A Look Back At Elvis And Priscilla's Lavish Wedding: From The Proposal To The Cake

Jan 18, 2021

On May 1, 1967, Elvis Presley wed his longtime sweetheart, Priscilla Ann Beaulieu, at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Naturally, the secret nuptials were as extravagant and unorthodox as The King of Rock and Roll himself. And while the marriage might not have lasted, Elvis and Priscilla Presley remain to this day one of the most iconic couples in show business.

Elvis met Priscilla in the 1950s while serving the US Army in Germany. Then 24 years old, the legendary singer befriended Priscilla's father, Paul Beaulieu, who worked on the same base as an Air Force officer. Then barely a teenager, Priscilla had been invited by another officer to attend a party where Elvis would be performing. "My father said, 'Absolutely not!' My mother said, 'I won't let you walk across the street to see Elvis Presley!'" Priscilla recalled in a 2017 interview with Closer Weekly. "I knew this was going to be a battle."

After much persuasion, Priscilla's parents finally agreed to allow her to attend the party. 

"It was all very proper," she said of that fateful evening. "He was sitting in a chair with one leg over it and he looks over the back and said, 'Well, who do we have here?'" 

The two instantly hit it off, and Elvis was adamant about meeting Priscilla again. However, her parents were not as keen. "My father interrogated me," Priscilla revealed. "He wanted to know, 'What happened the first night? Why does he want to see you again?'" 

In an attempt to woo Mr. Beaulieu, Elvis showed up at their home in full uniform to ask for permission to court his daughter. 

"He came absolutely decked out in white gloves, hat, everything!" Priscilla said. "Already he won my father over! They talked for an hour and a half."

From then on, Priscilla and Elvis would spend much time together on the base until his ultimate departure in 1960. Although the two remained in contact after Elvis' return to the US, Priscilla was convinced their relationship was over. However, that all changed when Elvis invited her to move in with him to Graceland, Tenessee, less than three years later.

In Graceland, Priscilla and Elvis worked hard to keep their relationship under wraps. She explained his powerful manager, Colonel Tom Parker, "didn't really want Elvis [to have] a steady girlfriend," as it would supposedly lead to Elvis' fans abandoning him. For seven years, the lovebirds would use code names for one another and avoid ever being photographed together. "He knocked and gave me his code name: Fire Eyes. When he got angry his eyes would look like fire," Priscilla recalled. "But [that night] he was in a good mood." 

That night, the singer got down on one knee and, according to Priscilla, said:"  'Remember when I told you when the time was right we'd get married? Well, the time is right.' It was just before I was 21." Elvis proposed to Priscilla in December 1966 with a stunning three-and-a-half carat diamond ring surrounded by 20 smaller detachable stones. 

The next couple of months would see the pair undertake the impossible task of planning their wedding in secret. They even had to sneak out of their hotel at 3 am to obtain a marriage license. She recalled they were both "very nervous." 

"I didn't want anyone to know about [the wedding] until after the fact," Priscilla said.

According to Vogue, Frank Sinatra lent his private jet to the happy couple to ensure they arrived in secret. In the meantime, the wedding party was snuck into the Las Vegas hotel from the back door. 

On May 1, 1967, Priscilla and Elvis wed in an intimate wedding surrounded by their friends and family at the Las Vegas' Aladdin Hotel. A press conference followed, in which Elvis' manager organized an official press release before the guests went on for a champagne breakfast reception.

Elvis and Priscilla were married by a Las Vegas judge in an eight-minute ceremony. Priscilla donned a gown with lace sleeves and delicate pearl embellishments, her black hair accented with a jeweled tiara and three-foot-long veil.

Elvis styled his iconic pompadour with the help of a wire and wore a gleaming platinum and diamond watch to match his sapphire and diamond cuff links. He completed his look with a pair of cowboy boots. Priscilla and Elvis recited traditional wedding vows with one minor alteration: The King insisted that the word "obey" be omitted from the vows.

News of the couple's nuptials quickly spread across the globe. Shortly after the wedding announcement, rumors began to swirl. Many believed that Priscilla's parents had threatened to have Elvis arrested for dating Priscilla when she was a minor if he didn't marry their daughter. 

In a 1998 biography of Elvis's life, Down at the End of Lonely Street: The Life and Death of Elvis Presley, Elvis's personal chef revealed that the King came to her in tears before the wedding. The chef claims that Elvis didn't want to get married but felt he had no other choice.

The Presley wedding may have been small, but no cost was spared when it came to the reception. Guests enjoyed an opulent champagne brunch and $10,000 worth of lobster, roasted pig, oysters Rockefeller, and Southern-style fried chicken.

The real showpiece of the reception was the wedding cake. According to Vogue, the six-tier cake stood five feet tall and, according to some accounts, donned a whopping 1,600 marzipan roses. It was a yellow sponge cake layered with a Bavarian cream and apricot marmalade filling and smothered in a cherry-flavored icing.

After the extravagant reception, the newlyweds boarded Frank Sinatra's private plane and jetted off to Palm Springs for their honeymoon. According to the Express, Elvis and Priscilla rented what was dubbed an architectural wonder at the time named "The House of Tomorrow," where they honeymooned for an entire year. 

The legendary abode dons five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a 40-foot sofa, a jacuzzi and was designed with a retro-futuristic style in mind. Years later, the house became available for short term rentals and featured day trip tour guides. According to the L.A. Times, a mystery buyer bought the house in December 2020 for an undisclosed amount, although it is said to have sold for over the $2.5 million asking price. 

Exactly nine months to the day after the Presley's wedding, their only daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, was born. Lisa Marie would go on to follow in her famous father's footsteps, releasing three albums that performed well on the Billboard 200 charts.

In a match made in musical heaven, the daughter of The King of Rock and Roll married The Prince of Pop, Michael Jackson. Unfortunately, the marriage didn't last. The couple divorced in 1996, two years after they tied the knot. Presley later told Oprah that she and Jackson remained close in the years following their divorce.

Priscilla Presley often referred to Elvis as "the love of her life," but not all marriages are built to last. The couple separated on February 23, 1972, and Elvis filed for divorce on January 8, 1973, his 38th birthday.

Priscilla married young, and she missed out on her teen years. It was difficult concentrating on school and prom when she was dating one of the biggest stars in the world. She later admitted that being married to Elvis was exhausting, and she wanted to experience the world. Elvis and Priscilla shared custody of Lisa Marie and remained friends after the divorce.

Elvis Presley died of a heart attack on August 16, 1977. He was only 42 years old. As the world mourned the loss of a musical icon, Priscilla Presley grieved for her first love. She later told reporters that she wanted to die when she heard the news. Priscilla has worked tirelessly over the years to ensure that Elvis's legacy lives on. 

Are you an Elvis Presley fan? What did you think of his relationship with Priscilla Presley? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Feel free to pass this story on to the Elvis Presley fanatics in your life!