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Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
More couples than ever are choosing the 21st of September for their wedding date because of the popular Earth Wind & Fire song, “September.”
When lead vocalist Maurice White first sang the iconic lyrics, “Do you remember the 21st night of September? Love was changin’ the minds of pretenders while chasin’ the clouds away,” he likely had no idea that these words would inspire so many to say “I do.”
According to wedding platforms like The Knot and Zola, there has been a marked increase within the past five years of wedding dates on the 21st of September 2024.
“This song is a go-to for celebrations, so it could be giving couples a little nudge to pick this date for their big day,” Allison Cullman, Zola’s vice president for brand marketing and strategy, explained to the New York Times. “Pop culture can influence wedding dates.”
The Knot reported nearly 30,000 registered couples saying they planned to marry on that date, with the platform noting that it was primarily because it took place on a Saturday as opposed to 2023 which took place on a Thursday. Meanwhile, Zola found a 33 percent increase in couples setting their wedding date on the 21st of September from the same date in 2019, which was also a Saturday.
Couples are not only drawn to the date’s pop-cultural edge but also the weather, depending on where you live can tend to hit the perfect sweet spot of not too cold and not too hot.
“I think that September is the best month in the area because of the mild weather, sunny days and hint of fall,” Massachusetts native Shauna Sullivan told the NYT. “I always wanted to get married in September, and the 21st is a weekend.”
However, she added that also she “couldn’t help but remember” Earth, Wind & Fire's endlessly catchy 1978 hit, written by White, Al McKay, and Allee Willis. Before her death, Willis recalled how she told White to change the lyrics “Do you remember/The 21st ‘day’ of September,” asking him to switch the words from “day” to “night.”
“First thing I said,” she reflected. “Day’s gotta go. It’s gotta be night. It’s more romantic.”
Willis had seemingly made the right call, with the song since being considered the perfect romantic tune for loved-up couples to walk down the aisle or dance the night away at the reception. The song has also been used in everything from fictional weddings, including the opening of the 1997 movie Soul Food, to the soundtracks of TV shows, commercials, sporting events, and video games.
Earth, Wind & Fire was one of the biggest acts of the 1970s and was created by White. The original members included White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Fred White, Al McKay, Johnny Graham, Ralph Johnson, Larry Dunn, and Andrew Woolfolk, and together, they went on to release 11 consecutive gold albums.
