A wedding requires the perfect dress, the perfect music, the perfect flowers. Now comes the perfect wedding date: July 7, 2007.
Saturday's fortuitous alignment of 7-7-7 has captured the fancy of betrothed couples who want to say "I do" on a date considered lucky or unique. Getting hitched on the seventh day of the seventh month of the seventh year carriers some serious cosmic cachet, particularly in a tradition where symbolism walks down the aisle with superstition.
It also looks really cool on the invitations.
July 7, 2007, could well be the summer blockbuster of wedding days, yielding a record number of nuptials across the country.
"I guess we want all the stars aligned and everything to go right for this to work," jokes Suzanne Destfino, of Squirrel Hill, who chose July 7 for her wedding to Jay Detwiler.
She knows two other couples who are getting married the same day.
Rania's Catering in Mt. Lebanon had all three of their spots for July 7 booked earlier than usual, owner Rania Harris says.
"The first party we booked for that day was 18 months ago," Harris says. "She was determined to get that date."
Another woman asked Harris to hold July 7 for her wedding, but wouldn't provide any information on the venue or the groom. Eventually, the mysterious customer canceled through an intermediary, Harris says.
"I seriously don't think there was an engagement or a groom," she says. "I just think she was praying to God there would be and she just wanted that date."
Fenoglietto's Wedding Cakes in Lower Burrell finally had to stop taking orders for July 7. In addition to all the regular wedding cake orders, they're making at least one seven-layer wedding cake.
"That is a hot date, I'll tell you," owner Bob Fenoglietto says. "You can't believe the calls from people who want those dates."
Sloan Seaman and Lisa Bialowas, both of Squirrel Hill, will exchange vows at 7 p.m. in a nondenominational ceremony at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Oakland. They booked the Victorian glass palace a year in advance of their wedding day and still barely beat out five other couples who also wanted Phipps for July 7.
"She's very big into numbers," Seaman says of his fiance, a nursing student. "She's part Roma, which is gypsy. So the number seven, it's her lucky number. She's very big into numerology. It's pretty huge."
How huge⢠The number of wedding registrants on the Web site www.theknot.com averages about 12,000 for a Saturday in July. For July 7, the number of weddings is 38,000, says senior editor Christa Vagnozzi.
"The wedding day is arguably the most important day in a couple's life together," Vagnozzi says. "Superstitions come into play. If it rains on your wedding day, its' good luck. Tying tin cans to the back of the getaway car wards off evil spirits."
Some are throwing numerically themed nuptials.
"They may be getting married at 7:07 at night and have seven brides and seven groomsmen and have that theme carried all the way through their wedding," Vagnozzi says.
That includes Shannon Robertson, of Harrison, whose wedding to Joshua Mell at First United Methodist Church in Vandergrift will incorporate some aspects of the lucky number 7. Her groomsmen will wear black tuxes with red vests, a reference to the red and black suits of playing cards. Her bridesmaid's dresses are red with black trim. One of the party favors at the rehearsal dinner will be a lottery ticket.
"We knew we wanted a date in the summer of 2007," says Robertson, 25. "Just basically, looking at the calendar, we thought it was a unique date that would never happen again. We thought we'd do a 'lucky in love' theme with the sevens."
Other July 7 brides include "Desperate Housewives" hottie Eva Longoria, who will wed San Anotnio Spurs star Tony Parker at a castle north of Paris.
The wedding chapel at the Venetian in Las Vegas hopes to perform 77 weddings. Wal-Mart will throw seven weddings and receptions for seven couples in the lawn and garden sections of their local stores, as part of their Lucky In Love Wedding Search.
"We're not superstitious," says Michelle Uranker, of West Deer, who will exchange vows with Paul Scherrah on Saturday. "But we think that it's neat and that it's also unique. Everybody else that's doing it, it's bigger than if you would have picked, say, Saturday, June 16. It would have been just an everyday date."
"I'd hate to base a marriage around that," says Patty Bitters, laughing. She'll marry Joseph Schuster at Duquesne Chapel on July 7, but insists it was a coincidence.
"We planned two years ahead," says Bitters, of West Deer. "Someone said, 'Oh wouldn't it be neat if it was on July 7?' We looked it up. It was on a Saturday. We said 'Oh, we might as well do that.'"
The next hot date⢠June 7, 2008. But hurry.
Says Harris, the caterer: "Next year, 06/07/08 is already booked."
