LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Las Vegas community is remembering and honoring the "Wedding Queen of the West".
Charolette Richards founded the Little White Wedding Chapel, which is one of the most famous wedding chapels in the world. She was also the first to create drive-thru weddings after a couple visiting the chapel couldn't fit their wheelchair through the doors. She married them just outside and that led to the drive-thru idea.
Richards was also known as reaching out to help others in the industry.
"She only believed in love. She used to tell all the couples, the only reason you're here is love," said Shweta Dar, a supervisor trainer at the Little White Wedding Chapel. "The wedding industry was her life and she couldn't think of anything else but being the wedding queen of the universe."
Dar said Richards was the reason her family achieved The American Dream.
"I'm originally from India. My father-in-law had come to a church here where he met Charolette. That's how we got to know here. Once we came to the U.S., we lived in Utah first, she said why don't you come here and work for us," Dar said. "I love this industry as much as she did. My family is here because of Charolette Richards. Me and my husband worked for her for over 10 years. My kids even call her grandma and we laughed all the time about it. She loved her employees like her own. She was everything to us."
Ron DeCar is an Elvis impersonator with Vegas Weddings but for years, he owned the Viva Las Vegas Chapel, which is next to the Little White Wedding Chapel.
"I opened in 1999. When I first bought the chapel and moved into this neighborhood, it was very, very scary to be next to the queen of the wedding industry but it was the best thing I ever did," DeCar said. "The thing about Charolette Richards, she was a media magnet. She brought so many people to the Las Vegas scene. Being next to her, only got our chapel more notoriety. I've experienced and met so many people that know about this place just because of the media the chapel has gotten over the years. She has created something that nobody else has."
Chapel officials said she reportedly married more than one million couples and welcomed celebrities tying the knot like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas, Sarah Michelle Geller and Freddie Prinze Jr., Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, and Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra.
Richards passed away at the age of 89 on Dec. 13, 2023. To honor her, Clark County Commissioner presented a proclamation to the staff at the Little White Wedding Chapel that states Jan. 25, 2024 will be known as Charolette Richards Day. County Clerk Lynn Marie Goya also presented them with a Certificate of Recognition. The Tunnel of Love at the chapel has also been renamed Charolette's Way.
And for employees like Dar, they hope to continue honoring Richards for years to come.
"She gave so much dedication and love to this chapel and you can tell by what she's created here," Dar said. "She kept a legacy for us to talk about and we're still talking about it even after her. Her legacy will always be carried on. We look up to her and it's going to grow bigger."
