All about the wedding of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu
Updated: Aug 18, 2023
On May 1, 1967, the real Elvis Presley, King of Rock 'n' Roll, married his girlfriend of many years, Priscilla Beaulieu, away from Graceland. Elvis filmed Clambake in Los Angeles and then proceeded to the ceremony which took place at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The ceremony was presided over by Nevada Supreme Court Justice of the Peace David Zenoff and took a few minutes. A press conference followed shortly thereafter, followed by a breakfast reception for 100 guests, including several members of the press.
The wedding of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu was arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who was Elvis' manager. “Shortly after midnight on May 1, 1967,” recalls Elvis' school friend George Klein in his memoirs, “the wedding party escaped through the back door of Elvis' Palm Springs home, climbed over the wall backyard and got into a car to drive to the airport. Elvis had borrowed Frank Sinatra's private jet for the occasion.” There was a second plane chartered for the rest of the guests. As a wedding present, Elvis brought Priscilla's parents. When they arrived at the Aladdin Hotel for the start of the party, they used the back entrance to avoid being identified.
In the early hours of the morning, Elvis and Priscilla issued the marriage license in the Las Vegas Courthouse. Just before 10am, Nevada Supreme Court Justice David Zenoff married them in a suite filled with flowers and candles, in front of about 14 people. Elvis' groomsmen (to whom he gave diamond-eyed bull's-head cufflinks and tie clasps as gifts) were Joe Esposito and Marty Lacker. Priscilla's maid of honor was her sister, Michelle Parker, who arranged for two MGM photographers to document the ceremony.
As for the bride's outfit, Priscilla wore a floor-length white chiffon gown cut with pearls and finished with tulle and a rhinestone crown.
48 years after the ceremony, Priscilla declared in an interview that: “My wedding was very unusual. Only people very close to us were present, it was very private and that's what we wanted. We didn't want a fan club. We didn't want a circus. We wanted it our way and that moment not be stolen from us."
Priscilla has fond memories of her special day when she was 21, but she also remembers the struggles she had keeping the ceremony and her dress a secret. “I went to places like the Neiman Marcus store in full disguise. I got to wear a wig and everything just to keep it completely private!" she said.
At the time, there were many rumors about Priscilla's father's desire to sue Elvis, as the King of Rock did not keep his promises and took his girlfriend, aged just 15, to a trip to Los Angeles and Las Vegas against her will. from her parents.
In addition to this controversy, there are also doubts about Elvis having been forced by Priscilla to marry. The hypothesis would be that she threatened to tell the press details about her relationship with Elvis when she was still a minor. However, she always denied this version.
After holding the ceremony in Las Vegas, the two newlyweds spent their honeymoon in Palm Springs and after a few days returned to Memphis. And on May 29th, they celebrated the wedding again, with a reception at Graceland, for all relatives, friends and employees. In this celebration, some lucky fans also had the opportunity to participate.