11/11/11, a hit with brides. Aisle say!

It’s a once-in-a-lifetime date that has hundreds of Aussie couples charging up the aisle, but it’s more than just a unique date that’s behind the decision by so many couples to marry on 11/11/11.

Some brides-to-be say they have chosen the date specifically to ensure their beaus never forget their wedding anniversary.

“We ran a survey recently and found that many couples have chosen 11/11/11 as their wedding date in order to ensure one of them, usually the groom, doesn’t forget their wedding anniversary,’’ says Matt Butterworth, Managing Director of Easy Weddings, Telstra’s Victorian Business of the Year.

“Originally, we thought marrying on 11/11/11 was about the novelty value of having a once-in-a-lifetime date on their wedding certificate and, for some couples it is, but we were surprised to find many brides suggesting their real motive for choosing the date was to ensure hubby-to-be didn’t forget their wedding anniversary in coming years.”

More than 640 couples registered with Easy Weddings, Australia’s biggest online wedding destination, will marry on 11/11/11. That’s eight times more weddings being held than on a typical Friday and twice as many as a typical Saturday.

At least 440 Easy Weddings’ couples have registered 12/12/12 as their big day, but in Easy Weddings’ 10-year history, only 10/10/10 saw more couples marrying, with a whopping 650 couples choosing to walk down the aisle.

A recent shout-out to Easy Weddings’ wedding community uncovered myriad other reasons for marrying on the auspicious date, everything from the “cool factor of getting hitched on 11/11/11” as one bride put it, to wanting to honour soldiers past and present. It is, after all, Remembrance Day.

Some couples are taking things one step further, opting to exchange vows on the dot of 11.11am.

Andrew and Sarah

“We chose 11/11/11 to stop future fights,’’ jokes Melbourne bride-to-be Sarah Wadley, 22, who will walk down the aisle on Friday, November 11 with Andrew Stahl, her fiancée (and neighbour), by her side. “It’s just one number to remember and, even if he does forget our wedding anniversary, it’s also Remembrance Day, so he’ll twig eventually.”

“It’s the last chance for a really memorable date because 12/12/12 is a Wednesday and, of course, you don’t get 13/13/13, so we jumped at the chance and can’t wait.”

Charmaine and Aaron

Charmaine Rogers and Aaron Lock from South Australia chose 11/11/11 because of its military significance. Aaron is a plane life-support fitter in the RAAF and the couple is holding a full military wedding.

“Remembrance Day is very close to our hearts and Aaron and his mates are all in the Air Force,’’ says make-up artist, Charmaine. “All the groomsmen will be in military uniform and it will be a military style wedding. It’s a day we’ll remember for the rest of our lives and a date Aaron will never forget.”

Rebecca and Daniel

For Melbourne couple Daniel van den Hoek and Rebecca Lewin, 11/11/11 was the perfect date being both the first date they could marry after he graduated
from university and Remembrance Day, an occasion close to the bride-to-be’s heart.

“Rebecca’s really into military history and has even woven poppies and rosemary into the wedding flowers and lapel buttons to pay our respects,’’ says Daniel, 24.

“But it’s also the day after I graduate university and Rebecca’s Dad said I could only marry her if I graduated from university, so we decided to get married the very next day!

“We figured it was the perfect day to marry, especially since we won’t be around for the next 11/11/11.”

Hundreds of couples across the country (and probably thousands across the globe) will marry on 11/11/11, a once-in-a-lifetime date that is also being celebrated by mathematicians and astrologists.

Several Facebook groups celebrating the date have popped up and the date will play host to everything from raves to end-of-the-world celebrations.