8-8-08: Friday's sequence promises good fortune for weddings, births, gambling

By Jennifer Palmer

Published: August 7, 2008

The catchiness of this Friday's date — 8.8.08 — is catching on.

Like last year's day du jour, 7.7.07, the numerically unusual date has couples planning weddings, women scheduling births and casinos cashing in. Americans generally consider seven a luckier number than eight, but eight is significant in some Asian cultures, some say.

That's why the Olympics in Beijing will open at 8 p.m. Friday.

Pregnant moms and brides-to-be say they like how the date will make it easy to remember a birthday or anniversary.

Katie Harris is due to give birth to her son Saturday, but her doctor suggested scheduling an induction for Friday.

"I said, ‘Oh, that would be so neat!' I just think it would be a really neat birthday,” Harris said.

Eight has another meaning to Harris: her husband is a fan of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., whose number is 88.

Harris is one of four women scheduled for inductions Friday at Lakeside Women's Hospital. One has been planned since February, a spokeswoman said.

Tiffani Woolley also is hoping to give birth to her son Friday at Lakeside and scheduled an induction ahead of her Aug. 20 due date.

"I figured it would be a lucky day,” Woolley said.

Many area brides hope the eights will bring luck to their marriage. Coleman Clark, president of B.C. Clark Jewelers, said six couples bought wedding rings for Friday. A typical Friday would have one or two at the most, he said.

"I'm pretty sure it's our biggest Friday ever for wedding rings,” he said.

B.C. Clark Jewelers tracks their customers' wedding dates because of their "pray for rain” program, which refunds couples for their diamond engagement ring if it rains on their wedding day.

Local wedding chapels have been booked for months, even a year in some cases, and court clerk's offices have been inundated with requests for marriage licenses.

Jim McWhirter, co-owner of Ashland Gardens Wedding Chapel, said both of their chapels have evening weddings scheduled for Friday.

"We are constantly getting calls for the date,” Whirter said, and the calls were still coming in this week.

At the Cleveland County courthouse, deputy clerk Joan Annanders said at first, she couldn't figure out why she was getting so many requests for courthouse weddings Friday.

"I was thinking, ‘this isn't May or June,'” she said. Then she realized it was 8.8.08.

Because Cleveland County judges don't schedule weddings and work around their docket schedule, there likely will be a line of couples hoping to say their vows on Friday.

Remington Park, Riverwind and Lucky Star casinos are running promotions on Friday to draw customers who feel lucky. The casinos said they hope to duplicate the success of last year's 7.7.07 events.

"It's considered to be a lucky day by many of our patrons,” said Daniel Ward, spokesman for Riverwind Casino. "Just like 7.7.07.”

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