Couples around Delaware celebrate 12/12/12

Around the world many people are celebrating the special Dec. 12, 2012 date by getting married, and in Delaware, dozens of couples are doing the same.

The Hon. Kenneth W. Boulden, Jr., Clerk of the Peace in New Castle County, is performing the most ceremonies in the state with 40 marriages and civil unions planned throughout the day.

On average, Boulden typically marries 12-15 couples a day, with a spike during Valentines Day.

“Valentines Day is our biggest day of the year and we do 30 to 36 so we will surpass that today,” said Boulden. “The fact of the matter is, Valentines Day is all about love, and hearts, and flowers and today is just fun. It’s just a fun day because of the numbers.”

Boulden has been marrying couples for the past 20 years and said this will be one of his busiest days in recent history.

“In the new millennium when we turned the clock to the year 2000, I did a mass ceremony down at Tubman Park on the waterfront and I believe we had over 100 couples that night.”

Downstate, George Parish, Clerk of the Peace for Sussex County, has 12 weddings scheduled to fit the 12/12/12 theme.

Parish’s office schedules ceremonies a minimum of 30 minutes apart to ensure that each couple has enough time to celebrate their special moment.

“We have a minimum of 30 minutes, so perhaps if the couple desires readings, or special music, or testimonials, we do not have a typical county courthouse ceremony,” said Parish. “So, as a result, we allow a minimum of 30 minutes in our scheduling.”

Parish’s office is also unique in the fact that they schedule ceremonies 24/7 and perform ceremonies both inside and outside the office.

“We’ve scheduled ceremonies at 6 a.m., 6 p.m. and midnight,” he said. “We’ve had them on holidays; we had them on Christmas afternoon and New Years Eve.”

He added that the deputy clerk has a ceremony scheduled for 12:12 p.m. today.

In Kent County, just eight couples are scheduled to take advantage of the unique date however, the Clerk of the Peace Office said if a couple decides to “walk-in” with a valid marriage license, the clerk will marry them without an appointment.

The 12/12/12 date is the last numerical series featuring the same number three times for the next 89 years.