Celebrity Gossip From Las Vegas With Robin Leach | Luxe Life Digest

First, my pal, Los Angeles Ch 9 TV financial reporter Alan Mendelsohn married his lady love Shelley in the Caesars Palace craps pit (left). Casino executives had to get special permission for the unique wedding location. After the Rabbi pronounced them man and wife, and the Jewish tradition of shattering a wineglass, the hushed casino went from disbelief to rousing cheers.

"The casino came to a halt while we exchanged our vows," Alan told me. "It had never happened before. We’d originally talked about getting married by the video-poker machine where I hit the jackpot and bought her engagement ring to celebrate. We decided on the craps table, so we would be lucky in love and lucky at the table. So right after the marriage we played for an hour by ourselves, and Shelley got the nine point -- that’s a good number for us, and not just because I’m at Channel 9 in LA. She won, I won -- so the first hands out of the marriage are a very good omen for us."

Hours later at the Four Seasons, it was an elaborate and memorable $1 million celebration when Vegas residents Victor and Lana Fuchs (right) reaffirmed their 14-year-old marriage vows at the same time as their son's bar mitzvah celebration. The re-wedding was filmed for the Womens Entertainment network series 'Ultimate Weddings,' which will broadcast it in July. The hotel’s ballroom was transformed into a Russian winter palace, complete with an authentic twelve-course Russian feast, accompanied by never-ending champagne and vodka, plus my favorite: tons of caviar!

Lana, who owns the House of Isis fashion company, designed her own one-of-a-kind wedding gown. She told me: "It was a long, hard journey to get where we got to, and we wanted to share our success in one never-to-be-forgotten celebration with our family and friends." Over ten thousand red roses were used as centerpieces, with military models standing atop the long banquet tables (see below/left). Singers, dancers and musicians from all over the world entertained the 400 guests nonstop past midnight. And just when you thought there could be no more expense spared, each lady attending was given a miniature Faberge egg gold necklace to remember the extravaganza. Now that’s rich and famous...

Well the NASCAR racers and fans have pulled out of town to head for next weekend’s festivities in Atlanta, but you can still meet up with track titans Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Sr. Jeff, who hugged me during Sunday’s driver introductions, is known as the "Rainbow Warrior," and now has a permanent home in Vegas. He’s become only the second auto racing star to be immortalized in the Madame Tussaud’s Las Vegas SPEED attraction. His life-size figure was meticulously recreated at a cost of $200,000, complete with driver's uniform. Chris Powell, general manager of LV Motor Speedway, joined Adrian Jones, general manager of Madame Tussaud's to unveil him into SPEED’s Victory Lane, right alongside the legendary "Intimidator," the late Dale Earnhardt Sr., who christened the SPEED attraction last August. The figure of Earnhardt (right) stands in the Victory Lane setting with arms raised in triumph, just as he did 76 times in his NASCAR career before the tragic final lap of the 43rd Daytona 500 in February 2001.

Jeff Gordon, who is a four-time NASCAR champion and three-time Daytona 500 winner with 73 overall victories, commented: "It's an honor to be alongside Dale. To be recognized in this manner, joining the likes of Tiger, Shaq, Bob Hope and Paul Newman, just shows the growth and popularity of NASCAR today." Powell added: "Jeff consistently has been voted one of the most popular sportsmen in America today." Like all Madame Tussaud's attractions here, Gordon’s figure is interactive -- fans and visitors can stand next to it for photographs while experiencing the sights and sounds of NASCAR. The first on hand was Gordon's #1 fan, Garrett Eckelhoff of Mill Valley, California (above left with "Jeff"), who grabbed bragging rights on "first photo." As promised previously, we'll have more pix and print from the NASCAR weekend for you on Friday...

Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones have a food secret, which I discovered before they went on stage at their recent MGM Grand concert here. It has to do with a near-50-year friendship between Mick and former Atlantic Records president Jerry Greenberg (to the right of Mick, wearing tie, in this vintage '70s pic, with Bob Greenberg, left). Today, although retired, Jerry owns the world-famous Rainbow Bar and Grill in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, which has become a legendary hangout for music stars. Mick checked in by phone on arrival, and Jerry invited the Stones over for dinner after their concert. But instead, Jerry had to take dinner to them, because they had to fly out immediately after the show. Mick ordered four pizzas -- one vegetarian, one cheese, one pepperoni and one with everything possible loaded onto it! Jerry (left) delivered the pizzas personally to their dressing room, and they scarfed them down before going on stage. So now we know how Mick gets all that energy for his 90-minutes of nonstop strutting on stage.