August 8 makes for a happy day
Registry offices around Switzerland have had a very busy Friday, as couples queued up to tie the knot on 08.08.08.
In the larger Swiss cities, 400 people became man and wife, with some places recording twice as many brides and grooms as usual.
In all 31 couples got married in Zurich, and 30 in neighbouring Winterthur, where the usual rate is 14.
In Basel, ceremonies had to take place every 15 minutes and in the capital Bern, and the towns of Baden and Rheinfelden, the registry office was – exceptionally – open over lunchtime.
The date seemed to be particularly popular in the German-speaking part of the country. Officials in the French-speaking part said they did not have such a big demand for 08.08.08 weddings – for example, Geneva only had ten ceremonies.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.