It's a Leap Year, YES you can ask him to marry you!

If you didn’t know already weddingsonline was founded in gorgeous, green Ireland 15 years ago. Now you might be wondering why we’re sharing this little bit of info with you today – well, another interesting piece of history happened in Ireland that’s linked to a not so distant date this month – February 29th. Yes, Leap Year.

According to an old Irish tale, St. Brigid of Kildare allegedly complained to St. Patrick back in the 5th century that women had to wait far too long for men to get down one knee so Patrick took matters in to his own hands and decreed that women could pop the question on this one day, February 29th. Irish monks then brought this tradition to Scotland, and Queen Margaret of Scotland passed it in to law back in 1288. And thus the tradition was born that every Leap Year (that’s once every 4 years!) women had their chance to propose to the man in their life.

What if he says ‘No’ you might ask? Well another tradition was born that states that the refuser must pay a fine and it could range from buying a silk dress to coughing up for several pairs of gloves (yes, in parts of Europe 12 pairs of gloves were on the guy’s shopping list… how else would you have hidden the shame of an “engagement-ring-less” finger.)

To us modern folk, this all sounds crazy old-fashioned and more than a bit dated (we’re all for women asking the person they love to marry them on any day they please, regardless of a tradition). After all, we live in 2016 when women and men are more “equal” partners in relationships than ever. We have female CEOs and female Prime Minsters (maybe even a female US President in the making) and in the UAE we’ve just had 5 women Ministers elected to the Cabinet so perhaps this tradition is well and truly outdated and should be left to gather dust on the shelf for at least another 4 years.

And of course, many cultures and religions of couples in the UAE have different cultural norms around proposals meaning this Leap Year tradition is definitely not an option worth considering. But it might just be an interesting conversation starter for you and the man in your life.

If you’re looking to hear even more about this old tradition, it might be worth checking out the 2010 movie Leap Year, featuring Amy Adams. It was set in stunning Ireland and let a new generation learn about this (some might say outdated) tradition.

So… if you’ve been waiting just a little too long for the Mr Right in your life to “put a ring on it” then perhaps this February 29 is your day to pop the big question.

OR… maybe you could just send him an anonymous hint from our friends at The Proposal Boutique, he’ll never even know it was from you!

OR… maybe you could just have a good open and honest discussion about your beautiful future together!