The History
The Aladdin Hotel & Casino opened on the Las Vegas Strip in 1966, built on the site of the former Tallyho hotel that had failed to obtain a gaming license. With its Arabian Nights theme, the Aladdin was exotic by even Las Vegas standards — minarets, domes, and desert palace decor that transported guests into a fantasy straight out of a storybook. The hotel was owned by Milton Prell, a seasoned casino operator who had previously run the Sahara Hotel and understood that Las Vegas sold dreams as much as it sold gambling.
Prell had a connection that would make the Aladdin immortal: he was close friends with Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's legendary manager. That friendship would lead to the most famous wedding in Las Vegas history and ensure that the Aladdin's name would be remembered long after the building itself was reduced to rubble. The hotel changed hands multiple times over the decades, was linked to organized crime in the late 1970s, and eventually fell into disrepair as newer mega-resorts outshone it.
The Wedding That Changed Everything
By 1967, Elvis Presley was the biggest entertainer on the planet, and his personal life was the subject of relentless public fascination. He had been dating Priscilla Beaulieu since she was just fourteen years old, when he was stationed in Germany with the Army. After years of courtship conducted under the watchful eye of Priscilla's protective father, Elvis finally proposed — and Colonel Tom Parker took over the planning with military precision.
The wedding took place on May 1, 1967, in a second-floor suite of the Aladdin Hotel. The ceremony lasted exactly eight minutes. Only fourteen guests were present, a number kept deliberately small by Parker, who wanted to control every detail and every photograph. Elvis wore a black brocade tuxedo; Priscilla wore a floor-length white gown with a six-foot train. Nevada Supreme Court Justice David Zenoff performed the ceremony. A breakfast reception for about one hundred guests followed in the hotel's ballroom, featuring a five-tiered cake and champagne.
The secrecy of the wedding created lasting damage. Elvis's Memphis Mafia — his loyal inner circle — and his band members were not invited, and many of them never fully forgave the slight. Red West, one of Elvis's closest friends, later said the exclusion created a wound that never healed. The wedding was Parker's production from start to finish, and while it gave the world an iconic moment, it deepened the isolation that would come to define Elvis's later years.
Key Facts
Suite 246
The ceremony took place in a private second-floor suite. With only 14 guests, the room was deliberately intimate — Colonel Parker wanted absolute control over who witnessed the event and who didn't.
8-Minute Ceremony
The entire wedding ceremony lasted just eight minutes. The brevity was intentional — Parker wanted Elvis in and out before the press could gather. The reception afterward was considerably longer.
The Parker Connection
Milton Prell, the Aladdin's owner, was a close friend of Colonel Tom Parker. The friendship determined the venue — Parker arranged everything, from the guest list to the press conference that followed.
The Implosion
The original Aladdin was imploded on April 27, 1998. A new Aladdin opened in 2000 but struggled financially. It was rebranded as Planet Hollywood in 2007. Nothing of the original hotel survives.
What's There Now
Visiting the Aladdin Site
Address: 3667 Las Vegas Blvd S, Las Vegas, NV 89109 (now Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino)
Status: The original Aladdin was demolished in 1998. Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino now occupies the site.
What to See: There are no markers or memorials to Elvis's wedding at the current resort. The Neon Museum on Las Vegas Boulevard North preserves the original Aladdin sign. For Elvis history, the New Frontier site (where Elvis made his Vegas debut in 1956) is nearby on the Strip.
Nearby: Caesars Palace and the Flamingo are within walking distance. The Little White Wedding Chapel, where many celebrity weddings have taken place, is further north on the boulevard.
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