SNOHOMISH – Belle Chapel in Snohomish usually holds one wedding ceremony a day.
On Saturday, though, couples will be getting hitched around the clock .
Why?
It’s 07/07/07.
It’s a date available only once this century. Plus it’s a Saturday on a holiday week.
Hundreds of thousands of couples are expected to say, “I do,” on Saturday around the country. Chapels and hotels have been booked for months.
A wedding service Web site, theknot.com, expects more than 38,000 couples to get married Saturday, said Christa Vagnozzi, a senior editor of the site, which has a membership of about 1.1 million. That’s more than three times the average summer day, when about 12,000 couples get married.
In Arizona, two ministers with the Universal Life Church plan to marry 77 couples at the Phoenix zoo on Saturday, the Arizona Republic reported.
The fever has reached Belle Chapel, a small chapel built in 1885 in Snohomish. A Marysville couple has had July 7 booked for more than a year. More than 30 other couples have called the chapel trying to secure the day, said Sharon St. Marie, the chapel’s owner.
“Once I got a couple of calls, I realized it was special,” St. Marie said Thursday.
Instead of turning away couples, the chapel decided to have 15-minute ceremonies for seven hours, from midnight to 7 a.m., on Saturday. Several couples have reserved spots; the chapel has more available, St. Marie said.
“We can do a ‘Vegas-style’ wedding, and we can have a party out of it,” St. Marie said.
Still, the chapel is not in Las Vegas, but in Snohomish County. People need to get a marriage license from the county auditor’s office three days before their wedding ceremony, she said.
Trevor Nelson and Katy Dierks of Olympia are relieved they were able to book the slot for 12:15 a.m. Saturday at the chapel.
“Literally, you can’t find a place for that day,” Nelson said.
The couple could use a little luck. They were victims of identity theft in May, and Dierks was involved in an auto collision in June, Nelson said.
The quick ceremony will work for them, Nelson said.
“I think it’s less stressful,” he said.
After all the 15-minute ceremonies are over, the chapel will be cleaned up and readied for Lisa Leavitt and Jim Ewert. The Marysville couple has been together for seven years.
The triple-seven day will be easy for Ewert to remember, Leavitt said.
When she booked the day more than a year ago, she didn’t expect it to be so popular, Leavitt said.
“Now I’m very lucky to have that day,” she said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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