Priscilla Presley welcomes Elvis fans to candlelight vigil at Graceland
Priscilla Presley greeted Elvis fans who attended the candlelight vigil at Graceland in Memphis as part of the 45th annual Elvis Week celebration.
Ray Padilla, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu were married on May 1, 1967, at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, “in the private second-floor suite of Milton Prell, the Aladdin’s principal owner and longtime friend of Elvis’ manager, Col. Tom Parker,” reported The Commercial Appeal.
“It took only eight minutes for Nevada Supreme Court Justice David Zenoff, a short (5’7”), distinguished-looking man, to marry them.
“The couple promised to ‘love, honor, cherish and comfort’. The word ‘obey’ was not used.”
There were 14 guests present. The “best men” were Elvis’ friends Joe Esposito and Marty Lacker. The maid of honor was Priscilla’s sister Michelle Beaulieu.
“Elvis wore a formal brocade suit with a vest,” the newspaper continued. “The bride wore a semi-fitted, floor-length gown of white chiffon over satin with seed pearls and glass beading on the bodice. The gown had a six-foot train and she wore a double-row rhinestone crown with a full illusion veil. She carried pink rosebuds on a white Bible given to her by Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Presley.” (Mrs. Presley in this case was Dee Presley, the second wife of Elvis’ father Vernon; Elvis’ mother Gladys had died nine years earlier.)
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Elvis and Priscilla met in 1959 in West Germany, where Elvis was stationed after being drafted; he was 24, she was 14. Priscilla (born Priscilla Ann Wagner) was there because her stepfather, Air Force officer Paul Beaulieu, was also deployed in Germany. (Her biological father, James Frederick Wagner, a U.S. Navy pilot, was killed in a plane crash when Priscilla was less than 6 months old.)
Elvis and Priscilla divorced in 1973. Priscilla, now 79, never remarried.
On their wedding day, Elvis was 32 and Priscilla was 21.
