Themed-wedding cake created by Freed's Bakery. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Getting married is always a gamble, but prospective brides and grooms have something this year that can tip the odds a bit more in their favor.

July 7, 2007, or, numerically speaking, 7-7-07, which comes as close to Vegas-friendly Triple-7s as the Gregorian calendar allows.

Those of us harboring visions of neither getting married nor getting lucky during 2007 probably hadn't realized the lucky date was even on its way. But numbers-minded brides- and grooms-to-be have, and area wedding professionals say they could make this coming July 7 one of the busiest wedding days they've seen in a long time.

"I can see it's already going to be a very busy day," said Greg Smith, owner of the Little Church of the West, 4617 Las Vegas Blvd. South. "It's going to be huge. I think I've already got 30, close to 40, reservations."

July 7 reservations began arriving about six months ago, Smith said, and interest in the date even could surpass that of Feb. 14, Valentine's Day.

"This will be my 24th Valentine's Day, which is the busiest day of the year," Smith said, but "I can't remember a day where we've had this much interest this far out."

Smith even feels lucky enough to offer a bold prediction: July 7, 2007, will, he said, "probably be the best wedding day in the history of Las Vegas."

Robert Edmonds, manager of Wee Kirk O' The Heather wedding chapel, 231 Las Vegas Blvd. South, said all of the signs are in place for a very busy July 7.

July isn't usually a particularly big month for weddings, Edmonds noted. Spring months tend to overshadow the summer months, he said, mostly because the heat of July and August makes getting duded up for a ceremony unappealing.

Not so this year, Edmonds predicted. "777 is a gambling number, a Lucky-7 number, and everyone seems to be calling because they want to book a wedding in Las Vegas."

Interest in 7-7-07 weddings began to appear around November, Edmonds said, adding that, as of last week, he'd already booked 20 July 7 ceremonies.

One early bird couple even was canny enough to book the 7 p.m. spot, which is good for a quadruple-7 score. But, Edmonds said, "7 a.m. is still open."

It helps that July 7 this year falls on a Saturday, Edmonds added. Saturday already is a busy wedding day, he said, "but this kind of adds on to it."

Both Smith and Edmonds expect their chapels to be open a bit longer than usual on July 7, while the time between ceremonies may shrink.

"We try to book our ceremonies by the hour for the most part," Edmonds said. "But if I get walk-ins or someone in a hurry that wants (to be married on) that day, then we can fit them in-between."

The desire for Lucky 7 weddings is spilling over into ancillary businesses, too.

Dominique Garel, owner of The Gourmet Cake Factory, 4300 Spring Mountain Road, said he's already received several orders for wedding cakes on July 7.

"It's going to be a big day," he said. "We already know that."

Max Freed, general manager of Freed's Bakery, 4780 S. Eastern Ave., expects July 7 to be "probably the biggest day we've had in quite a while, actually. Already there are tons of cakes for the 7th, and we're already six months away."

In fact, Freed said his first July 7 cake order arrived more than a year ago.

Freed said his bakery is used to designing wedding cakes with Vegas-ish themes. That'll probably come in handy for that segment of 7-7-07 couples who want to take the Lucky-7 theme to the limit. While most July 7 cakes probably will be traditional, Freed expects to see orders for "much more the Las Vegas-themed wedding cakes as well."

A more pressing 7-7-07 problem for Freed: How to get all of those July 7 cakes delivered. Freed's never rejects a cake order, Freed said, "but this may be one of those days we're absolutely stacked.

"As far as wedding cakes, there are close to 20 or 25 already, something like that, and that's not including the birthday cakes."

Flowers are a staple of any wedding. And, said Malinda Balsinger, designer at French Bouquet Flower Shop West, 4001 S. Decatur Blvd., "we definitely expect 7-07 to be busy."

Calls about arrangements for July 7 weddings began arriving a few weeks ago, she said, and while Saturdays are always a busy day for weddings, this one "will be busier because of the date."

Michelle Jones, owner of Flowers By Michelle, 7512 Westcliff Drive, said one of her clients has "seven attendants on each side and they're doing 7 o'clock on the 7th. We even have a bride who just e-mailed me, and she wants seven flowers in each of her bridesmaids' bouquets."

Jones said her first July 7 booking came more than a year ago, and that she currently has nine weddings booked on that day.

"I've never had one that was quite like this one," said Jones, who has had her own shop for 15 years and has been designing for 20.

And what's a wedding without an officiant? Nothing that's legally binding, certainly, and the Rev. Julie Nourish already is confirmed for two ceremonies on July 7 -- including one at 7 p.m. -- while confirmation on a third is pending.

"I've had several people request" the date, she said. "Of course, I can only do one at a time."

By the way: The couple who landed the prime 7 p.m. spot called Nourish way back in August.

What's the appeal? For most couples, getting married on 7-7-07 is simply a novel, fun thing to do, said the Rev. David St. John, pastor of St. Valentine Faith Community, who'll be officiating over at least eight ceremonies that day.

Couples are coming from all over the United States for their Las Vegas weddings, St. John said. "It's just one of those days that's not going to happen again."

If nothing else, he added, "the husband is going to remember the anniversary."

In fact, while 7-7-07 offers a particularly Vegas vibe to this whole thing, there's nothing new about prospective newlyweds' looking for a way to give their nuptials a novel spin.

"I've seen this before," Smith said. "Think back to any leap year. That's always busy."

Similarly, a run of any numbers in a date tends to appeal to prospective marrieds, although Edmonds noted that this preoccupation with numbers usually is "a women's thing."

"Men don't think that way," he said. "It's the bride's idea, and of course the groom is going to do whatever the bride wants.

"They want something unique, because it's the day they got married. Just like next year will be 8-8-08."

At least this year isn't as creepy as last year. June, 6, 2006 -- 6-6-06 -- wasn't a particularly busy wedding day, St. John noted. "Christian people avoided it because of '666' being the (Biblical) mark of the beast."

However, Garel said he actually did make a few wedding cakes for couples who chose 666-themed weddings. They weren't devil's food, he added, although they did sport "the colors and the horns. That was kind of odd."