Sunday, January 04, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

NORM: Surprise! Britney ties the knot

Above is the Spears-Alexander Affidavit of Application for Marriage License. Click the image for an enlargement.

Pop singing superstar Britney Spears was married to childhood friend Jason Alexander at 5 a.m. Saturday in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has learned.

Rumors were flying late Saturday that the surprise wedding at the Little White Wedding Chapel, 1301 Las Vegas Blvd. South, was in the process of being annulled. There were numerous reports that a bellman from the Palms walked Spears down the aisle.

Documents filed Saturday with the Clark County marriage bureau showed that Spears, 22, of Kentwood, La., and Jason Allen Alexander, 22, also of Kentwood, were granted a marriage license. It is the first marriage for each.

Asked to confirm that the ceremony occurred, a woman at the front desk of the Little White Wedding Chapel politely said she "can't say anything about it." She then zipped her lips.

Spears, in Las Vegas to celebrate New Year's Eve while staying in the "Real World" suite at the Palms, was seen dining at N9NE, the Palms' steakhouse, on Saturday night with Alexander, her brother Brian, manager Larry Rudolph, Palms owner George Maloof and friends.

The shocking development, first reported on the Review-Journal Web site at 7:17 p.m. Saturday, unfolded a day after reports that Spears was seen being carried out of Rain, the Palms' nightclub, on New Year's Eve.

The New York Daily News had Spears swilling the bubbly for four hours at N9NE before going upstairs to ghostbar after midnight.

I was on the ghostbar's observatory deck at 11:15 p.m. when Spears and her entourage arrived and stood 2 feet away. She showed no signs of being snockered. She danced on the glass floor area, chain-smoked and chatted with friends.

Maloof acknowledged that Spears partied at Rain later but was more tired than tipsy, after a 10-hour flight from the Caribbean.

Spears was back at Rain on Thursday night in a VIP booth and had the crowd buzzing about her behavior when she was spotted kissing one of her female dancers -- smooches that made her infamous Madonna liplock look tame.

Spears, who broke up with pop singer Justin Timblerlake in early 2002, joins a long list of celebrities who got hitched in Las Vegas, most notable among them, Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu at the Aladdin in 1967. Also married at the Little White Wedding Chapel were Demi Moore and Bruce Willis in 1987 and Michael Jordan and Juanita Vanoy in 1988.

Wild week

It was a wedding chapel owner's dream: Walking through the door at the Las Vegas Boulevard chapel were Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.

And they weren't impersonators.

Gus Gallo, owner of the Wedding Bells Chapel, across from the Stardust, immediately knew what was going on last Tuesday.

"My friend from Boston knows Ben and brought 'em over to help me get some business. They looked around, and they left right away," said Gallo.

That's the same chapel where Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock showed up two years ago with drinks in hands and made extensive inquiries about a quickie ceremony.

The Punch Line

"Dogs come when they're called; cats take a message and get back to you later." -- Mary Bly

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal-com.