Sign up for our free newsletter:

Image courtesy of the Little White Wedding Chapel

Las Vegas is no place for a single Christian woman. Then again, you probably haven't met Charolette Richards—minister, entrepreneur, and survivor.

Now in her 60s, she is attractive, smartly dressed in black, and more excited than ever to tell visitors about her life's adventures. It's hard to believe this savvy woman with the big auburn hair was once a victim, abandoned by her husband with her three baby boys on a Vegas street corner 45 years ago.

Charolette Richards owns and operates The Little White Wedding Chapel, the busiest nuptials service in Las Vegas. And that's no small brag, considering there are more than 40 commercial altars in the Neon City.

But more than a scrappy entrepreneur, Charolette is a Christian who lives to put her faith in action. "I believe in helping others," she says. In addition to numerous church activities, she works with a variety of programs to assist the needy. Not surprisingly, she has a special burden for women and children who have been abused and neglected. "I love to share my testimony of what God's love can do when you reach out to others," she says.

The Little White Wedding Chapel is the place where Britney Spears briefly tied the knot (the first time). Before Britney, Michael Jordan wed there, and before him Wayne Newton. Joan Collins also exchanged vows at Charolette's altar. The list of stars goes all the way back to Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra. Charolette never knows who will walk through the double-glass doors.

The chapel performs as many as 3,600 weddings a year—in two chapel rooms, under an outdoor gazebo, in two lawn areas, and at the "Tunnel of Vows" drive-thru window, where trucks, motorcycles, and sunroofed cars roll up for a quick ceremony.

The chapel complex is located on Las Vegas Boulevard in a not-so-nice part of town, just down the street from the courthouse. There's a nude strip club across the street, and porno parlors, casinos, and hourly motels nearby.

	After the vows, Charolette often asks couples, "How about a brand new heart to go with your new beginning?"

Though it has expanded over time, the chapel has been a popular hitching post for more than 38 years. Charolette's staff of 60 keeps things humming, ushering the brides and grooms down the aisles and toward the altars.

As we sit in the main chapel, on a white wooden pew under a stained-glass window, Charolette's spirit of joy fills the ornate little sanctuary.

"I want you to know that this room was purchased in 1954 by Rev. Whitehead," she says with a light western drawl about the first owner of the chapel. "He and his wife prayed over this land. People walk in here and say there is something different about this room. There is. You are standing on holy ground when you get married right here."

Ninth flight to Oklahoma
Charolette did not always grasp the significance of that holiness. Four decades ago, after a long drive from Kentucky, Charolette's husband dropped her and her boys off on a street corner in Las Vegas and didn't come back. She checked into the Domino Motel, and she and the boys walked the streets for a few days or so, waiting for Daddy to return. Finally, someone noticed her daily treks and asked what she was doing. Her answer didn't impress him much. He was able to convince Charolette that her husband probably wasn't returning and offered her a job at the now-historic Little Church of the West Wedding Chapel.

Charolette Richards

The man was Merle Richards, whom she married three years later. Merle passed away in 1986, but his memory still causes a catch in Charolette's voice. "He became my knight in shining armor," she says wistfully. "We were married a long time. He was a terrible alcoholic, but I still loved him. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here today."

Charolette's first job at the Little Church of the West Wedding Chapel was to pick up the phone and call the minister when a couple walked in. She remembers that minister, the Rev. Thomas J. Daily. "A wonderful man," she says. "He taught me how to fill out the papers for the marriage license, take the couple's money, and spin the 78 RPM recording of the wedding march." She stayed at that chapel until Merle died. That's when she decided to buy the Little White Chapel property. But something even more life-changing happened to her before that.

One night in a cocktail bar, she refused a drink from a young band member named Jeremiah but invited him to have his palm read by her astrologer friend. Charolette asked the young man where he was from and what his mother and father did for a living.

"He said he was from Oklahoma, and then he hung his head and told me his father was a preacher and that he hadn't talked to him for three years."

Charolette chided Jeremiah to call his parents, but he said no. "I don't want them to know where I am or they will start praying for me," he said.

She squeezed a phone number out of Jeremiah and went to a pay phone outside the lounge. It was 1 A.M. in Las Vegas and 3 A.M. in Oklahoma. She got the father on the line and asked, "Are you Pastor Smith? I have your son Jeremiah here." All she heard next was, "Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!" They had been on their knees praying for their son. The next week, Charolette traveled with Jeremiah to Oklahoma, a 990-mile journey. She would go back nine more times.

Pastor Smith's church was having a revival. A revival is "like a big picnic with God," the old minister told Charolette. She loved the music, but she didn't have the kind of joy that the people at that meeting were expressing. And the pastor's words, fingering her sin, made her heart so heavy she got up and flew home before the service was over.

But returning to Las Vegas didn't help. Her heart was so convicted she got right back on an airplane. After her ninth flight to Oklahoma, she knew she had to do something.

The last night of the revival, she went down the aisle and committed herself to Christ. "I haven't been the same since," she says.

Back in Vegas, her husband told her she had lost her mind. "No," she replied to him. "I have just found it."

Merle died a few months later, and Charolette was devastated. But then she heard that the Little White chapel was for sale. With the help of some friends, she purchased Rev. Whitehead's holy ground.

New heart, new start
Pointing outside to Las Vegas Boulevard, with its bars and porno shops, Charolette says, "I've got the perfect street out there. There are enough lost people walking up and down that boulevard that you can lead someone to Jesus every minute."

Charolette's office overlooks the street, and she is not choosy about who she dashes out to "mug" for the Lord. "When I see a prostitute, I'll run out and get her. 'Come on in and have a cup of coffee. Let's talk about you and Jesus.'"

She admits that pimps and other shady people from Vegas's underbelly have threatened her at times. An ordained minister, she works with churches and other organizations to help rescue streetwalkers. She has also been a board member of Mispah House, a home for boys, and T.A.D.C. (Temporary Assistance for Domestic Crisis).

"I know how these women feel. I've been there." She gives me a long, serious stare and says, "I'd like to spend more time on the street with Jesus and the lost, but I have a business to run." So, instead, she shares Jesus with whomever is standing at the altar. She encourages her other ministers to do the same.

"Yesterday I led a couple that I married to the Lord," she recalls. "This couple was in their 40s or 50s, all dressed in Hawaiian clothes. I asked them if it was okay to pray for them. Then I said, 'Since today is your new start as husband and wife, how about a brand new heart to go with your brand new beginning?' I told them it would be easier for them to forgive each other later because the Savior was forgiving them now.'" She asks others, "How do you feel about having your heart cleansed today so you can have a brand new heart to give to each other?"

'Elvis won't marry you here'
I ask Charolette if she's ever had misgivings about the line of business that she's in. She smiles and tells me that, despite the Vegas glitz, she never takes a wedding lightly.

Sure, Charolette and her ministers will marry you in a car, on a motorcycle, or even on roller skates, but she always wants the couples to understand the gravity of what they are doing. "We will not marry an intoxicated couple, or people who seem unsure about it," she says. "Elvis does not marry anyone here either, though he may entertain them after the ceremony. I am a minister. I do my very best to serve God here."

She declines to talk about some of the short-lived celebrity nuptials that have taken place at her chapel, citing privacy issues. But she does admit, "It's very hard for celebrities to find and keep that moment of peace."

Still, she has seen God at work in The Little White Chapel, and she has no regrets. "What a privilege," she says, "to stand in the presence of a couple in love who want to make that sacred commitment to each other before God."

For more info, visit www.alittlewhitechapel.com.

DW Grant is an award-winning writer from Las Vegas.

	What did you think of this story?
	Please to give us your feedback.

Read more from 'Today's Culture'

Home  |  People of Faith  |  Stories of Hope  |  Today's Culture
Build Your Faith  |  Laughing Matters  |  Archives  |  Contact Us

				Try Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Order a gift subscription!

FREE Newsletter Subscribe to the Today's Christian Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help