12-12-12 is Wedding Date For Easton Couples

Around the world on Wednesday, couples were getting married, taking advantange of the date -- 12/12/12 -- that numerologists say is good luck.

More than 100 couples were expected to get married at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel in -- as the name implies -- Las Vegas, CNN reported. Mass wedding ceremonies were reported around China and in other Asian countries.

And that trend extended to Easton, where District Judge Daniel Corpora married at least two couples Wednesday who had wanted "12/12/12" on their marriage licenses.

"It's a beautiful day," said Bennie Lugo, who walked into the judge's South Side office with his bride to be, Geobahnny Manay. 

He was in a fresh white shirt and tie; she wore a wedding dress. They'd been up early, rushing around and getting ready. 

"We bought the dress, rushed here," Lugo said. "It was a real full day. Time flew."

Their day had a bittersweet moment: They stopped to visit the grave of Manay's late daughter.

"We wanted her blessing," she said. 

At the judge's office, they were happy and appeared a little nervous waiting in the courtroom. Fifteen minutes earlier, Corpora had married another couple who had come simply because they had Wednesday off. The specific date wasn't important.

But Lugo and Manay -- or, by the time you read this, the Lugos -- wanted a 12/12/12 wedding, even though they plan to have a larger celebration with family and friends sometime down the road.

They had actually planned to surprise their families at Chirstmas, Manay said. The couple -- together for two years -- were gracious enough to let Patch publicize their wedding.

Easton's other district courts saw no 12/12/12 weddings Wednesday. Nor did the office of Easton Mayor Sal Panto.

Corpora said his court has been closed for the last two triple digit dates. Oct. 10, 2010 fell on a Sunday, and all county offices close for Veterans Day, which made 11/11/11 court weddings impossible. 

Earlier in the day, Corpora had married another couple who'd wanted a 12/12/12 wedding. In fact, they asked for a specific time.

"They wanted it as close to noon as possible," one of his office workers said.

But the judge wasn't available at noon, so they settled for 11:45 a.m. on 12/12/12.