Hot wedding dates

Hot wedding dates
By Sara Grosse/Zhao Quan Yin | Posted: 08 January 2011 1757 hrs

SINGAPORE: Getting married this year? What are the popular dates couples in Singapore choose for their big day?

11 January and 20 November are two of the popular dates.

The Registry of Marriages (ROM) has received higher-than-usual bookings for 11 January or 11-1-11.

At the same time, a majority of hotels are fully booked for wedding feasts on 11 and 20 November.

Travel agents, 31-year-old Sheryn Chia and her fiance, 29-year old David Song, are looking forward to their wedding day on 11 January.

The couple decided on the date within three months of David's proposal.

"We've done some calculations with the Lunar calendar and consultations with our parents and eventually decided on two dates - the 11th and the 14th. We thought that 11th would be much better because of the 11-1-2011....it's like five ones. And that's a very nice calculation, very nice date," said David.

They chose the date despite it being a weekday.

"It's not a problem for us. I think most of our relatives, friends will attend our special day for us," said Sheryn.

Some bridal boutiques are also seeing more orders.

Susan How, a gown designer at Julia Wedding News, said: "For the orders of gowns for January 11th, the order has come in close to 40% higher than the usual wedding dates."

The ROM says it has received 105 bookings for the date, more than the average of 60 a day.

But hotels MediaCorp spoke to said that 11 January is not as popular as other dates this year.

"11 November - it is a popular date. We are already 'full', with five wedding bookings. It's quite unusual, because it's a Friday. Normally for a weekday, we will have two or three bookings. I would say 20 November is more popular, considering the date is 2-0-1-1 2-0-1-1.... we are fully booked, too, on this date," said Dannis Yeo, director of romance at Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford.

Hotels expect a 10% rise in their wedding businesses this year. This is despite there being 15 fewer so-called "auspicious" days this year compared to last year.

"The reason is: this year is going to be the Year of the Rabbit and we forecast that a lot of young couples would like to get married this year in order to have a 'Dragon' baby next year," said Lau Kah Guan, director of food and beverage at Orchard Hotel Singapore.

A boost in wedding lunches is also expected, as couples unable to get dinner bookings for the auspicious dates opt to celebrate in the day instead.

- CNA/ir

- wong chee tat :)