Chapel Of Love At MOA Remains A Destination For Lovers
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- For more than 18 years the Wedding Chapel at Mall of America has found a way to keep couples coming in from all over the world to get hitched.
With more than 560 stores, only 60 have survived inside the Mall of America for more than 18 years.
Bloomingdales is the latest to call it quits, but the Wedding Chapel continues to stay strong. Changing with the times is just one way the business has been able to keep going during tough economic times.
Wedding Chapel owner Felicia Glass-Wilcox says she can't help but cry at weddings – even if those getting married are strangers to her.
She loves selling dresses but getting people married is what she does best. Almost 6,000 couples have gotten hitched inside the chapel. The key to success, she says, is giving people what they want at a good price.
"I like to present the best quality product for the least amount of money," Glass-Wilcox said.
She says that's just one part of why she has been able to stay in business for so many years.
"It's constant change -- knowing what people want and knowing when to change things," Glass-Wilcox said. "For years they wanted the big production, the big to-do; now it tends to be more the quick."
Weddings at the chapel range from $100 to almost $700.
The cheaper weddings were all the rage during the recession, but as the economy is begins to rebound, Glass-Wilcox says the retail portion of her business is beginning to boom.
She hopes that the recent boom will help her stay in business for years to come.
The Wedding Chapel is set to be super-busy on Valentine's Day.
More than a dozen couples will get hitched in a ceremony on the Ferris Wheel inside the mall. The ordained minister from the Chapel will officiate.
