First comes love, then comes marriage - then comes incorporation, payroll, and staff meetings.
The mom-and-pop shop may seem like a relic of business days gone by, but that ever-so-traditional setup is alive and thriving in the modern world of work. Only now, it goes far ­beyond the corner candy store. Couples are banking on their partnerships in farms, medical practices, law firms, and yes, the corner cafe. In honor of Valentine's Day, we checked in with some business-minded couples to see what makes all that together time work.

DESIGNING A FUTURE
This is devotion: Emma Gardner and Patrick McDarrah spent the summer of 2002 driving 8,000 miles - along with their 15-month-old daughter - to see if they could interest top interior-design showrooms in Emma's rug designs. It worked. The rugs, along with new products like throw pillows and blankets, are now sold around the country and are often featured in national magazines. And, as a nice side project, they had a second child.

The couple has been together for 14 years and married for eight, and had often "talked dreamily about what we could do together," says Emma, 38. They didn't realize that Emma Gardner Design was that something until the business was off the ground. Patrick, also 38, had been looking for a new job. "In the spring of 2002 I was spending 20 to 40 hours a week looking for work, and we thought, Why don't I devote the effort to this business and see where it takes us?" It took them far enough that, when a job offer came in December 2003, Patrick turned it down.

"Our skills are so complementary," says Emma. She designs the products and handles all production, while Patrick does "everything else," including marketing and distribution.