The economic crisis may be putting an end to many a best-laid plan, but it would seem this does not include marriage plans. January saw a significant jump in the number of weddings in the capital. "In January, 2009, the Registrar`s Office registered 5,386 marriages, which is 25 per cent more than in 2008, when 4,301 couples were registered," said Irina Muravyeva, head of the main branch of the city Registrar`s Office. Capture the Season`s Best Memories Get a free Sony Cybershot 10MP camera and Sony 9" Digital Picture Frame! ElectronicsSource.us.com In 2008, a total of 84,028 marriages were registered, which was 4.6 per cent less than in 2007, RIA Novosti reported Muravyeva as saying at a press conference in late February. The drop was explained by the fact that 2007 had recorded the largest number of weddings in the last 10 years and that 2008 was a leap year, which traditionally sees the number of marriages drop steeply, said Muravyeva. While 2009 may have started off with bang, one date seems set to buck the trend. "This year`s ▒day of three nines` - Sept. 9 - is not expected to see a marriage boom," said Muravyeva. "It`s already clear that many young people are seeing this number as an inverted triple six and are refusing to register their marriages on this day." Over the last two years, Moscow has experienced marriage booms on the "day of the three sevens" and on the "day of three eights". On July 7, 2007, Moscow saw 1,678 weddings, of which 91 have ended in divorce, and Aug. 8, 2008 saw 1,597 weddings with 12 divorces to date. "This year we are expecting a marriage boom on a different attractive date - 07.08.09," said Muravyeva. Those with plans to exchange vows now have a new, and rather unusual, choice of location for the big day - the presidential box in the Luzhniki sports complex. Since 2006, Moscow has had a special programme allowing for marriages to be registered not only in registrars` offices, but also in the city`s historical and cultural establishments. Previously, the list of such locations included the museum estate of Ostankino, Kuskovo, Vlakhernskoye-Kuzminki, Tsaritsyno and the war memorial at Poklonnaya Gora. "This will be the first year when we will register a marriage in such an unusual location such as the presidential box in the Luzhniki sports complex," said Muravyeva. The first wedding in the Luzhniki box is planned for April 25. Muravyeva added that there would soon be a new main ceremonial centre for conducting weddings - the historical mansion of Prince Gagarin on Strastnoi Bulvar. The building, which previously housed a hospital, is being renovated to make it suit its future role as the city`s "main wedding palace".