Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker elope in Vegas, but are they legally married?
Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker eloped in Las Vegas in the wee hours of Monday morning after attending the Grammy Awards. The wedding is not a huge shock — their lips have been attached since they went public with their romance in February 2021 — but married by an Elvis impersonator at a Sin City chapel wasn't on our bingo card.
Not long after, however, came news the wedding — held at One Love Wedding Chapel at 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning — may not be legal. It's a matter of whether or not they obtained a Nevada marriage license prior to the ceremony. Yahoo Entertainment spoke with chapel owner Marty Frierson, who secured Elvis for the couple and witnessed the ceremony, who says "they're married" though is vague on specifics. Meanwhile, the Clark County Clerk’s Office casts doubt on the existence of a marriage license.
"The Clark County Clerk’s Office, which is over the Marriage License Bureau in Las Vegas, has not issued a marriage license to Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker as of 8 am [on Tuesday]," a spokesperson tells Yahoo. "In Nevada, a couple must have a marriage license before they get married. Meaning, a couple could not legally get married and then get a marriage license that would be valid retroactively."
That said, there is a chance that the couple obtained a license in a different Nevada county. However, that would require a lot more planning — like them traveling to a different county to obtain the license — when it appeared to be more of a whim after a night of partying for the Grammys.
We asked One Love Wedding Chapel owner Frierson about the existence of a marriage license and he said, "They came in with a white envelope," suggesting that's how licenses are typically presented by brides- and grooms-to-be at this venue.
However, he didn't handle it or see it up close to verify it, saying, "The officiants," in this case fake Elvis, "take care of that. I take care of booking the wedding."
Nonetheless, he says, "They're married. They got married."
Frierson was happy to share the details of the nuptials at the 24-hour chapel he's owned for a little over two years.
"Someone called me at 12:30 a.m. [on Monday] to verify that I was open," he says. "They said a celebrity is going to get married and we want to make sure you can get Elvis to officiate."
Frierson made them pay online in advance, "to make sure it wasn't a joke," and secured his Elvis for the late-night nups. The Elvis arrived at 1:30 and Kardashian and Barker rolled up in a limousine at about 1:40 and went right to the chapel.
"It was the couple and four other people," he says of the entourage, including security. "Three of them had iPhones and they were just videotaping everything — from the time they got out of the limo until when they got back in."
Frierson "was not allowed to take pictures or video," he says. He was, however, able to watch the ceremony from the back of the chapel.
During the wedding, "They danced, they sang, Elvis sang to them, they danced more, and they did a lot of kissing and romancing," he details.
Which songs did Elvis sing? "Three different ones. I'm not sure which ones though honestly. I was just in awe that they were in my chapel."
After the half-hour ceremony, "They walked out. They kissed more. They threw the bouquet. Just a lot of kissing, hugging and dancing."
And still in their Grammy outfits apparently.
"They had the same outfits," he says. "She had a black [jump]suit on," courtesy of Et Ochs. "He had all black on."
Frierson reveals that bouquet was actually two different bouquets — with red roses and baby's breath combined — into one.
"I had two left and they wanted both of them," he says of the flowers. "They said, 'We'll take both.' She put them together to make it seem like one big one."
In fact, he still has the flowers, explaining, "After the person caught it, they just kind of left it in my driveway. They drove off and left them, so I put them in the refrigerator."
Just today, people have booked weddings just to come in and "see where they got married" and "take pictures with the flowers." says Frierson, noting it was the first celebrity wedding at his chapel.
Kardashian's rep has been mum about the wedding — which is one week before the premiere of The Kardashians on Hulu.
Wedding news broke Tuesday. It was first reported by TMZ that they arrived with a "marriage license and presented it to the chapel's owner," but the outlet later said the couple "hadn't gotten a license and only did it for fun."
They became engaged in October.