Saturday, June 30, 2007 1:13 AM CDT
Area couples choose 7-7-7 for wedding date
By DAWN SCHABBING, Features Writer
dschabbing@jg-tc.com
Statistics show that the most busy months for weddings are May, June, July and August. But this year, July 7 is by far the most popular wedding day because it falls on a Saturday and numerically reads as 7-7-7.
Couples have various reasons for choosing the date. Some say it is the spiritual significance, others say it is the luck associated with the numbers, or some say it is because it is a “cool date” and “easy to remember.”
Eastern Illinois University associate professor of psychology Jeffrey Stowell said the number 7 on its own is considered lucky. As for marriages, however, the uniqueness of the date combined with some superstitious beliefs in the number 7 have contributed to making July 7, 2007, the most popular wedding day this year.
And it’s easy for the husband to remember the anniversary, he said.
“Many people believe that the number 7 itself is lucky, so why not have three of them? Seven has been considered lucky, symbolic or meaningful for thousands of years in mythology and religion,” he said.
It is symbolic of several things, including seven days of the week, the seven Gods of Luck and seven ancient planets, Stowell said.
In many religions, the number 7 has an association with God and occupies a prominent place in the Bible, according to the Rev. Dr. James Rhea of the First United Methodist Church in Mattoon.
“It is seen as the symbolic number for fullness or completeness,” he said. “For example, there are seven days in the Genesis creation story; seven petitions in the Lord’s Prayer; and seven seals, trumpets, etc., in the Book of Revelation.”
But, area couples like the sound of the date for several reasons.
Victoria Powers of Shelbyville said she hoped to be married on the seventh day of the month because it is a popular date for wedding anniversaries in her family.
“My parents were married on March 7, and my older brother’s anniversary is on Aug. 7,” Powers, 22, said.
Two days after selecting 7-7-7 as their wedding date, she and her fiance, Dustin McDonald, 27, realized it was the most popular wedding date of the year.
“We started seeing and hearing stories about how that date is the most popular wedding date this year. It almost sent us into a panic,” she said. “We knew we had to get started right away booking things for it.”
Powers will teach high school science starting this fall at Meridian High School in Macon and her fiance teaches math at Pana High School. McDonald of Oconee said he liked the wedding date of 7-7-7 because he likes numbers and patterns of numbers.
“It’s a palindrome. It’s the same forwards and backwards,” he said.
Tammy Volkman, 35, of Mattoon plans to marry Benjamin Syfert of Sigel in a ceremony on 7-7-7.
“He’s a farmer and we wanted a wedding date in July — which is between planting and harvest time. We were looking at the calendar and realized the seventh fell on a Saturday and thought that was a pretty cool date for a wedding,” said Volkman, who works at Wal-Mart in Mattoon.
Later, the two realized that they each considered number 7 to be their lucky number.
Syfert, 30, sat down and worked with the numbers. Taking each of their birthdays, he found that seven was prevalent in various combinations.
“I guess that’s a sign it (wedding) was meant to be that day,” she said.
Keeping with the theme, the couple have chosen seven bridesmaids and seven groomsmen to take part in the ceremony, as well.
Kim Karch, 22, formerly of Charleston, now living in Indianapolis, said her wedding plans to Keith Berlin, 24, also of Indianapolis, have been in the works since early 2005.
The couple became engaged in December 2004 and selected their wedding date the next month.
Working in tourism, Karch knows that the weekend will be a busy one for larger cities, probably more so than rural communities.
“All of the hotel rooms in Bloomington-Normal and in Indianapolis are booked solid for this weekend. It’s going to be a busy weekend for a lot of people,” said Karch, the assistant food and beverage manager at the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis.
The couple chose July 7 for their wedding date for several reasons, she said.
“It’s a holy number, a spiritual number,” she said. “Also, I wanted a summer wedding and I wanted it to be separate from my birthday at the end of July. This date popped out and I knew he’d have no excuse for not remembering our anniversary.”
Karch said her future husband is a third-year law student at Indiana University School of Law and the couple wanted to wait until his education was nearly completed to become husband and wife.
“Being raised a Christian I knew the numbers would mean something to us,” she said.
After realizing the day would be 7-7-7, a symbol for luck, they decided to share party favors that also express some luck for their guests.
“We’re giving out some instant lottery tickets as favors at the reception,” she said. “We’re hoping others will have as much luck as we have had in finding each other.”
Contact Dawn Schabbing at dschabbing@ jg-tc.com or 238-6864.
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