align="center">Las Vegas ends late-night wedding-license service

拉斯维加斯叫停午夜领证






LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Las Vegas bills(1) itself as "the wedding capital of the world," but late-night revelers(2) who decide they want to tie the knot(3) now must wait until morning.



The county's marriage-license office(4), as of Wednesday, will be closed between midnight and 8 a.m., when much of Las Vegas is still very much alive.



"It's one of the things Vegas is known for -- you can gamble, get drunk and get married all in the middle of the night," said Jay DeLeon, manager of the Graceland Wedding Chapel(5) -- where Elvis(6) impersonators(7) make special nuptial(8) appearances.



Probably the best known late-night marriage seeker was pop star Britney Spears, who shocked the world in 2004 when she married a childhood friend just before sunrise in Las Vegas.



People can still get married around the clock(9) at one of the city's few all-night wedding chapels; it will just take a bit more planning to obtain the $55 license, said Cheryl Vernon, who supervises the marriage-services office.



Vernon said the new office hours were not the result of a push to curb(10) irresponsible life decisions, but simply because too few early-morning customers -- about 15-30 people -- came in to justify in a late-night shift. About 300 to 500 people seek licenses on a normal shift, she said.



Last year the office issued 122,259 marriage licenses.



Vernon said most late-night license seekers have been jet-lagged(11) travelers lugging suitcases and trying to avoid daytime lines, rather than spontaneous celebrants(12). Still, there were notable exceptions like Britney.







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拉斯维加斯（路透社）拉斯维加斯以"世界结婚之都"自居，但想在半夜喜结良缘的狂欢者只好等到天亮了。



从下周三起，拉斯维加斯婚姻登记处将从午夜到早上8点之间取消办公，尽管在这段时间里大部分不夜城仍然热闹非凡。



"这是拉斯维加斯之所以著名的特色之一 你可以在半夜赌博，豪饮以及结婚,""幽雅之地"结婚礼堂的经理杰伊.德利恩说。在这个礼堂举行的婚礼上会有扮作猫王的特型演员露面助兴。



流行巨星小甜甜布兰妮.斯皮尔斯可能是最著名的喜欢午夜婚礼的人。她2004年的惊世之举就是在太阳升起之前在拉斯维加斯与自己的青梅竹马完婚。



人们还是能在全天的任何时候到拉城的几个整夜开放的结婚礼堂中完婚。只是他们需要多盘算一下如何获得这个收费55美圆的结婚证书，负责监管婚姻登记处工作的谢丽尔.弗农说。



弗农说新的办公时间不是他们推动减少不负责任的结婚决定的举措，而只是因为没有多少人 也就有差不多15-30人 为赶在凌晨结婚才在午夜过来办理结婚证明。大约300到500人都是在正常工作时间领证，她说。



去年拉斯维加斯婚姻登记处颁发了122259份结婚证书。



弗农说大多数半夜领证的人是遭遇飞机晚点可又不想在白天排长队的拖着行李的旅游者，而不是自然而然的午夜婚礼爱好者。尽管如此，还是有象小甜甜布兰妮那样引人注目的例外。



中国国际广播电台 译



1. bill 用海报宣传



2. reveler 饮酒狂欢者



3. tie the knot 打结，喜结良缘



4. marriage-license office结婚登记处



5. chapel 小礼拜堂



6. Elvis 猫王



7. impersonator 模拟（名人等的）艺人



8. nuptial 婚礼的，婚姻的



9. around the clock 全天候



10. curb 遏制



11. jet-lagged 飞机晚点的



12. celebrant 颂扬者






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