Brides and Grooms Roll the Dice For a Lucky Hand In Marriage!
As July 7th quickly approaches, the number of weddings for this unique date continues to rise. Many brides and grooms are deciding to roll the dice to see if lady luck brings them a lucky hand in marriage!
To many gambling enthusiasts, 777 means a jack pot with slot machines and adds up to 21 for a winning hand of Black Jack.
Sevens represent religious symbolism too. For example, in Christianity and Judaism, God created the heavens and earth in six days and rested on the seventh, thus sanctifying the seventh day as holy. Seven represents the number of virtues in Christianity – Chastity, Moderation, Liberality, Charity, Meekness, Zeal and Humility and corresponds to the 7 deadly sins. Catholics observe 7 sacraments. During a Jewish wedding ceremony, 7 blessings are recited under the "chuppah". A Jewish bride and groom are also feted with 7 days of festive meals after their wedding known as "Sheva Berachot" (Seven Blessings).
In our world, sevens seems to have huge numerology significance. There were 7 Wonders of the World at one time and in music, there are 7 notes in the traditional Western Major Scale. Seven is the atomic number of nitrogen and there are 7 spots on a common ladybug. So whether it is for lady luck, the universal number or religious reasons, brides and grooms are choosing this date making it the largest date for weddings in history. Even famous celebrities like Eva Longoria from "Desperate Housewives" and her fiancé, San Antonio Spurs, NBA MVP, Tony Parker are getting married on this date in Paris. Also, famed celebrity chef, Wolfgang Puck is strolling down the aisle in Capri, Italy. The Knot is reporting that they have 38,000 weddings registered on their web site alone, so we know this number could reach well over 50,000 easily for weddings on this date.
Many vendors from hotels in Las Vegas to retailers such as Al's Formal Wear are reporting high numbers. In fact, Al's Formal Wear, who is the vendor many brides and grooms book at the end of their planning process, is reporting their highest number of weddings booked for one weekend and this number will continue to increase as the date grows closer.
"As of today, Wednesday, June 20th, we are reporting our highest number of weddings for one weekend," said Greg Williams, Senior Vice President of Tuxedo Operations at Al's Formal Wear. "This number will continue to rise for us as we get closer to the date because many grooms wait till two weeks prior to the wedding to book their tuxedos. This number reflects weddings in our markets of Texas, Okalahoma and Louisiana and is three times the amount of weddings we did last year on this weekend."
In addition to the significance of the date, many brides and grooms are selecting it because it is also a holiday weekend so friends and family have more time off work to travel to the wedding.
For those selecting the 777 date, they are carrying the theme throughout. They are having 7 bridesmaids and 7 groomsmen in their wedding party, 7 course meals at the reception, and 7 different types of flowers in their bouquets. They are also requesting hotel rooms with 7s on the doors and limos with 7s in the license plates. Many are also ordering receptions that have a casino-style feel and using dice-motif napkins and triple seven lottery tickets as party favors.
"For this date, we are having a high request for black tuxedos with white shirts and black and red accessories," explained Williams. "The brides are using the casino colors of black, white and red as their wedding colors so they are coordinating their tuxedos accordingly."
So whether brides and grooms are slot machine and black jack enthusiasts, or feel that the number seven has religious symbolism, July 7th, 2007 is shaping up to be the most memorable wedding date that we’ll see in our history. Let’s face it, 7 has always been good to our friend, Agent 007 James Bond over the years, so hopefully it will ring true for our brides and grooms and they’ll end up happy as in the musical "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" instead of getting the "Seven Year Itch" like Marilyn Monroe.
And who knows, maybe next year Friday, August 8, 2008, will be the second largest because 8s are considered good luck in the Chinese culture.