Using face masks and sanitizer, couples say 'I do' in Vegas

Angel Martinez, left, and Haillie Bernal hold hands while wearing masks as a precaution against coronavirus before their wedding at Vegas Weddings, Friday, May 8, 2020, in Las Vegas.

Vaughan Chambers and Alicia Funk put the face coverings on shortly after they exchanged vows and kissed in front of a neon-lit sign in a Las Vegas wedding chapel and posed for photos with an Elvis impersonator who officiated at their wedding.

Brides and grooms sanitize their hands and get their temperature checked before walking down the aisle. Guests are rare and typically don face masks. And drive-thru weddings are more popular than ever.

The few guests who can attend ceremonies keep their distance. Other loved ones who can't attend sometimes watch via videoconferencing.

With new safety protocols calling for masks and social distancing at weddings, the clerk's office is issuing about 72 licences a day _ well below the 200 typically issued before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Many of those newlyweds prefer drive-thru ceremonies _ a speedier service that some chapels were offering long before the coronavirus emerged and businesses began moving transactions outside to keep customers safe in their cars.

Many couples have been scrambling to find rental gowns or tuxedos because the clothes they initially planned to wear may have been stuck in transit or at a shuttered alterations shop.

That's what happened to Jennifer Escobar and Luz Sigman of San Francisco, who decided to pick replacement wedding outfits from their closets.

They initially planned to marry on May 8 _ a date they had engraved on their wedding bands and hoped to keep. But when they couldn't find a county clerk's office closer to the Bay Area that would issue a wedding license, they decided to make the 11-hour drive to Las Vegas.

Escobar's sister and niece who live in Las Vegas joined them for the ceremony, wearing face masks as they watched the special moment. "Everything got canceled but at least we still got to do this," Escobar said.

Escobar said she and her new wife hope to have a reception in October with more family and friends. They're considering making it a masquerade party. "People could still wear masks," she joked.

Michael Ramirez, left, and Andrea Ramirez kiss at their wedding at A Little White Wedding Chapel, in Las Vegas. The couple were planning a much larger wedding in San Diego but were forced to change to a small ceremony with their children in Las Vegas due to the coronavirus.