The previous record was 480, but on Saturday the “National Kiss Under the National Mistletoe” event had 1,435 couples locking lips and setting a new world record.
Move over St. Louis — after a six-year run, Washington, D.C., now holds the record for the most couples kissing under the mistletoe.
The previous record was 480, but on Saturday the “National Kiss Under the National Mistletoe” event had 1,435 couples locking lips and setting a new world record.
Michael Empric, the adjudicator from the Guinness World Records, thrilled the nearly 3,000 people on hand, letting them know from the stage that they made kissing history.
“They blew it out of the water,” Empric said. “It’s a new Guinness World Record title.”
Empric told WTOP that breaking a record is not easy.
“You need to get people to your attempt. You need that real mistletoe to kiss under, and everyone needs to be in a couple,” Empric said. “You can’t just come in as a solo participant. So, there’s a lot of hoops you have to jump through, but they did it today.”
The couples had to simultaneously kiss for five seconds beneath the mistletoe to qualify for the record.
Downtown DC BID hosted the event, which took place under the National Mistletoe at Anthem Row.
“We did not know if we were going to be able to break the record. So, we went from, ‘can we get 500 couples here’ to ‘we had more than 6,000 couples registered,’” said Ebony Walton, director of marketing communications for Downtown DC BID.
Walton told WTOP that her organization ordered 17,150 mistletoes from a farm in Oregon.
One of the couples taking part in the record-breaking attempt was Mindy McManus and her boyfriend, Kevin Weeden. Before the two headed to a Christmas sweater-themed party, the two talked about what it was like to break the kissing record.
“It was crowded for sure, but there was space, ” McManus said. “It’s a great excuse to cuddle up close, so I liked it.”
Weeden said he loved being in the crowd and its spirit.
One couple who knew they wanted to be a part of the event from the beginning was Everett and Resi Dick.
“When I found out about it, I was like, ‘Oh wow, that would be nice sweetheart,’” Everett said. “We kiss each other all the time.”
Everett caught a laugh when asked how it felt to be part of a world record.
“I have special records that no one knows about, so I’ll just add this to my portfolio,” he said.
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