What a difference a day makes.

The number of weddings in Medway tripled on Friday, all because it was the eighth day, of the eighth month, of the eighth year.

Usually registrars can expect to record three to four weddings on a summer Friday, but last week they recorded 13.

James Brown, superintendent registrar for Medway, said: “It was a monster job. We were doing weddings on the hour. Despite being a week day we were doing more weddings than on a Saturday.”

One couple went to extra lengths to make their day memorable. David Claughton and Denise Rawlings went to the trouble of having Frindsbury Cricket Club licensed for Friday so they could get married on the special date.

Medway register office notices the phenomenon each year the date is a palindrome – a phrase which reads the same forwards as it does backwards.

Mr Brown did have one idea why the days are exceptionally busy for weddings. He said: “I suppose it makes it an easy date to remember for the men.”