Did you get married on February 29, 2008 — a leap year wedding?
March 5, 2008 by Christine Gooding
Filed under Featured Couples
Did you get married on leap year this year? If so, what made you get married on a leap year date when it only comes around every 4 years?
I searched through the web and found that Bride Karen McDonald and groom Mark Duncan-Caley did just that!
Bride Karen McDonald wore white, her groom, Mark Duncan-Caley, donned a suit and two bridesmaids and two groomsmen attended. But that was where tradition ended for the Christchurch couple.
The couple had a groom-dog, a bride-dog, a flower-dog and page-dog in attendance and chose yesterday — February 29 — to marry because it was a “quirky” date that only came around every four years.
McDonald, 32, said even if 20 years passed they would still have only celebrated four years of marriage.
“We will never grow old together,” she joked.
The other bonus was every leap year Duncan-Caley, 33, could buy her a “humungous” present to make up for the three years when they had missed out on celebrating their wedding anniversary, said McDonald, a canine hydrotherapist who also works part-time in retail with her new husband.
The couple were married last night in Kaiapoi’s Charles Street band rotunda by marriage celebrant, Tom Bayliss, before a reception at the Kaiapoi Working Men’s Club with their dogs, families and 120 guests.
It was a wedding planned in just 5-1/2 weeks after a spur-of-the-moment decision to name the big day as February 29.
“My friends and family have told me for years I am crazy. And crazy is getting married on February 29 which tells a story,” McDonald said.
The couple met over the internet two years ago and then face-to-face on a Christchurch beach. “It was really love at first sight,” she said.
McDonald then spent a month in the United Kingdom before returning to team up with Duncan-Caley at the Purau Bay Holiday Park, where he worked, living together in a small cabin for a couple of months. “Having survived that we can survive anything,” said McDonald.
They treasured their four “fur-kids” — a border collie, two border collie crosses and a beardie — but would not say if any newborns could be expected apart from “some puppies”.
In answer to your question, yes, I proposed and was married on Feb. 29, 2008. My ‘partner’ and I had been together quite a few years and had talked about getting married. Somehow it was just never the right time. Then over the Christmas holiday something really momentous happened and now I was free in my mind to move on from the past and marry my Mr. Right. About the middle of Feb. he had to travel away for a week and I decided that I wanted to propose in a very big way. Before I knew it I was asking the ‘Community Club’ in our town if they would consider hosting a dance on Leap Year Day. They could charge for tickets and make some money for the community and I would have a venue to stage my proposal.
You just know a story like this is going to be really big in a small town. Virtually everyone knew about it, and everyone was great about helping to keep it a secret. The ‘bride-groom’ came home about 5 days before the dance and I had everything arranged, even a cake!
Now my biggest challenge would be talking him into going to the dance in the first place.
It was all pre-arranged with the band. They would take a break from their first set at about 11:30 PM, I would come out on the stage, make the proposal, presumably he would accept, marriage commissioner would appear on-stage and we would be married before midnight.
Everything went just as planned and the entire town has something that they still talk about now.
All in all, I highly recommend it, Thanks for letting me share. Debbie
My hubby and I were married by registrar on Friday 29/02/2008.
I suggested the date after 12 mths of engagement….
I said I would only expect a gift that was 4 years in saving!!!!! hahahaaaa