Published: 7 July, 2007, 07:56
Edited: 7 July, 2007, 07:56
The seventh day of the seventh month in the seventh year of the millennium is what's bringing hundreds of couples to tie the knot at registry offices in Russia. Some people believe the number seven has mystical powers.
Despite the miserable weather in Moscow, it's being described as one of the luckiest days in years, if not in centuries: July 7, 2007. There has been a wedding crisis not only in Moscow but in the whole of Russia, with people rushing to select this date for their marriage.
At one registry office, where a Russia Today correspondent attended, there were 70 couples while usually there are only 40. And this tendency is observed all over the world today.
One group is certainly very lucky today – wedding planners, hotels and limo companies. They are seeing a huge influx in business today.
In general, the busiest time for weddings in Russia are the summer months as well as the month of May.
The significance given to the numbers 777 dates back to ancient Greek mythology, where they were a reference to religious observances and occasions. But there is no definite reason why these numbers are considered lucky. Some people say that they were just told that these numbers are lucky and they believed in it. But if we look a bit further there seems to be some sort of sense to it: there are seven wonders of the world, seven colours in the rainbow, in Christianity God created the Universe in seven days, and even in the recent Harry Potter collection there are seven stories!
While the day may be lucky for some, the weather has not played its part. In Moscow, the rain is pouring down!