He was one of the most eligible bachelors in the world, an insanely handsome music and movie star whose engagement to a dark-haired non-celeb resulted in a pile of headlines and a pile of broken hearts. Chances are the news made your mom grab a box of Kleenex and excuse herself from the dinner table... and no, we're not talking aboutGeorge Clooney.
We slide back to May 1, 1967Elvis Presleymarried 21 years oldPriscilla Ann Beaulieu. At the time, the 32-year-old king – still years away from wearing a rhinestone jumpsuit – was the world's most profitable entertainer, starring in as many as three films a year and singing his way through their soundtracks. The couple first met eight years earlier when he was stationed in Germany with the Army and she lived on a military base with her father, an Air Force captain. The two started seeing each other ("It was a very innocent time",she said later, because she knows what you're thinking. "We still had morals, very high standards.") and Presley proposed a three-carat diamond in December 1966.
Here are 10 things you might not know about Elvis, Priscilla and their $22,000 wedding cake.
1. This was the first marriage for both of them (and the only time Elvis exchanged rings and "I do's").
Although Elvis, as a 13-year-old, completed and wrote a marriage certificate in the name of his then girlfriend Magdalene Morgan. He hurriedly wrote both their names in September 1948, the day he and his family moved from Tupelo, Miss., to Memphis. Morgan didn't see the license until decades later. 'In those days it was very serious if you held hands'she saidof her teenage romance. “And we held hands a lot.”
2. The wedding was held in a private suite at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, a civil ceremony hosted by Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
The best men were Marty Lacker and Joe Esposito, two members of the Memphis Mafia, Elvis' ever-present entourage, and the bridesmaid was Priscilla's sister Michelle Beaulieu. Elvis reportedly requested that the word "obey" be removed from their otherwise traditional wedding vows. The ceremony lasted eight minutes, which is long enough to play 'Heartbreak Hotel' four times in a row.
3a. It is no longer possible to recreate Elvis' wedding day.
You can't even take a selfie in the same room: the Aladdin Hotel was destroyed in 1998. That is possiblewatch the recordingsof the imploding building and think of it as some kind of metaphor for modern relationships, or you can just say "Whooo!" call. as it collapses onto your computer screen.
3b. It's not surprising that you can still get marrieddoorElvis in Las Vegas.
Graceland Wedding Chapeloffers a rangewedding packages where the bride-to-be can choose whether she prefers to be escorted down the aisle by "Gold Lamé Elvis", "Black Leather Elvis" or "Jumpsuit Elvis". (Come on. It's learning Elvis. It's ALWAYS learning Elvis.)
4. Elvis didn't even wear a suit to his own wedding.
He opted for 'a black brocade silk tuxedo and western boots'according toofLas Vegas zon. Priscilla designed her own beaded chiffon dress, which was “trimmed with seed pearls.” She gazed at her new husband from beneath a three-foot-wide veil that was "secured with a crown of rhinestones."
5. The only celebrity on the guest list was comedian Redd Foxx.
“It's the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said of the ceremony.
6. The couple's six-tier wedding cake reportedly cost $3,200 ($22,000 in today's dollars), which was more than the price tag of an average Chevrolet in 1967.
“The cake itself was a yellow sponge cake,” said the pastry chef at the Aladdin HotelDenis Martig remembered. “Each layer was filled twice with apricot jam and a Bavarian kirsch [liqueur] flavored cream…glazed with fondant icing and decorated with royal icing and marzipan roses.” Okay, it probably tasted better than a Chevelle.
Since the ceremony took place at 9 a.m., the reception also included an amazing $10,000 breakfast buffet, complete with roast piglet, oysters Rockefeller, lobster, champagne... and Southern fried chicken.
7. The couple's first dance was to "Love Me Tender."
That might be the most adorable, self-indulgent thing ever.
8. They honeymooned for a month in a rented house in Palm Springs, a property that has since been converted into an Elvis museum (because of course it is)..
Currently the home has five bedrooms and five bathroomsFor sale, for the low, low price of $9.5 million.
9. Their only child, daughterLisa Marie, was born EXACTLY nine months after their wedding day, on February 1, 1968.
10. Years later, Elvis and Priscilla renewed their vows in Hawaii in a ceremony that was almost a scene-by-scene recreation of the wedding in his filmBlue Hawaii.
However, none of the promises were fulfilled. They divorced in 1973.
