Presley banning all Elvises from the Elvis chapel

LAS VEGAS — The King will not appear at Elvis Presley’s Graceland Wedding Chapel that is coming soon to Las Vegas — exactly how Priscilla Presley wants it.

The woman who wed Elvis in Sin City in 1967 made one thing clear before unveiling the latest wedding chapel to bear his name: No Elvis impersonators. (Or Elvis tribute artists, as they prefer to be called.)

Priscilla Presley knows some might prefer a jumpsuit-wearing, sideburn-donning wedding official with a bit of swivel to his hips. But she says such a move would only cheapen the place.

“This is all first-class,” she says. “This is not a joke. The wedding chapel is not a joke.”

She has been involved in the look and feel of the chapel that officials say is part of the first permanent exhibit of Elvis artifacts outside Graceland, the singer’s iconic home in Memphis, Tenn.

And a reflection of the Memphis landmark will be the backdrop for the chapel, with couples seemingly saying “I do” on the home’s front steps.

Authenticity is what this new chapel offers, she said, and more than anything, she seems keen on ridding the world, and Las Vegas, of the often over-the-top, tacky image of her late ex-husband.

“Elvis had a lot of dignity. Elvis had a lot of class,” she said. “He was a beautiful specimen of a man.”

Graceland Presents ELVIS: The Exhibition — The Show — The Experience, including the chapel, opens April 23 at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino, the same property where Elvis performed several hundred soldout shows between 1969 and 1976, when it was known as the International Hotel and later the Las Vegas Hilton.