Wedding chapel at Mall of America set to close
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The only wedding chapel in Mall of America is closing its doors for good at the end of August.
Nearly 8,400 couples have stood at the Chapel of Love altar since it opened in 1994.
Most people visit the Mall of America to shop while others make the trip to tie the knot.
“We’re kind of impulsive and it was fast. It’s a cute chapel,” Ivy Johnson, bride, said. “We have everything in common and we’re just perfect. We complement each other really well.”
Ivy and Evan, groom, chose the Chapel of Love to make it official.
The only wedding chapel in Mall of America is closing its doors for good at the end of August.
“Pretty much the first time we hung out I knew right away that I love this girl and she’s pretty awesome,” Evan said.
The couple threw traditions out the window, putting their own twist on a tux and wedding dress.
They exchanged vows in front of family and friends after knowing each other for two months.
“We get a lot of weird looks, but it’s like, I know my soul,” Evan said.
Couples have been coming to the chapel for nearly the last three decades to say “I do.”
The owner said wedding bells will ring for the last time in the Chapel of Love on Aug. 28.
“I love being the coordinator. I love setting people up and making them happy,” Felicia Glass-Wilcox, Chapel of Love owner, said.
She explained the chapel is closing because she’s ready to retire. She thought about selling the business, but said the best decision was to close.
Glass-Wilcox has seen couples of all ages and walks of life walk down the aisle for the last 18 years.
“I’ve had them from all over: Japan, Saudi Arabia, Fiji, Iceland, France, Germany,” she said.
She said meeting people and hearing their stories is what she’ll miss the most.
“That’s the one thing that’s hard. You meet so many beautiful people,” she said.
Glass-Wilcox’s last wedding at the chapel will be with a couple whose parents married at Mall of America 28 years ago.
“The couple getting married here because of that is huge to me. To go out on that note, that’s a happy note,” she said.
The chapel is having a discount sale until it closes.
Weddings can still be scheduled based on availability.