Karen Wontor started whipping up cakes at midnight Wednesday and was still applying rosettes, Swiss dots and frosty beads at 11:30 Thursday morning.

Today, Cakes by Karen will deliver five multi-tiered cakes to five locations for five wedding events at 6 p.m., which is more than double the average Friday load.

And all because of a date: 08/08/08.

"They just think it's lucky," said Wontor's daughter Tammy Wilson, watching mom from across the big preparation table at the Highland cake shop. "And that way the husband definitely can't ever forget."

The past seven years have provided brides-to-be with a once-in-a-millennium chance to marry on a date that provides an identical succession of month, day and year.

The fad kicked into high gear last year on 07/07/07, according to wedding suppliers and planners.

The lucky sevens, which fell on a Saturday, prompted a flood of calls for cakes, dresses and flowers for that date.

And there are just four years left for those who haven't indulged -- or who might want to try a second time -- to take advantage of such a repetitive date.

"People just are looking for anything eccentric, something that will make their day stand out," said Marilyn Kaper, of Cedar Lake Florist & Gifts.

She turned down four requests for flowers after accepting one for a beach-theme wedding happening today.

Other date combinations that won't roll around for a thousand years also are popular, according to Charlott Sitarski, owner of Elegance Wedding and Evening Wear, in Highland.

She had 18 registered events for 06/07/08. That's more than double the number for a typical Saturday.

"I think it's just purely a consecutive numbers thing," Sitarski said.

Wedding planner Christina Page, owner of Christina's Creative Planning, was swamped by calls for 07/07/07. She didn't get as many calls for 08/08/08, although she landed a job.

But she said people would be surprised at dates people do pick, with Friday the 13th popular with some folks.

"The ones who do that are people who are big into that kind of thing -- people who are really into Halloween, kind of Gothic," she said.