情侣争相预约三“十二”结婚吉日

It’s taken an exact year of planning for the staff at Chapel of the Flowers to prepare for the extraordinary onslaught of Friday’s 11/11/11 wedding ceremonies. The first service is set for 8 am, and they will run nonstop for 15 hours in three chapels until 11:11 pm.

Couples at this local marriage Mecca are arriving from as far away as Great Britain, Canada, Hungary, French Polynesia and Singapore.

Several made their reservation 12 months ago, and couples have already made reservations for next year’s 12/12/12 binary date, the last of the century. (You could count 10/11/12 or 11/12/13, but 11/11/11 is tough to beat.)

“It is one crazy day for us,” Aimee Stephens, marketing director, told me. “Perhaps the craziest ever. Although we learned on 7/7/07 it was just too difficult to handle the record 113 we booked then. This year we restricted it to 80 so we could make it more personal and intimate, and now 96 hours before the Big Day, we only have one slot left.

“We’re juggling three weddings at exactly 11:11 am and another three at 11:11 pm. We have five ministers who have been officiating at our chapel for several years and provide our couples with the special Chapel of the Flowers experience. We have a specialty package that was created just for this date -- the 11-11-11 Ceremony Special includes a bouquet that’s a mix of 11 roses and 11 calla lilies. We have a special 11-11-11 logo created to go on the couple’s 11”x14” photo print, 11 additional prints come with the package, and their wedding will be online for Internet viewing for 11 days.

“Even though we will have 80 weddings, our couples will have the same experience that they would have on any other day they were marrying with us. It’s all the months of in-depth preparation in every department that allows for that, and we’re all super excited. Our beautiful outdoor gazebo and glass garden, cobblestone-accented grounds and lush landscaping make it the perfect romantic spot for a memorable marriage. Family and friends unable to get to Vegas for any couple’s ceremony will be able to watch it via an Internet feed.”

Las Vegas is world headquarters for marriage, and more than 4 percent of America’s expected 75,000 weddings will be held here Friday. Wedding photographers have been recruited from as far away as Phoenix and Northern California to deal with the demand. Hair salons are working around the clock with additional staff to meet hair and makeup requests.

花儿教堂的职员花了整整一年时间来为周五(11年11月11日)的婚礼大风暴做筹划和准备。第一场婚礼定于早上8点举行，之后三个教堂将连续15小时不间断地举行婚礼，一直到晚上的11点11分。

到这一结婚圣地举行婚礼的有从英国、加拿大、匈牙利远道而来的情侣，也有来自法属波利尼西亚和新加坡的情侣。

有几对情侣在12个月之前就已经预定好了，还有些情侣已经预定了明年/12年12月12日的双数结婚吉日——本世纪最后一个三“十二”。(你也可以选10年11月12日，或11年12月13日，但是11年11月11日真的难以超越。)

营销主管艾梅•史蒂芬斯告诉我说：“这对我们来说是疯狂的一天。也许是我们经历过的最疯狂的一天。我们在07年7月7日就了解到要应对当时破纪录的113个婚礼预定就已经很困难，但今年我们将预定数严格控制在80个，这样我们就可以将婚礼办得更个性化，气氛更融洽。现在距离这个重要的日子还剩下96个小时，我们只余下一个空位没被预定。”

“我们在上午11点11分整将同时举办三场婚礼，并在晚上的11点11分再举办三场婚礼。我们有五位已经在我们教堂主持了好几年仪式的神父，他们将让新人们体验花儿教堂的特别婚礼。我们有一个专门为这个特别的日子(11年11月11日)制作的特色礼包，包括11朵玫瑰和11朵马蹄莲组合而成的花束。我们还设计了一个特别的11-11-11图标，印在新人的11*14照片上，还有礼包中的11张图片上。新人的婚礼视频将会被放到网上，人们可以观看该视频长达11天。”

“尽管我们将举行80场婚礼，但我们的新人们将拥有和其他任何一个日子在我们教堂结婚一样的体验。这是因为我们各个部门的人在过去的12个月里已经为这一天做了全面深入的准备，而且我们全都非常兴奋。我们美丽的室外露台和玻璃花园，鹅卵石铺就的地面和满目葱翠的景色，这些都使我们教堂成为举行难忘婚礼的浪漫绝佳地。不能到拉斯维加斯来参加新人婚礼的亲友们将可以下载网络种子文件来观看。”

拉斯维加斯是世界结婚之都，周五美国将有超过4%的婚礼(7.5万场)在这里举行。为了应对庞大的婚礼需求，已从远至菲尼克斯和北加州的美国各地招募婚礼摄影师。美发沙龙昼夜不停地工作，并多招人手来应对美发和美容需求。