Western Wedding

Do Me A Western Favor

Location is everything, business advisers often say. And when you're in a specialized business, being close to customer traffic is a real plus. Sometimes, that doesn't have to mean a separate location. Renting space in a store that already brings in likely customers can be a savvy strategy for a small business.

Pat and Joe Lopez began their favor wedding western business, Do Me A Favor, in Hollywood. But their move to a wedding shop on Miracle Mile has brought Latin American and other wedding business their way.

There are about 10 wedding-related businesses on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables. The Lopezes moved into the upscale Chic Parisien, a wedding attire business that also houses photographer Francisco Gonzalez, Invitations by Leston and evening-wear designer Gabriella Arango.

That way, Chic Parisien doesn't have to send its brides-to-be elsewhere for their other favor wedding western needs. "We try to make the process happy and easy for brides," said Catherine Fox, 23, who recently took over the 29-year-old business from her mother, Frances Fox.

Fox said she has been moving the shop to "a younger, slicker look" and has tripled its advertising. The shop primarily advertises in Vanidades, a widely read fashion magazine in Latin America, Peru, Colombia, Chile and Central America. More than 60 percent of Chic Parisien's clientele is from outside the United States, Fox said.

The shop also attracts brides with its favor wedding western designs, which feature a designer's collection. The brides enjoy working one-on-one with a designer, Fox said. "Latin Americans like the exclusivity of our collection. They also like that we have more of a family feeling than a business," Fox said.

And Do Me A Favor, which displays and sells its wedding favors near the front of the store's first floor, benefits from the traffic Chic Parisen draws.

An average ticket for wedding-favor purchases by a Latin American family is about $ 1,000, Pat Lopez said. Favors are the goodies placed on tables or given to wedding guests. That doesn't include other niceties such as engraved rice-paper napkins, which run $ 850 for 2,500 napkins; attendant gifts such as engraved silver jewelry boxes and wine stoppers, which cost $ 25 and up; and silver cake stands, which go for $ 250 to $ 450.

A Mexican father waiting while his daughter and wife reviewed wedding dresses recently perused the Do Me A Favor counter. He ended up totaling up an order of almost $ 6,000, Pat Lopez said.

Western Wedding