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Wedding tourism industry booms on Valentine's weekend

Posted at 7:21 PM, Feb 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-11 22:21:02-05

Dozens of couples made their way to Las Vegas this weekend to tie the knot ahead of Valentine's Day.

"We wanted to be cheesy and get married on Valentine's," said Ann Mitchell who traveled to Las Vegas from Dallas with her fiancée Austin Hodges.

Ann and Austin also brought around 30 guests with them to Las Vegas. The money generated by "wedding tourists" like them amounted to $2 billion during 2016.

"About 80% of our couples are tourists, and we do about 8,000 weddings a year, so it's a pretty significant amount," said Aimee Stephens, marketing director for Vegas Weddings.

The Clark County Clerk's Office is also expecting to see a boost in visitors in the days leading up to Valentine's day. Couples can beat the lines by completing a marriage license pre-application at www.mlic.vegas.