The CIA spent decades denying Area 51 existed. Then in 2013, they finally admitted what Soviet satellites had been photographing since the 1960s – the base was real. By that point, thousands of people had already visited the perimeter, taken photos and turned the surrounding desert into a pilgrimage site for anyone obsessed with government secrets and extraterrestrial possibilities…
Now you can get married there!
Well, not inside the base. That would require security clearance levels that don’t exist for civilians. But you can absolutely exchange vows within sight of the warning signs promising deadly force, surrounded by the same desert landscape that’s fuelled conspiracy theories for generations.
Read on to find out more about Area 51 – and even book your own ‘out of this world’ wedding below…!
The Town With More Daily Tourists Than Residents
Rachel, Nevada sits roughly 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Population: 48 people as of the 2020 census. Most live in mobile homes scattered across harsh desert terrain where temperatures soar in summer and drop sharply at night.
The Little A’Le’Inn – yes, that’s the actual spelling, estimates they receive between 100 and 500 visitors daily during summer months. That means on any given day, the tourist count can be ten times the town’s entire population. Half of those visitors make their way to the base entrance gate. Some just want photos. Others want to test how close they can get before security appears.
And some, want to get married…!
When UFO Sightings Were Actually Spy Planes
Here’s what actually happened at Area 51 – as far as we know…
The U-2 spy plane programme needed somewhere remote to test aircraft that flew above 60,000 feet – far higher than commercial planes of that era. Officials nicknamed the location “Paradise Ranch” to make the harsh desert posting sound appealing to workers.
The marketing didn’t match reality…
But those high-altitude test flights? They appeared otherworldly to anyone watching from below. Radical aircraft designssoaring through Nevada skies prompted a rash of UFO sighting reports throughout the region. The government stayed silent. Decades of speculation followed.
By the time the CIA acknowledged the base’s existence, the mythology had already cemented itself into American culture. Area 51 had become shorthand for government secrecy, alien encounters and the possibility that something strange was happening in the desert.
The Accidental Photography Incident
In 1974, Skylab astronauts inadvertently photographed Area 51 from orbit.
The images were immediately removed from film rolls and stored in a vault. But here’s the thing – the photograph eventually ended up in NASA’s public collection anyway. Nobody noticed for years.
The intelligence community lost that particular argument with transparency.
Storm Area 51: When Internet Jokes Become Real Events
A 21-year-old college student named Matty Roberts created a Facebook event in 2019 as a joke.
“Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us.”
More than 3 million people joined the event. Lincoln County Sheriff estimated that over 2,000 people actually showed up to Rachel – a town with fewer than 60 permanent residents.
The infrastructure couldn’t handle it. The tiny community was completely overwhelmed by alien enthusiasts who’d taken an internet meme seriously enough to drive into the Nevada desert.
What You Actually Get With An Area 51 Wedding Package
The Area 51 Alien Wedding Ceremony takes place in an immersive chapel in sunny Las Vegas, just down the road (relatively) from Area 51. The chapel features wall-to-wall themed HD video and soundscapes.
You’re transported into the “top-secret world” of Area 51 through technology rather than actual extraterrestrial intervention. No actual aliens required.
Some couples go further. Verified TripAdvisor reviews confirm people genuinely exchange vows at the Area 51 gate itself – within sight of those warning signs, on the Extraterrestrial Highway, with the Little A’Le’Inn as their backdrop.
One review states plainly: “My wife and I were married at the gate of Area 51 on our second visit.”
The Bizarre Reality of Desert Weddings
KFC once built a massive company logo at the north edge of Rachel in 2006.
They claimed it was the first logo visible from space. It took six days to assemble 65,000 coloured tiles across 87,500 square feet of flat desert terrain. The logo featured an impostor colonel holding a sign reading “Finger Lickin’ Good.”
Sadly it was removed in mid-2007 and so can no longer feature in any alien-based nuptials in the Area!
Why People Choose This
Ok, so you’re not getting married by aliens. But you are getting married in a location that represents decades of government secrecy, public speculation and cultural mythology…
The appeal isn’t the literal promise of extraterrestrial involvement. It’s the symbolic weight of choosing a site that’s become synonymous with the unknown. Plus, it makes for an absolutely insane marriage story.
How many people can say they exchanged vows within sight of the most famous classified military installation in America? How many wedding photos include warning signs about restricted airspace and authorised use of deadly force?
The answer: not many.
Book Your Extraterrestrial Experience
If you want a wedding that’s genuinely different – not just “beach ceremony instead of church” different, but “we got married near a classified military base in the Nevada desert” different – this is how you do it…
The Area 51 Alien Wedding Ceremony packages below let you book it. Show up. Exchange vows and have some out of this world wedding pics!
Just don’t expect actual aliens to attend…
