The couple met in 1959, when Priscilla was just 14 years old, and Elvis was serving in the military. Despite the age difference, the two began dating, and their love story captured the hearts of fans around the world.
After a seven-year courtship, the couple tied the knot on May 1, 1967, in a private room at the Aladdin Hotel (now Planet Hollywood) in Las Vegas.
The ceremony was very small, with close friends and family in attendance, but it was a momentous occasion for music fans everywhere.
Thanks to the many photos from the wedding itself and the post-vows news conference, Elvis and Priscilla’s wedding is remembered as an iconic moment in music history. Even to this day, people go to Vegas to get hitched by Elvis impersonators.
Little Lisa Marie Presley was exactly born nine months later, on February 1, 1968, which suggests the famous couple’s only child was a honeymoon baby.
Elvis marries his longtime girlfriend
From the Daytona Beach Morning Journal (Florida) May 2, 1967
Las Vegas, Nevada – Elvis Presley, the Memphis boy who popularized rock ‘n’ roll music and became a millionaire in the process, ended a reign as one of show business’ most eligible bachelors Monday by marrying his longtime girlfriend [Priscilla Presley].
Presley, 32, and Priscilla Beaulieu, 21, took their vows before 14 friends in a hotel suite, then entertained 100 guests at a champagne breakfast. They said they’ll honeymoon for a month, probably somewhere in the United States.
Presley, who started as a guitar-twanging, hip-wiggling song shouter whose style has been widely imitated, has concentrated in recent years on motion pictures. He came here from Palm Springs, California, for the ceremony.
Nevada Supreme Court Justice David Zenoff performed the rites in the suite of Milton Prell, owner of the Aladdin Hotel. Best men were Presley’s secretary, Joe Esposito of Chicago, and assistant secretary Marty Lacker of Memphis.
Presley wore a tuxedo. The bride, whose maid of honor was her sister, Michelle, wore a white chiffon gown embroidered with tiny pearls and a full chiffon veil. Bodice and sleeves of her long train dress were of lace. She wore a three-carat diamond wedding-engagement ring combination.
The marriage was the first for both. Asked at a news conference why he waited so long, Presley said: “Well, I guess it was about time.”
Then his manager, Col Tom Parker, spoke up: “Remember, you can’t end bachelorhood without getting married.”
Presley added: “With the life I had, I decided it would be best to wait. You know, all of the shows and record engagements.”
MORE: Elvis Presley joins the Army: 20 pictures of the King of Rock & Roll in uniform (1958)
The news conference followed the breakfast, served buffet style and offering everything from ham and eggs and southern fried chicken to roast suckling pig, clams Casino, fresh poached candied salmon, eggs Minnette, and oysters Rockefeller.
During the repast, a string ensemble played for the guests, and at one point went to the bride and serenaded her with “Love Me Tender,” one of Presley’s earliest hit records.
The marriage followed three days of rumors but neither party could be contacted for confirmation. Last Thursday Presley finished his latest movie and took refuge in his secluded and guarded home in Palm Springs.
Today he and Miss Beaulieu arrived in Las Vegas by private jet plane and obtained a marriage license about 3:30 am. Six persons accompanied them.
Presley and his bride-to-be met in 1959 in Germany, while he was serving with the U.S. Army. Miss Beaulieu, daughter of Lt Col and Mrs Joseph Beaulieu, was attending high school at Frankfurt. Both Presley and Miss Beaulieu are from Memphis.
At that time Presley said “I like her very much,” but both said their relationship then was not serious. They dated for four months before Presley came home to be discharged.
The bride’s father is now stationed at Travis Air Force Base, California, where he is plans officer for the 22nd AirECE. He and Mrs Beaulieu left there Saturday to attend the wedding.
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The marriage certificate of Elvis and Priscilla Presley — Nevada 1967
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