On the morning of May 1, 1967, in an intimate wedding before only 14 guests, music sensation Elvis Presley marries non-celebrity Priscilla Beaulieu in an eight-minute civil ceremony in a private suite at Las Vegas’ famed Aladdin Hotel. The couple wants to keep the nuptials very private, so they ditch reporters by flying on a private jet from Palm Springs in the wee hours and arriving in Las Vegas at 4 a.m.
The couple met in 1959 while Elvis, 24, was stationed in Germany, where Priscilla’s father was stationed as a U.S. Air Force officer. Their seven-year courtship—she was only 14 when they met—culminated when he gave her a three-karat diamond engagement ring.
At the wedding, Elvis sported a black tuxedo while his bride wore a ’60s-style, loose white organza gown with long lace sleeves and pearl embellishments—bought off the rack by Priscilla who tried to escape attention by disguising herself in a blonde wig and using the code name “Mrs. Hodge.” A three-foot tulle veil and rhinestone tiara perched atop her iconic black bouffant hairdo. The lavish wedding reception, which about 100 people attended, included a five-foot-tall, six-tier wedding cake that reportedly cost $3,200. The bride and groom danced their first dance to—what else?—Elvis’ hit ballad “Love Me Tender.” They then flew to Palm Springs, where they stayed in a home dubbed the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway.
The Presleys, adored as they were as a couple, divorced in 1973. But Priscilla Presley, who became a businesswoman and actress, told the Daily Mail in 2012 she had no regrets.
“Elvis was absolutely the love of my life, and there’s no sadness about it because I have my memories, and they’re delicious and they’re all mine,” she said.
