Wednesday's triple-12 date - Dec. 12, 2012 - helped boost business for some Maui wedding coordinators during a typically quiet month for destination weddings in Hawaii.
It also marked the end of a string of repetitious dates seen in each of the last 11 years. The next such date won't occur for nearly a century - on Jan. 1, 2101.
Local wedding planners said the interest from couples to tie the knot on 12/12/12 was nowhere near the rush for previous dates like 7/7/07.
Article Photos
It was a busy day for weddings Wednesday — Dec. 12, 2012. Three weddings were held at Makena Cove between 8 and 10 a.m. As of 2 p.m., 100 beach wedding permits had been pulled for the day for beaches across Maui, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
JJ Preston Photography photo
"I did nine weddings for 7/7/07. It was ridiculous," said JJ Preston, who co-owns MauiWeddingPlanner.com with her husband, Michael Beachwood. "And we did three or four weddings a day for 10/10/10 and 11/11/11. We had a lot of inquiries about 12/12/12. But not as many people asked for it."
Following the flurry of activity that started with May 5, 2005, for her company, Preston said, she began charging higher rates for those trendy wedding dates. And by design, she said, her company did just one wedding ceremony Wednesday.
"I think everybody, those who didn't raise their prices, definitely saw an uptick," she said. "My florist had 50 other weddings to handle today."
Preston said she saw four or five other Maui wedding coordinators earlier in the day, who each had booked three or four weddings apiece.
She said clients have seen the popular wedding dates as bringing good fortune to their marriages or making for easy-to-remember anniversaries.
"On top of the 7/7/7's and 11/11/11's, the succession dates like 9/10/11 and 10/11/12 were popular, too," Preston said. "The whole thing is interesting. I think it's things we need to pay attention to, but I don't run my life by it."
By noon Wednesday, Maui-based A Paradise Dream Wedding was advertising a 12 percent "last minute discount" on its website, noting that it had two spots left for the special day.
As of about 2 p.m., 100 beach wedding permits had been pulled for the day for beaches across Maui, according to state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman Deborah Ward.
That compares to 155 permits issued for Nov. 11, 2011. (The state requires a right-of-entry permit for all commercial weddings in which a person is receiving compensation for services rendered on state beaches.)
Ward said Wednesday's permit count was likely to increase as the sunset hour approached, being that wedding professionals can pull permits online just before a ceremony.
Shasta Rose, owner of Maui Weddings from the Heart, said she too received a lot of interest for 12/12/12 bookings. But she chose to do just one wedding for the day.
"I turned down quite a few that wanted too small a package, all at sunset," she said.
"It seems quieter than last year's 11/11/11, when I did nine weddings," Rose said. "Of the 60 companies on Maui, maybe 20 of them pulled beach wedding permits for today compared to the 150 permits last year for 11/11/11."
Still, she said this December is proving to be busier than usual for her business.
"December is typically slower because people are too busy with the holidays, flights are usually more expensive," she said. "But this week is busy. I think it's because the airlines are running special deals. This is probably the busiest December I've had."
Preston said business this month has been steady for her company.
"Around Thanksgiving it gets busy, and right after Christmas and New Year's, but in between usually drops off," she said. "With this being an election year, usually election years are slower."
Wednesday's special date will also be marked on the birth certificates of three babies born at Maui Memorial Medical Center as of 1 p.m. Four more were on the way.
* Nanea Kalani can be reached at nkalani@mauinews.com.
