Woman reveals why she chose 9/11 as her wedding date despite brother's experience

A woman who chose her wedding date to be the same as the harrowing 9/11 attacks has revealed her reasoning, even with her brother’s experience with the traumatic event.

It’s probably something that isn’t shocking to know that in New York, weddings are rarely held on September 11, the day the World Trade Center fell.

According to theknot.com, around 66 per cent fewer couples registered on the site for weddings on that date, compared to other available slots, per CBS.

Also, in 2004, the year saw a 55 per cent drop from the second Saturday of September in 2003, and a 65 per cent drop from the second Saturday of September 2002.

However, Esther Santer and her husband were not deterred by the sombre date as they got married in New York’s Crest Hollow, on its September 2017 anniversary.

Esther Santer said she wanted to be married outside (Getty Stock Images)

Why? Because it’s ‘like, an f-you to terrorism,’ said Santer.

She told The Times of her choice to wed on such a ‘tragic’ day, and revealed that she’s simply trying to add a new memorable event to it.

She said: “If we took tragic days out of the calendar for when not to get married, there would never be any celebrations.”

But while the attacks hit close to home for New Yorkers, Santer’s family were also personally impacted by the moment the second plane hit.

That’s because on the day of the attacks, her brother had been on his way to work when the hijackers flew into the World Trade Center.

His work was just across the street, and he witnessed the event that would kill 2,606 people in and out of the buildings.

“He saw the second plane hit,” Santer said of the moment. “He figured it was terrorism and ran for his life.”

At the time, Santer wasn’t in New York, as she lived in St Louis, Missouri, before moving to New York for 17 years later.

“Getting married outside was really important to me and a September wedding was kind of the only guarantee,” Santer said. “We started looking at venues and everything [else] was just booked.”

When September 11 was available and on a Saturday – which is often times the best day to marry thanks to its flexibility around people’s careers, she decided to say yes.

But that doesn’t mean they celebrate the day.

In fact, she told The Times that the couple moved their anniversary date.

“I wouldn’t say we pretend we have a different day but we don’t publicise it,” she said. “We wish each other a happy anniversary on September 11, but when we go out to celebrate, it’s either on the 10th or 12th.”

She said she chose the date for a reason (Getty Stock Images)

As for whether she regrets her choice, she said: “People get married on Pearl Harbor. People get married on every single tragic day.”

Santer isn’t the only one to plan her big day for September 11 either, as Lynne Vellucci and James Buongiorno told CBS over 20 years ago they were doing it to make a statement about terrorism too.

"We're really excited about having a celebration of love on that day to help restore a sense of goodness to the world," said Vellucci.

So, there are people who will marry on 9/11 and it appears they have a similar outlook on why it should be done.