99 Cents Only Stores has added an item to its array of products available for 99.99 cents or less: weddings.

On Sept. 9 or 9/9/09 as the City of Commerce company likes to put it nine lucky couples will say “I do” at the chain’s store on Wilshire Boulevard just west of Fairfax Avenue.

Included in the 99 cent price of the wedding will be the services of an ordained nondenominational minister, the wedding license and photographs, as well as wedding d & #233;cor, hors d’oeuvres and beverages carried in the store, for up to nine guests per couple.

“One of the most expensive things people do, in general, is get married,” said company spokeswoman Elsy Guardado, who couldn’t pass up the opportunity to put in a plug: “We want to show that there are ways to get by and save money in these hard times, and one of them is to shop at our stores.”

The event is the latest in a whole series of wacky promotions staged by the company based on the number nine.

The first nine customers in line at the grand openings of stores get iPods or other electronic equipment for 99 cents. Customers age 99 have been given gift certificates worth $9.99. And a recent Valentines Day special offered the first 99 customers with $19.99 or more in purchases sexy lingerie sets for 99.99 cents each.

Apparently the promotions with a little help, no doubt, from the recession have paid off; in its second quarter ended June 27, the company reported a total sales increase of, you guessed it, just over 9 percent.

Couples tying the knot Sept. 9 will be randomly chosen from a field of about 2,000 (Guardado rounds the number down to 1,999) who have so far applied.

The nine-minute ceremonies, she said, will begin precisely at 9:09 a.m. Not included in the price of admission are the tuxedos, wedding gowns and one other item.

“We’re not providing the rings,” Guardado said.