10/10: 876 couples to tie the knot today on popular date

Occupational therapists Liew Shan Heng and Joycelyn Lim are solemnising their marriage today, with 18 family members and close friends in attendance. They will hold a banquet next month for close to 100 guests.
Occupational therapists Liew Shan Heng and Joycelyn Lim are solemnising their marriage today, with 18 family members and close friends in attendance. They will hold a banquet next month for close to 100 guests. PHOTO: ONETHREEONEFOUR

On what is considered an auspicious date that has a nice ring to it, 876 couples will be saying "I do" today.

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 so-lemnisation ceremonies to take place today.

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

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 date to remember, 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 guests to attend.

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

Occupational therapists Joycelyn Lim, 26, and Liew Shan Heng, 28, will be solemnising their marriage today. Ms Lim said that Oct 10 signifies perfection in Mandarin, alluding to the idiom "shi quan shi mei", which means "perfect in every way".

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 to be 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.

Today, they will be solemnising their marriage in the function room of the condominium where Ms Lim's family lives. Just 18 family members and close friends will witness the exchange of 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.

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 per cent.

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

She added that as at Tuesday, 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 today 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, 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.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 10, 2020, with the headline 10/10: 876 couples to tie the knot today on popular date. Subscribe