29 February 2024 , 08:59
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For centuries it was the day singleton women could propose to a man instead of waiting for him to get down on one knee.
Today some women still ask their guy to marry them on Leap Day, although most agree anyone can do it any day of the year. The custom is believed to date to the 5th century, when Irish nun St Brigid told St Patrick women had to wait too long for suitors to act.
He offered them the opportunity, but only once every four years. Professional proposal planner Daisy Amodio says it is still the men who mostly get down on one knee. She said: “Out of 5,000 proposals, only 1% have been from women. But of those 1%, only one happened on Leap Day. It really doesn’t matter what day of the year you propose.”
Here two women who popped the question explain why they loved taking the Leap...
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Sally Taylor proposed to her partner Andy Tibbal on Leap Day in 2020.
The triathlete and swimming teacher decided the perfect venue would be at her local pool, where she surprised fellow swimmer Andy with a ring as she held up a card that read, “Will You Marry Me”. Sally, 55, of Knaresborough, North Yorks, says: “We had talked about marriage over the years but I knew I’d be the one to do it. I realised it was a leap year so thought it would be ideal. I felt wonderful asking Andy.”
Hayley, and her partner Daniel, believes every woman should have the choice to propose (DAILY MIRROR)
Sally proposed to Andy on February 29Andy, 60, an engineer, said: “It really was a great surprise.” They couple haven’t got married yet but hope to do so in the future. But Sally believes women can propose on any day of the year they choose: “All women have the same empowerment to propose and they can do it whenever they want. I feel extremely proud of myself that I did it.”
'Every woman should have the right'
Hayley De Beers believes women have every right to propose, Leap Day or not. She did it on a night in with partner Daniel in front of a fire.
The make-up artist, 37, of Shard, Somerset, recalls: “It wasn’t planned, I hadn’t been waiting for him to ask. My stepbrother was getting married, there was lots of wedding talk. “It was a rainy January night in 2018, we’d had a couple of drinks. I asked if he wanted to get married. He replied, ‘If you ask me’. I said, ‘What if I ask you?’ He said, ‘Yeah, all right’.”
She went to TK Maxx to buy an interim £25 engagement ring. The couple tied the knot in a registry office. No one gave Hayley away and Daniel, 49, took her surname. “It is up to each couple to decide what’s best,” says Hayley. “A lot of traditions seem very old-fashioned. I don’t see why women should expect the man to propose. It’s so silly.”