Do you take this business? - wedding supplies and service industry

The $32 billion, recession-proof wedding industry has more entrepreneurs saying "I do."

Harold Clarke always dreamed of making it big in the fashion business. When the Kingston, Jamaica, native came to the United States in 1969, his objective was clear: He would one day become a household name in the high-stakes fashion industry.

Clarke got his ambitious dream off by designing pants in his spare time while working as an orderly at New York City's Brookdale Hospital. In 1975, Clarke did what countless other aspiring designers have done before him: He attended classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Five years later, Clarke opened I&H Fashions, a women's clothing design studio in lower Manhattan. Weak sales and lack of access to expansion capital, however, forced I&H Fashions out of business only three years after the company was launched.

But Clarke never gave up on his dream. After holding several jobs in 1987, the risk-taking designer took a second stab at entrepreneurship. With a $10,000 loan from his wife, Iona, Clarke opened Harold Clarke Couture and started designing suede and leather dresses and jackets. Iona, a former Chase Manhattan Bank customer service representative, is Harold Clarke Couture's secretary, treasurer and partner.

Today, the Clarkes have moved on to a more profitable segment of the fashion industry--wedding gowns. Harold Clarke Couture's dresses, which wholesale from $1,100 to $2,000 each, are sold in upscale bridal salons in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Beverly Hills; Boston; Chicago; and Newport Beach, Calif. Clarke, who projects $250,000 in company sales this year, says his gowns have appeared in such major bridal magazines as Bride's, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride and Bridal Guide. Clarke, 42, believes that the decision to branch out into the wedding industry was a wise one.

"The wedding industry is recession-proof," boasts Clarke, who designed and manufactured more than 80 wedding dresses last year. "A lot of people are getting married today, and there are a lot of opportunities out there for business owners such as ourselves."