Study Suggests “Special” Wedding Dates Increase Chance of Divorce

 Posted on November 11, 2016 in Divorce

Are you the type of person who sees repeating numbers on a digital clock—4:44 pm, for example—and encourages your friends to make a wish? Perhaps the question is particularly relevant considering today’s calendar date of 11/11. A large number of people find significance in patterns found in numbers, while, for many others, such patterns inspire curious, coincidental amusement. In fact, couples around the world intentionally choose dates with numerical patterns to celebrate their wedding ceremonies. However, a new study suggests that those who get married on gimmicky dates divorce nearly a third more often than those who marry on ordinary days.

Special Days and Regular Days

A team of economists from Australia’s University of Melbourne wanted to see if there was any connection between a couple’s wedding date and the likelihood of their divorce. Previous studies have looked at the size and cost of a wedding, as well as impact that age, remarriage, and children may have on the probably of divorce, but the researchers believed that they were the first to examine the calendar date of the wedding itself.

The team identified several types of dates that were considered to be “special” based on the way they could be written, including:

• Dates with repeating numbers, such as 1/1/11 and 9/9/09;
• Dates with sequential numbers, such as 7/8/09 and 9/10/11; and
• Dates with mirror numbers, such as, using European date convention, 20/10/2010.

For the purposes of the project, the researchers also included Valentine’s Day as a special day.

More Marriages, More Divorce

All told, the team examined more than 1 million marriages between the years 1999 and 2013. They found that, on an average, non-special day, about 200 marriages took place. On a special day, the average number of couples to get married jumped to more than 630. The romance of marrying on a special day, however, was not enough for many couples, as special-day marriages were up to 36 percent more likely to end in divorce than non-special day marriages.

While divorce is often the result of a multitude of problems, the researchers speculated about the link between a wedding date and the success or failure of a marriage. They surmised that it was not so much about the date itself, as it was about what choosing a quirky or novelty date says about a couple’s relationship. Could it be that those who select a special date for their wedding are more likely to worry about relatively trivial things, taking some of the focus away from maintaining a healthy marriage?

Contact a Rolling Meadows Divorce Lawyer

Whether you celebrated a special-day wedding or not, if you are facing a divorce, you need an advocate who fight to protect your rights throughout the process. Call 847-253-3100 for a free consultation with an experienced Arlington Heights divorce attorney at Cosley Law Office today.

Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3812296/Getting-married-Valentine-s-Day-doom-marriage-Study-finds-couples-tie-knot-gimmick-dates-higher-risk-divorce.html

https://www.bustle.com/articles/193610-the-worst-day-of-the-year-to-get-married-differs-depending-on-who-you-are