Seventh Heaven For Wedding Couples
Deborah Carter and Perry Contreras of Dallas have been engaged for nine years — longer than a lot of marriages. But that's because they've been waiting for inspiration.
Earlier this year, they finally set their date.
"We decided in February 2007," recalled Deborah. "I was just looking at the calendar and it hit me. We've been engaged since Dec. 26, 1998. The original date that we wanted was 2/20/2000, but we had some things come up and it didn't work out. So we've been waiting on the 'perfect date.' We knew we weren't going to get married last year (June 6, 2006)," she added with a laugh.
Preliminary reports are many couples are getting married today. "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria grabbed the date as soon as she became engaged to basketball star Tony Parker. Their wedding is in France. And celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck will reportedly be married in Italy today to his longtime companion, Gelila Assefa.
Niagara Falls is bracing for hundreds of nuptials, and appointments at Las Vegas wedding chapels are as scarce as hen's teeth.
The Ritz-Carlton in Lake Las Vegas created a special Lucky 7 package: a two-day "Seven Ways of Wonderment" package, at $7,707, offers guests a room on the seventh floor, a seven-course dinner, a $777 shopping spree and a 7 a.m. golf tee-time.
Deborah and Perry are getting married in Vegas — but they're going the exotic route. They're marrying in the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, as sharks and thousands of exotic fish swim around them — even over them – in the circular glass space.
"We are the first ones to ever get married there," said Deborah.
Vegas the perfect spot for their wedding, she added. "When we decided on the 7/7/07 date, we knew the location had to be Vegas," said Deborah. "This is one of our favorite places to visit and we knew all our friends would enjoy it."
And what do their friends and family think of their Lucky 7 wedding — in a shark tank?
"They are thinking 'it's about time'! Some of our friends didn't believe us when we told them to 'save the date.'" That's because Perry and Deborah first met 17 years ago.