receive a warning, according to manager Rod Musum.
