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Wedding businesses say they rely on each other to help the bride and groom prepare for the big day. That's profitable for them and less stressful for the couple.

Date published: 8/11/2005

By MEGHANN COTTER

EDDING planner Ginny Chilton moved her 16-year-old business into a building on Lafayette Boulevard in March.

That same month, Mike Van Bruggen and his wife moved their 10-year-old bridal salon, I Thee Wed, into a building right next door.

Neither Chilton of Weddings by Ginny nor Van Bruggen knew about the other when they made plans to relocate. But both say their close positioning is symbolic of the relationship many wedding businesses maintain.

Weddings create a $72 billion industry, according to theknot.com. The online resource for marriage and wedding services says that figure doesn't include the $7 billion spent on honeymoons and $19 billion spent on wedding gifts.

Those profits belong to a wide variety of businesses per wedding, from the coordinator down to the cake supplier. And the businesses that provide those services say working together helps them be successful.

Because brides and grooms have so many contacts to make, wedding business owners say that more consumers want to deal with businesses that can help them accomplish the most at once.

"We've been networking with other vendors ever since we started," Chilton said. "They help us, and we help them. And that's the way I like it."

She offers many services in-house--such as wedding consultation, decorating and catering. Another business owner, Karena Frantum, operates Day of Dreams--which supplies wedding vails and accessories--out of the same store.

Chilton also refers clients to other businesses, depending on their wants and needs.

I Thee Wed, for example, mostly sells wedding dresses and tuxedoes, which Chilton does not offer.

"When it comes to weddings, we are all on the same team," Van Bruggen said. "It's better to have a good neighbor than a far away friend."

He and his wife were motivated to open their store, they said, because they felt the Fredericksburg area offered limited wedding resources when they got married 16 years ago. He said his wife had to travel miles outside of town to take care of many of the arrangements.

But wedding business owners say the area's growth means more weddings locally.

Date published: 8/11/2005