The number of civil weddings taking place across the State today is four times more than on a normal midwinter Wednesday, as couples seek to tie the knot on the last symmetrical date for nearly 100 years.
Anyone marrying on repetitive dates such as 12/12/12 is guaranteed good fortune and a long life of happiness, according to some feng shui masters.
But unless you are among those already climbing into their wedding clothes, you have missed the boat, as the next similarly symmetrical date is not until January 1st, 2101, more than 88 years from now.
The Office of the General Registrar has processed 72 notices of intention to marry for today compared with just 19 civil ceremonies last Wednesday and 16 due to take place a week from now.
This midweek wedding boom is not unique to Ireland, and nearly four times as many Hong Kong couples will tie the knot today compared with last year. In Singapore the race up the aisle is even more frantic: 540 couples will be married there today, eight times the number who wed in 2011.
Las Vegas, the home of the shotgun wedding and a place that puts a lot of faith in lucky numbers, has not been immune to the numerological nuptials and its marriage bureau has seen a 75 per cent bump in online pre-registration for wedding licences to be issued today.
While 72 marriages on any given Wednesday is unusual in the State, today’s wedding list falls far short of last year’s most auspicious date.
On 11/11/11, a date that some numerologists claimed signified “eternal love”, there were 181 civil ceremonies recorded across the State. Irish people were less impressed with 10/10/10, however, with only 13 said “I do” in the Republic’s registry offices on that date.
