12/31/23: This ‘magical’ date is sparking Las Vegas wedding bonanza on New Year’s Eve

By: Alexandra E. Petri | LA Times

Cindy Adams knew two things about her wedding: She and her fiance, Anthony Asta, wanted to get married in Las Vegas, and she wanted to tie the knot on a date Asta could easily remember for their future anniversaries.

They decided on a New Year’s Eve wedding at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas. The ceremony is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on 12/31/23 — a repeating 1-2-3 pattern.

“We didn’t realize it was 123-123,” Adams, 49, said. Asta likes order, so the date seemed fitting.

“It just felt right for us,” Adams said.

Adams and Asta are among the nearly 1,500 couples expected to get married on Sunday in Las Vegas, the wedding capital of the world, known for its year-end sendoffs, performances, fireworks and brightly lighted strip packed with partygoers.

And while saying “I do” on New Year’s Eve is already a Vegas pastime, this year is what many industry insiders call a “specialty” or “magical” date — an occurrence nearly as rare as a sighting of Halley’s Comet — because the numbers align into a perfect pattern or sequence: 12/31/23, or 123-123.

It means an increase in nuptial demands that requires beefed-up staffing at venues, additional limousines, a pop-up Clark County Marriage License Bureau and extra Elvis Presley impersonators.

To top it off, the date occurs on a weekend.

“It’s a grand slam,” said Lynn Marie Goya, the clerk for Clark County, which includes Las Vegas.

Each New Year’s Eve, around 500 couples exchange vows and rings in Vegas. But this year, her agency prepared for nearly four times that, Goya said, noting that magical dates often draw more couples than nonmagical dates.

There is a precedent: Las Vegas set a record for weddings on July 7, 2007, or 7/07/07, known as the “Lucky 7s” day, when 4,492 couples tied the knot.

Nov. 11, 2011, or 11/11/11, was the second-most-popular wedding date, when 3,125 couples were married. Last year, Feb. 2, or 2/22/22, there were 2,331 weddings, making it the sixth-most-popular day on record.

To prepare for the wedding rush and the soon-to-be newlyweds flying in for their nuptials, the county clerk has a pop-up marriage license office at Harry Reid International Airport open through Dec. 31. Chapels across Vegas are booked, she said.

Melody Willis Williams, the president of Vegas Weddings, which operates eight venues, including the famous Little White Chapel, said they are expecting at least 150 weddings across just three of their chapels, plus couples who come through the drive-through chapel. This New Year’s Eve is a “once-in-a-lifetime” date that Willis Williams and other industry professionals train for.

“We’ve been planning since engagement season last year,” Willis Williams said, referring to the busy time from Thanksgiving to Valentine’s Day.

To accommodate the rush, her operation is increasing the on-site staff to 100 employees throughout the day on New Year’s Eve, bringing in more than 2,000 roses and planning to run weddings back to back from 9 a.m. to midnight.

Beyond the practicality and novelty of the date, numerologist Felicia Bender finds a deeper significance. Numerologists reduce numbers to one digit, she explained, and each numeral carries energy and data.

She said the 31st should be looked at as a single numeral — 4 — the sum of 3 and 1. In numerology, 4 represents foundation, structure and responsibility.

“It is a very grounded day,” Bender added.

The date also contains so-called angel numbers — a numerical sequence or pattern that essentially sends a message, she said. The 1-2-3 pattern symbolizes old cycles closing and expedited forward motion and growth, she said.

“It’s starting on a high level that is exponential, like 10 times better than before,” and the repetition of the pattern — 123, 123 — adds extra energy, Bender said

For some couples, Sunday’s numerical arrangement became a sign and aligned with their spiritual beliefs.

Kosha Shah and Kevin Singh are eloping to Vegas for a New Year’s Eve wedding at the Little White Wedding Chapel. Shah, 36, and Singh, 37, met in October and wanted to be wed before 2023 was over. They picked Vegas for its New Year’s Eve pageantry and parties.

When Singh showed Shah the email from the chapel confirming their nuptials, Shah, who described herself as spiritual and said she believes in angel numbers, recognized the 123-123 pattern.

“Every time I ask for a sign that I am on the right track … 123 is always a number that pops up,” she said. “This is what tells me that this is the right connection. This is the person I have been waiting for.”

Katia Mazariego and Hugo Moran also knew they wanted to get married on New Year’s Eve, but without the hassle of planning a big celebration.

“New Year’s Eve is a party itself in Vegas,” said Mazariego, 26.

They started seeing videos on social media about the 123 pattern and are taking it as a sign that their wedding will be iconic in every way.

Mazariego and Moran, who have a 2-year-old, both finalized divorces with their previous spouses about four months ago.

“We’re closing those books and starting our own book,” Mazariego said.

After Adams and Asta say “I do,” they plan to go to a park in Vegas, where Adams will spread her mother’s ashes and drink a glass of champagne. They want to have photographs taken in front of the fountain at the Bellagio Hotel & Casino and glide down the Grand Canal in a gondola at the Venetian Resort.

And at some point, they plan to buy a lottery ticket and pick 1s, 2s and 3s as their lucky numbers.