The Las Vegas Sun reported 4,900 of the office's 122,259 licenses in 2005 were issued on the graveyard shift.

Okay, that's 5,000 people... but with a tad of planning its manageable. Its just not convenient or fun. And it will put a crimp on certain clientele who are creatures of the night.

My friend Charolette Richards of The Little White Chapel, who I adore and respect, is the Grand Dame of Las Vegas weddings, the "Wedding Queen of the West". She is upset, and with good reason. (www.alittlewhitechapel.com).

Her little chapel is one of the most happening on the strip. It rocks around the clock. She does a lot of celebrity weddings and she says they like to come out in the middle of the night to get hitched.

That's when Demi Moore and Bruce Willis knocked on the door in 1989 (actually, I think Charolette got a call from Steve Wynn and was whisked to their hotel to marry them).

And that is when, as we all know, Ms. B Spears made her ill-fated attempt to become Mrs. Jason Alexander.

She says it is not just the celebrity thing though. Many people like to come to Charolette's chapel in the wee hours. She always had limos standing by to run brides and grooms to the court house and back at any hour.

Military people are also fans of late night nuptials, as many have to rush back to help and protect our country.

Charolette is the creator of the 24 hour wedding window, a.k.a Tunnel of Love, which she says sees a lot of action after midnight.

As someone who has helped invent the Las Vegas wedding industry, and who has nurtured it along for decades, I understand her concern. It changes the Las Vegas wedding industry as we know it. It just does.

The loss of those 17 middle-of-the-night hours on weekends presses potential brides and grooms, and chapel owners, to plan more.

It takes away the spontaneity.

It reduces the edginess of getting married in Las Vegas -- the image that you can be out partying with friends and stroll over to a chapel and simply get married.

It robs us of the fantasy of coming to Las Vegas, finding true love at 2 am and getting married by 2:10 am.

But you can still stroll over the the marriage bureau after a late dinner and get a marriage license!

As someone who marries people in New York all the time, I am used to a clerk's offices that open ay 8:30 am, close at 4:30 pm, and are closed on weekends and holidays. Then you have to have a license in hand for 24 hours before performing the ceremony. To me, being able to get a license at 11 pm at night is an unbelievable blessing.

My friend Shelley Ackerman, an amazing astrologer who was on the cover of the Wall Street Journal this week addressing the other most recent controversy -- the decision to demote Pluto from it's status of Planet -- commented: "While the new Vegas law prohibiting weddings in the middle of the night could prevent the disaster of some impulsive lovers, it certainly limits the options of a better wedding chart for others. Astrologers go crazy trying to find the perfect moment and the perfect chart for a long-lasting happy and healthy union.I myself am guilty of recommending at 2 or 3 AM wedding to a client or two.I think the new law is as misguided as last week's I.A.U. ruling on small but mighty Pluto."

She thinks, like Pluto, extended hours will be "the comeback kid."

Okay then... perhaps the weekend wedding warriors will win and the graveyard shift will be revived. It certainly has caused a big stir.

Meanwhile, remember, you can still get a wedding license up until midnight, any night, in Las Vegas, a city that, regardless of this new development, never sleeps.

Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway is an interfaith and non-denominational wedding officiant and columnist. She creates unique ceremonies for couples of all backgrounds and faiths, and is also widely recognized as a bridal stress expert. She is author of WEDDING GODDESS: A Divine Guide To Transforming Wedding Stress into Wedding Bliss (Perigee Books, May 2005). Visit Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway at WeddingGoddess.com.