NewburyportNews.com, Newburyport, MA

NEWBURYPORT - Typically, three brides booked with Pure Bliss might share the same wedding weekend.

Today, 23 of their customers are getting married.

"That's a lot," Jeanine Hines, the owner of the Newburyport bridal boutique said.

At Bella Bridal Shoppe in Amesbury, manager Ramona D'Agata said 32 of their brides will walk down the aisle today.

"It's the date," she said.

Indeed, today's date - July 7, 2007, or "7/7/07" - has grabbed the attention of thousands of brides-to-be who selected today for their big day. Some call it "the luckiest day of the century." Others think the numerical alignment just looks neat.

Whether it's seen as lucky, or simply because it will be an easy anniversary date to remember, "7/7/07" has broad appeal.

"Three years ago was when I had the first customer order her gown (for today)," D'Agata said. "It's amazing, the draw."

And it's the first time in a while that a numerical combination has played out on the weekend.

Nationwide, more weddings will occur today than July 7 of years past - or perhaps on any date ever.

The wedding statistics are staggering.

Melissa Bauer, spokeswoman for TheKnot.com, a wedding Web site with more than 1.1 million members, said a typical Saturday in July plays host to about 12,000 member weddings. This year, 38,000 brides registered July 7 as their wedding date.

Bauer said some couples are also using the number as a theme for their weddings - having seven bridesmaids, seven groomsmen, seven people sitting at each table.

"It's extremely lucky," Bauer said. "It has biblical significance across multiple religions."

While the exact origin of when and how the number seven came to be considered "lucky" is unclear, historians point to Biblical references and to the lunar month of 28 days - or four weeks of seven days each. There are seven deadly sins, but also seven virtues. The Earth was created in six days and God rested on the seventh, according to the Bible.

For those who like playing the odds, "7/7/07" is also ideal. Three sevens usually signals a winning jackpot at the slot machines.

For bakers, today is also a lucky day.

"We turned away a ton of work, a ton," said pastry chef Jennifer Williamson of Jenny's Wedding Cakes. The Amesbury resident has four weddings scheduled for Saturday and started getting calls from many "sevens" brides, dating back to more than a year ago. "It's been booked for months."

For Rhonda Weisheit, owner of Pralines Bake Shop in Newburyport, today's business has doubled. On a typical Saturday, her staff might bake three wedding cakes, she said. Today, they have six weddings and instead of three bakers, there will be five on hand.

Weisheit said she never made the connection to today's "lucky" date as the reason for the wedding-day spike.

"I never even gave the number a thought," she said.

While Weisheit may not have, brides certainly did.

And the date also has gotten more brides thinking, Hines said.

"Definitely, people are playing around with the numbers now," Hines said. "I think it (7/7/07) brought it to a lot of people's attention that you can (have fun with) the numbers thing. They're already doing it for next year as well: 8/8/08." August 8 next year is a Friday.

Another date growing in popularity is "6/7/08," which falls on a Saturday, Hines added.

Unique or not, today's date will always be easy for couples to remember.

"All the brides have said their grooms better never forget their anniversary," Hines said.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. Staff Writer Courtney Paquette contributed to this report.