Date to Remember
Brides and grooms find today’s date — 7-7-07 — perfect for a memorable affair
By Bobbi Mlynar
Saturday, July 7, 2007
High school sweethearts Jennifer Grider and Michael Langley decided long ago when their wedding date would be.
“We chose it two years ago,” the 20-year-old Grider said. “We were looking for a date the summer of ’07 and stumbled on that one.”
“It was easy to remember,” added Langley, 21.
Grider and Langley, who have been a couple for almost 4 1/2 years, join the estimated 65,000 to 70,000 other couples whose weddings will take place today in the United States.
Whether the phenomenon is to bring good luck or to tickle a spouse’s memory later, the total is nearly six times more than the average. Under normal circumstances, only 12,000 couples would get married on a Saturday in July, according to Kathleen Murray, deputy editor of theknot.com.
Brides and grooms in Emporia seem to be following the nationwide trend, according to Jean Woods of Madelynn’s.
The wedding for Grider and Langley is one of 21 weddings scheduled today associated with Madelynns. That’s nearly four times the weddings Madelynn’s would handle on a typical Saturday in July. According to Woods, the store usually would see six weddings on a July Saturday.
For Grider and Langley, the wedding needed to be planned around Langley’s tour of duty with the U.S. Army. He was ordered to Mosul, Iraq, in 2005 for a one-year stint that then was extended to cover another four months, this time in Baghdad. For a while, the couple worried about more extended tours of duty, but Langley made it home with months to spare.
He has taken a job at Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation and, now out of the Army, has enlisted in the U.S. National Guard. Grider is a student at Emporia State University.
On Tuesday, Grider went into Madelynn’s to pick up her wedding gown. Langley’s tux was to be in and fitted on Thursday. Everything so far has been on schedule for their wedding at 3 p.m. today in the Westside Baptist Church.
Invitations expected to result in about 200 guests were sent long ago; dresses and tuxes for the eight attendants were arranged for; and everything was in order for the flowergirl, ushers, candlelighters and musicians. Designs by Sharon was in charge of the flowers, red roses with stargazer lilies. A friend in Wellsville was scheduled to bring the wedding cake today and Coburn’s was set to cater a meal at the reception this evening at the Sacred Heart parish hall. Bobby D’s already catered the wedding rehearsal Friday evening.
They weren’t expecting any glitches for a wedding that has been planned with military precision.
“We’ve been just doing it little by little over the past six months,” Grider said. “We kind of had our goals set.”
The couple will leave early Sunday morning for a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for a week-long honeymoon.
GuyHonduras (anonymous) says...
Congrats you two Have a great day
July 7, 2007 at 11:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )