Wedding fever on 11/11/11
Nov. 11, 2011 is turning out to be a notable date for two reasons: The fact that it will be celebrated in the U.S. as Veteran's Day and because when it is written numerically it comes out as 11/11/11.
The date is also proving to be a big one for weddings.
For Boston couple Scott Pittman and Liz Mongro -- who will be marrying each on Nov. 11 after 25 years together -- the unusual sequence of numbers calls for an equally unusual wedding ceremony.
At their wedding reception on Friday, though it might get confusing for caterers and guests alike, the couple plans to mark every table as "11" to keep up with the theme. They're also planning a breakfast for family and friends at 11:11 a.m. And even though the wedding is taking place in mid-autumn, Pittman says the DJ will play Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring." wedding 11/11/11,
"There's one measure [in "Rite of Spring"] that features 11 quarter notes all at once," he said. "No one knows why he did that."
Mongro, a recording engineer, stresses that she and Pittman won't be going completely overboard with the "11" theme. 11/11/11 numerologists lucky day,
"We won't be serving finger sandwiches paired up like the number 11," she laughed. However, they will be honeymooning in Sicily on property owned by her father. "I believe it's 11 acres."
It sounds lucky to marry on a day with multiple elevens, but not necessarily, according to numerologist Hans Decoz, who says the date may not be as lucky as some people are presuming. 11/11/11 once in a century,
"Yes, there are lots of 11s, but all the numbers added together equal 8," Decoz told The Huffington Post. "The energy from '11' is very family-oriented and it conflicts with the '8' energy, which is more financially-oriented.
As a result, Decoz claims emotions will be running high on 11/11/11, bringing about a tendency to be possessive or melodramatic.
"Our feelings will be floating right on the surface, so they could take a turn for the worse at any moment -- small misunderstandings can turn into huge catastrophes if we don't keep this in check," he said. "Definitely, don't deal with money any more than necessary." wedding 11/11/11,
While the numbers game makes for a good story, Eric Carlson, a physics professor at Wake Forest University and an admitted numerology skeptic, has a number of reasons why 11/11/11 is not particular special, other than the fact that writing it out numerically might look neat.
"There is nothing supernatural about this date," he emphasized to The Huffington Post. "Our brains are just pattern matching machines, so we tend to notice patterns like that. If you happen to glance at the clock and it's 11:11, you will remember that --these patterns stick in our minds. But I don't think there is any mystical significance to it."
Still, Professor Carlson does concede there are two significant aspects about 11/11/11 that can be construed as lucky even by people like him who don't believe in numerology.
"It is a Friday -- a day hailed by workers," he said, adding that many people will have the day off because of the Veteran's Day holiday.
Even Decoz concedes that numerology probably isn't the real reason why some couples are picking the wedding date. wedding 11/11/11,
"I think they just want a date that's easy for the man to remember," he said.
