Las Vegas Grand Prix: Come for the race, stay to get married by Elvis

Formula One fans who want to tie the knot or renew their vows at the Las Vegas Grand Prix can do just that, with an Elvis impersonator officiating the nuptials.

A bright pink F1 Neon Chapel is located in the garage area just behind the F1 pit building where couples who want to get married or renew their vows can do so by signing up for a time with the attendant at the entrance. Making the occasion an even quirkier affair is the ceremony area’s full-size pink Cadillac made entirely of Lego.

The first couple to have a ceremony for the weekend, Tim and Olivia Wooten, from London, England, did so on Thursday afternoon.

The Wootens didn’t come to the race planning to renew their vows, but when they saw the vibrant space, they acted on instinct.

“It was spontaneous, our friends are here with us and they had the idea first,” Tim Wooten said.

Olivia Wooten said after six years of marriage and two kids later, there was no better place to renew their vows than in Sin City.

Having Elvis presiding over their ceremony made it an only in Las Vegas experience for the couple.

“It was a bucket list item in Vegas to renew our vows,” said Olivia Wooten, who was visiting Las Vegas for her first time. “It had Vegas written all over it.”

Paddock Club

For F1 fans who aren’t looking to get hitched but want the highest caliber experience during the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the various spaces of the Paddock Club are the way to go.

The spaces are spread out on levels two, three and the roof of the F1 Pit Building, with the drivers’ and race officials’ garages taking up the ground level of the 300,000-square foot building that stretches the length of three football fields.

Tickets to the Paddock Club started at $1,650 for a single-day ticket for Thursday, with three-day passes beginning at $12,370. The tickets include all-inclusive premium food, beer, wine and spirits, a pit lane walk and paddock tour, transportation to and from the paddock club, views over the starting grid and pit lane and access to the Heineken stage where live entertainment and driver interviews occur.

Guests are greeted on the ground level on the south end of the building to a champagne garden, which includes a Moet centerpiece that looks like a bottle of the high-end champagne is floating above a pyramid of glasses, pouring into them.

Merch collabs

Near the champagne garden is a retail zone, where F1 branded gear, including Paddock Club specific items are available. This year F1 partnered with several companies on merch collaborations including Malbon Golf, Hello Kitty, the Vegas Golden Knights, Peanuts and for the first time, Disney.

Bobby Kim, vice president of creative, consumer products for Disney, said they were excited to merge three distinct brands — Las Vegas, F1 and Disney — for their merchandise offerings.

“Vegas being near to the West Coast, there’s such a streetwear vibe and we wanted to lean into that,” Kim said Thursday. “Lots of printables, T-shirts, hoodies that we want to be palatable across different generations. There’s some little nuances to the Las Vegas track, it looks like an upside-down cow, as everyone knows, but how do we play with it so it becomes a design element? We played it across the sleeves, we played it across the chest, so it looks like a cool graphic design on a sweatshirt that anyone could wear.”

The end of the rooftop, taking up about 60 percent of the space, is the Trackside Tavern. The space features gourmet food options in an upscale tavern-like hospitality space.

Inside the Paddock Club there are different spaces within each level, tied to either event sponsors.

The rooftop features a Puffy Cotton Candy space, where cotton candy is formed into the shape of an F1 driver’s helmet.

“We curated these exclusive F1 helmets that you can only get here at the Las Vegas Grand Prix,” said Puffy Cotton Candy co-founder Holland Curtis. “Every piece is edible and each piece is handcrafted, cut out and placed onto the helmet.”

Further down is a Heineken circle bar, with bartenders aimed at providing the perfect five-point pour to guests of the space.

Then there are elements of Grand Prix Plaza, the interactive space that operates out of the pit building year-round when the race isn’t occurring. That includes 17 race simulators and a pit wall where fans can listen to live audio from the track, chooseable by team and a pit stop challenge.

Grand Prix Plaza will reopen to the public on Jan. 30.

Wynn Field Club

One of the featured spaces within the Paddock Club is the Wynn Grid Club, located on the very south end of the building on the second floor. Tickets to the Wynn-branded space, one of the most-exclusive hospitality zones on the circuit, is $20,000 before fees.

The space features an upscale interior and an outdoor terrace that wraps around the corner of the building, with views of Turns 1 and 2. Guests have access to all-inclusive premium food, beer, wine and spirits and get exclusive F1 experiences including meet-and-greets with F1 legends, a pit lane walk, a truck tour and a photo safari. Wynn Grid Club ticket holders also receive direct contact to opt into VIP services at Wynn Las Vegas.

The truck tour transports group on a large flatbed truck across the Las Vegas Grand Prix circuit for a lap. Passing by all of the landmarks along the way including Sphere, the under-construction guitar at the soon to be Hard Rock Las Vegas hotel and the Bellagio Fountain Club.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.