“I LOVE a little wedding
here,’? she says as she
surveys the North Shore’s
own chapel of love with a
matrimonial twinkle in her
eye.

By MICHAEL BECKER .
News Reporter

Just outside of Perfect Setting
on 16th Street in North Van-
couver, a sandwich board simply
proclaims, One Stop Wedding
Package...Marriage With Dignity.

Owner Gertie Todd has been in
the business of providing the for-
mal threads for the newly betroth-
ed since she opened Orchid Florist
at 18th and Lonsdale in 1950.

But on May 14, she realized the
long-held dream of opening B.C.’s
first commercial wedding chapel.

“T said to myself, before I’m
done I'd try to get everything
under one roof so | could set the
little darlings up and get them
married,’’ Todd said.

With many people spending up-
wards of $10,000 to $20,000 a pop
on a full-blown church wedding
extravaganza, Todd’s Perfect Set-
ting Wedding Chapel has tapped
into a ready market for couples
looking to tie the knot without the
fuss but with all the fixtures.

The 35-seat chapel, located at
the rear of her store where a beau-
ty parlor once operated, is bedeck-
ed in silk flower arrangements and
is fitted with brass candle stan-
dards, The room’s focal point is an
oak-panelled wall fronted by an
oaken pulpit, a cross and regally
purple drapery.

Todd says the Christian church-
like symbolism appeals to her
clients. All fixtures in the chapel
are optional and removable.

Said Todd, ‘‘It doesn’t matter
who walks through that door. It
doesn’t matter what religion. This
is an open door whatever their
beliefs may be.”

But she added, ‘‘It (the symbolic
fixtures) means something to peo-
ple, and it looks good in pictures.”

Clients from around the pro-
vince, who can arrange at Todd’s
wedding central headquarters for
everything from guest invitations,
clothing, the choice of a justice of
the peace or minister to a video
taping of the event, have taken to
the chapel concept.

ALL WALKS OF LIFE

Teens to seniors from all watks
of life have been hitching up at the
average rate of two weddings a
week since the chapel first opened.

Said Todd: ‘‘It’s not a money-
making proposition, It ties in with
my business, and it’s an inexpen-
sive way to go for the bride and
groom.”

Todd is happily expecting her
first christening at the chapel be-
fore Christmas. And to extend the
one-step wedding concept to its
logical conclusion, Todd has writ-
ten the exams to become a justice
of the peace herself and is waiting
for the piece of paper to arrive in
the mail to make it official.

KON ALL PATIO FURNITURE IN STOCK
EVERYTHING MUST GO!

CHAIRS
TABLES
CUSHIONS
LOUNGES
UMBRELLAS

WEST FURNITURE
1469 MARINE DRIVE, WEST VAN

HOURS: MON.-SAT. 9:30-6PM
SUNDAYS 12-6PM
OPEN FRIDAYS TILL 9PM __

922-1207

PERFECT SETTING owner Gertie Todd poses with bridal consultant
Mary Tenenyei inside the province's first and only commercial wedding
chapel. Since opening earlier this year in May, the chapel has been a busy

and happy place.

78" x

31 - Sunday, September 11, 1988 - North Shore News

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