wedding

This Valentine's Day, many couples in east Tennessee are saying their “I do’s."

Several weddings took place in Gatlinburg, where the wedding industry initially took a hit after the devastating wildfires.

The Chapel in the Park hosted 10 weddings on Valentine's Day.

"We started early this morning and we’ll finish late this evening. So it’s been a good day," said Reverend Lee Bennett with the chapel.

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While Valentine's Day may be a busy one, business overall is down.

After the November wildfires, Bennett said they saw a 50 percent decrease between their two venues, Chapel in the Park and Cupid’s Chapel of Love, which didn’t survive the fire.

“Hopefully we’ll recover by the end of the year but it’s been a tough year for us as well as waiters and arts and crafts people," Bennett said.

As part of the Gatlinburg Wedding Center, they are the largest provider of weddings in the entire state of Tennessee. Last year alone, 2,000 couples tied the knot with them.

“We are hoping to be able to get back to that level," Bennett added.

Only a few minutes away sits another chapel, the Wedding Chapel in The Glades, where one wedding took place on Tuesday.

“January and February are slow. Usually Valentine’s Day is our peak day of February but being as it fell on a Tuesday that made a big difference," said wedding coordinator Barbara Martel.

Martel said the fire only affected their business slightly.

“We’ve had a lot of couples that have been married here just wanting to call and check that their favorite chapel was still okay," she said.

Both Reverend Bennett and Martel want future brides and grooms to know they’re open and ready to help them say “I do."

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The cloudy skies on Saturday didn’t put a damper on any Valentine's Day plans.

Las Vegas is one of the leading destinations for romantic getaways. Wedding chapels around the valley are packed and lines to get a marriage license are long ahead of the holiday.

The economic impact from wedding tourism here is about $2 billion.

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Out of the more than 40 million visitors every year, about 4% of those people are getting married or renewing their vows.

Wedding chapels are shifting into overdrive to accommodate the surge of people they'll see this weekend ahead of Valentine's Day on Tuesday.

"Typically from years past the 12th, 13th, 14th we do about 400 each day. So, over the five days I'm hoping that we're going to do 1500 to 1700," said Paula Cook, the Supervisor for the Marriage License Bureau

So why is Las Vegas such a popular spot? One reason is celebrities like Elvis Presley and Angelina Jolie said "I do" in here.

For some couples getting married in Las Vegas is cheaper. For others, they're looking for something different.

"Not only do they get the unique experience coming to Vegas weddings, but they go away somewhat surprised at the professionalism and the the general feeling they have of how much everyone actually care about what they're doing," said Richard Nielson, a marriage officiant.

The Marriage License Bureau is expecting as many as 400 couples to get their license just on Saturday alone.

The Marriage License Bureau issues more than 80,000 marriage licenses every single year, dubbing Las Vegas as the "Wedding Capital of the World."

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