爲什麼大家都選在年9月9日結婚?

Couples across New York are taking advantage of Wednesday's once-in-a-lifetime date - 09/09/09 - to tie the knot.

When Justin Allsopp, a 29-year-old child advocate, proposed to Barbara Fitzgerald, she already had the date in mind.

"Nine is my lucky number," Fitzgerald, 28, an attorney, explained.

The two also discovered that the Irish say the luckiest day to get married is Wednesday.

"I did some research and saw that there were two or three days that every culture agrees on as lucky days," said Fitzgerald, who will wed in Sandy Hook, N.J., near her and Allsopp's hometown.

"Nine, nine, nine is just lucky all around!"

The quirk of the calendar, which won't roll around again until September 2109, is considered especially auspicious for Chinese brides because the Mandarin word for "nine" sounds like the word for "long-lasting."

As one bride-to-be, Silin Trenh, 28, explained, "We picked [the date] because the Chinese meaning of the number nine is longevity."

Trenh, an office manager, and her fiancé, Thanh Von, a 31-year-old lab tech, who both split their time between Manhattan and Boston and are both Chinese-American, are planning a small ceremony at City Hall with their close friends and family, followed by a celebration at City Hall Restaurant.

The luck of nine isn't just in the sound of the word.

Nicole Lin and Joe Hill, 40, who both work with antiquities, explained that nine, because it is the highest single digit number, is associated with the Emperor of China and so will add an extra touch of class to their wedding day.

"We struck upon the date of 09-09-09 a little late in the game," said Hill, of Brooklyn, admitting the couple only picked the day about five months ago.

Thankfully, the last-minute wedding will work out.

The two chose to incorporate Lin's heritage - with an updated twist.

Though traditionally, the bride serves the groom's parents, Hill and Lin, who lives in Queens, agreed to serve each other's parents as a sign of unity. "We're serving tea to our elders," Hill said. Just to add an extra twist to the festivities at their Riverside Church wedding, the bride, who is in her 30s, will walk down the aisle in an antique Edwardian wedding gown sewn in 1909.

全紐約的情侶們都不想錯過週三這個千載難逢的好日子，紛紛選擇在09年9月9日這一天結婚。

當29歲的兒童維權律師賈斯汀•奧爾索普向芭芭拉•菲茨傑拉德求婚時，他的女友就已經想好了這個日子。

同爲律師的28歲的菲茨傑拉德說：“9是我的幸運數字。”

這對情侶還發現，按照愛爾蘭人的說法，在星期三這一天結婚最爲吉利。

菲茨傑拉德說：“我做了一些調查，發現有兩三天是各種文化都公認的幸運日。”她和奧爾索普將在離兩人家鄉比較近的新澤西州桑迪•胡克城結婚。

“9-9-9，簡直是幸運滿滿！”

這一天對於中國的新娘們來說尤爲吉利，因爲中文裏9的發音和“久”相同。下一次這樣的巧合要等到2109年9月纔會出現，

28歲的準新娘鄭西琳（音譯）說：“我們選擇（這一天）是因爲9這個數字在中文裏意味着‘長久’。”

鄭西琳和她的未婚夫打算邀請一些親朋好友，在市政廳舉行一個小型婚禮，之後在市政廳酒店慶祝新婚。鄭西琳是一名辦公室經理，她的未婚夫、31歲的馮震（音譯）是一名實驗室技術人員，兩人常奔忙於曼哈頓和波士頓之間，而且他們都是美籍華人。

“9”之所以幸運不僅因爲它的發音。

都從事古文物研究的林尼可和40歲的喬•希爾說，因爲9是個位數裏最大的數字，和中國皇帝（的九五之尊）有關，因此也會給他們的大婚日增添幾分高貴的意味。

來自布魯克林的希爾說：“我們選定這一天的時候已經有點晚了。”他們大約在五個月前才選定要在09年9月9日這一天結婚。

幸運的是，最後一刻決定的婚禮將順利舉行。

兩人還決定在婚禮中融入新娘家的傳統，並結合一點現代的新花樣。

依據傳統，新娘應該向新郎的雙親敬茶，但希爾和林決定互敬對方的雙親，表示團結和睦。希爾說：“我們將分別向我們的雙親敬茶。”爲了給他們的婚禮增加一點新花樣，30多歲的林尼可將身穿一件1909年縫製的、愛德華七世時期的結婚禮服走向禮壇。林和希爾居住在皇后區，兩人的婚禮將在“河邊教堂”舉行。

Vocabulary:

tie the knot: to get married 結婚（Michael and Hannah are going to tie the knot. 邁克爾和漢娜要喜結良緣了。）

quirk: an unpredictable or unaccountable event 偶然的事件

twist:手段; 辦法; 技巧, 新花樣