July 01, 2007 - Key Noter - Keys Sunday Edition - Cover Story

Excerpts from - "Wedding biz abuzz about 7/7/07" by Pamela J. Suarez

Brides and grooms will arrive in the Keys in droves this week, all with one mission — getting married on what some are calling “Lucky Saturday,” 7/7/07.

Whether saying “I do” that day will actually bring the couples good fortune or not is anyone’s
guess, but one thing is certain— Saturday is going to be a very lucky day for the event
coordinators, cake decorators, florists and photographers hired to make all those weddings happen.

Key West photographer John Hunter said he would be working from before sunrise to after
sunset Saturday, racing from Key West to Islamorada and back to shoot three weddings.
“It’s turned out to be kind of crazy,” Hunter said. “A lot of people seem to be saying at the last minute, ‘Hey, let’s get married on 7/7/07.’”

Although the décor for a “Lucky 7’s” wedding may conjure images of tumbling dice and other things gambling related, Joey Bove, co-owner anddecorator for Key West Cakes, said all of the cakes he is creatingfor Saturday would feature either traditional or tropical embellishments. “Seashells and florals —that’s what they want. Nothing unusual at all.” Bove said his shop is “lots busier than normal,” but he is happy to deal with extra orders.“You’ve got to grab all the business you’re able to handle,” Bove said.

While Marathon Florist and Flowers by J & J in Marathon report only one wedding each for Saturday, Nulita Loder, owner of Love In Bloom Florist in Key West, called next weekend
“a nice little pick-me-up” for her business.“We’ve got 12 weddings onthe books, but I’m expecting alot of last minute walk-ins, too,” Loder said. “That 7/7/07 is a very lucky number.”

Love In Bloom’s wholesaler was prepared for the increase in orders caused by the special date, Loder said, and had arranged for larger shipments so she would have plenty of posies for her clients to choose from.

Hannah Wizenberg, owner of A Key West Romance, a wedding coordinating service, said she stopped booking 7/7/07 weddings once she had confirmed two.

“I had to turn down weddings for both sunrise and sunset,”Wizenberg said. “I didn’t want
to overbook. Each wedding is the most important wedding to that couple and I like to treat
them that way.”

Wizenberg said coordinators of sunset weddings have had a difficult time finding officiants.
“It’s a Saturday. And it’s 7/7/07. It’s just unbelievable,” Wizenberg said. “People all of a
sudden realized how big the day is going to be.”

Wizenberg said couples appear to have chosen Saturday as their wedding day for one of
two reasons.

“I know some people picked it exactly because it is 7/7/07. Spiritually, they feel that it’s
going to give them good luck,” Wizenberg said. “But others did it just because everybody else is doing it.”

Bride-to-be Amber Stockstill said she and her fiancé, Len McKithern, chose Saturday as their wedding day solely because they liked the way the numbers stacked up. The couple will travel from their home in Houston to Islamorada’s Chesapeake Resort to tie the knot after 15 years together.