Leap Year Proposal

All of us in the wedding venue business know that January and February are very busy months with romantic couples proposing more in this time than any other time of the year but this year there is an added bonus – the ladies can do their own proposing!

I expect many of you know that 2020 is a Leap Year but this year there is the added bonus that 29th February falls on a Saturday so any ladies who want to pop the question this time round have the ideal scenario.

Bachelor's Day

This particular day, 29th February, is also called Bachelor's Day, but where did the whole thing start?

One possible origin is found in Ireland, where St Brigid supposedly asked St Patrick to allow women to propose after hearing complaints from single women that their intended husbands were too shy to pop the question. St Patrick is said to have allowed this to happen every leap year. As it was leap year day, St Brigid immediately proposed.

According to the tale, St Patrick turned her down but offered her a kiss and a silk gown as a consolation prize. This is supposedly the origin of an Irish tradition which says that any man refusing a woman's leap day proposal must give the woman a silk gown

As well as the traditions and tales, there are also superstitions about leap years and marriage. In several countries including Greece and Ukraine, getting married in a leap year day is considered to be unlucky .

In Finland, however, it is considered good luck for women to propose on a leap year day . Similar to the Scottish and Irish stories, a penalty of clothing, for those that turn down proposals, features again, although this time a man refusing a woman has to buy her enough fabric to make a skirt.

One famous example of a woman proposing to a man is the UK's Queen Victoria, who asked Prince Albert to marry her in 1839 . Royal tradition states that no-one can propose to a reigning monarch, so it was this way around. Albert, of course, accepted and the rest is history.

So, given that we’re in the 21st Century, is the idea of female leap year day proposals outdated? Sexist? Inappropriate? How would it apply to same-sex marriages?

Taking a step backwards, why is it assumed that men should be the ones to propose? Talking to our couples, although the man may have actually done the proposing, it had been agreed between them long before….. so no more heartbroken suitors galloping into the sunset. What a pity!