10/10/2020 a hot wedding date as nearly 10 times more couples than on average Saturday will say 'I do'

Occupational therapists Joycelyn Lim and Liew Shan Heng will be solemnising their marriage on Oct 10 as the date is "very nice". PHOTO: ONETHREEONEFOUR

SINGAPORE - On what is considered an auspicious date that has a nice ring to it, 876 couples will be saying 'I do' on Saturday (Oct 10).

This makes Oct 10 by far the most popular wedding day in Singapore this year.

A Registry of Marriages (ROM) spokesman told The Straits Times that 876 couples have submitted their notices of marriage to the ROM and the Registry of Muslim Marriages (ROMM) for their solemnisation ceremonies to take place on Saturday.

There was an average of 91 solemnisations each Saturday last year. By comparison, close to 10 times more couples will be tying the knot this Saturday.

As solemnisor Joanna Portilla explained: "Oct 10 is usually a hot date, because 10 is always looked upon as a perfect 10. So they (couples) wish for a perfect union. And if a hot date or auspicious date falls on a weekend, it looks like all the stars are aligned."

Wedding planners and solemnisors said Oct 10 is also very popular this year as it is an easy to remember date and it falls on a Saturday.

Many couples prefer to solemnise their marriages and hold their wedding banquets on weekends to make it easier for their guests to attend.

Geomancer Adelina Pang, chief executive officer of Adelina Pang Fengshui Consultancy, noted that Oct 10 is considered a preferable day for marriages or starting a new business, among other things.

Ms Joycelyn Lim, 26, and Mr Liew Shan Heng, 28, will be solemnising their marriage on Oct 10 as the date is "very nice", Ms Lim said. She added that Oct 10 signifies perfection in Mandarin, alluding to the idiom 'shi quan shi mei', which means 'perfect in every way'.

The two occupational therapists have been dating for 13 years since they met as students at Westwood Secondary School.

Joycelyn Lim and Liew Shan Heng took their wedding pictures in New Zealand in December 2019. PHOTO" ONETHREEONEFOUR

Last year, before the Covid-19 pandemic upended lives all across the globe, they booked a wedding dinner for 200 guests at Chijmes and had planned to invite 600 to 700 guests to their wedding mass held at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul.

Their guest list kept changing, as the maximum number of guests allowed at wedding receptions also kept changing amid the evolving outbreak.

On Oct 10, they will be solemnising their marriage at the function room of the condominium where Ms Lim's family lives.

Just 18 family members and close friends will witness the exchange of their vows.

On Nov 28, their wedding mass in church will have 100 people in attendance. This will be followed by a dinner banquet for close to 100 guests at Chijmes.

The couple quickly doubled their guest list, after it was announced last month that from Oct 3, up to 100 people, including the wedding couple, would be allowed at wedding receptions.

The previous cap that started from Aug 4 limited attendance to 50 people, including the wedding couple.

Ms Lim, who is the eldest of four children and the first in her family to wed, said: "My parents want it to be a big affair. And my parents are very happy that we can now invite up to 100 people."

At this point, thousands of couples have had their wedding plans disrupted by the coronavirus.

In fact, the number of couples who solemnised their marriages fell to 10,542 between January and July from 13,626 during the same time period last year - a drop of 23 percent.

The ROM spokesman said that double dates, especially those that fall on weekends like Dec 12 (12/12) , as well as those deemed auspicious, tend to be popular with couples.

She added that as of Oct 6, 331 couples have filed their notices with the ROM and ROMM for marriage solemnisations on Dec 12.

Double dates are popular as they are easy to remember and the date, when written, looks nice, said those interviewed.

Palindrome dates, like 20/12/20, are also popular as they are rare, making the wedding date more unique and memorable, said Mrs Cheryl Tan, founder of The Wedding Concepteur. A palindrome date is a date that reads the same left to right and right to left.

Mr Muhammad Syahmi Yahya, 27, and Ms Nur Khairina Husin, 26, are solemnising their marriage on Oct 10 as the number 10 holds special significance for them.

They had their first date on Feb 10 last year.

Mr Syahmi, a social work associate, got to know Ms Khairina, an assistant pharmacist, better through Facebook. They both studied at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

The couple had initially planned for a wedding reception for 1,000 guests on Oct 10, but cancelled it in the middle of the year due to restrictions imposed on the number of guests to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

They will be solemnising their marriage at the Al-Iman Mosque with 40 of their family members and close friends.

Mr Syahmi added: "10/10/20 is a nice date and it is also on a weekend."

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