GEORGE TOWN: While it is widely believed that 11.11.11 is the most popular day to get married, another date is fast emerging as a contender.

Wedding slots for Nov 20 this year written numerically as 20.11.2011 are fast being snapped up.

A check with the Che Hoon Khor Moral Uplifting Society showed that the 20 slots available for that Sunday were filled in just four days.

Fifty other couples had to be turned away.

"Registrations for weddings in November opened on Sept 2 and we had a lot of interest for 20.11.2011," said the society's assistant registrar Yeoh Loy Cheow.

"However that date is just one week after our 11.11.11 mass wedding ceremony," she said.

She explained that for normal Sundays, the society accepted 20 marriage registrations.

Yeoh added that the 111 wedding slots for the big 11.11.11 ceremony had been filled in just over two weeks.

"These days are not particularly more auspicious, but couples like special dates that are easy to remember," Yeoh said.

"This is the latest craze and repeated numbers, in particular, are very popular," she added.

At the Penang Chinese Town Hall, assistant registrar Chong Kim Seong said they too were receiving calls for marriage registrations on 20.11.2011.

"Normally, we conduct our weekly marriage registrations on Saturdays, but a special request has come in from one of our officers to have a ceremony on Nov 20.

"This is a special case, but we will consider requests from other couples to book this date as well," Chong said, adding that so far, over 70 couples had registered to be wed on 11.11.11.