Week 7 - Leap Year Proposal

Welcome to Week 7 in our ’52 Rituals/Traditions in 52 Weeks’

This week, given that we are in a leap year and I’m sure many of you have been hearing lots of wonderful stories about the tradition of leap year proposals, as we have, we thought we would do a little post about this age old tradition which is widely known and definitely a favourite. In Anglo-Saxon times it was considered to be very lucky if a couple married in a leap year. It was especially lucky if the woman herself had proposed in that leap year.

The 29^th day of February every four years in a leap year sees every woman have the right to propose to the man she would like to marry. (I wish brad Pitt had been somewhere close by). This tradition goes back many hundreds of years to a time when the leap year day actually had no recognition in English law. It was considered that the day was simply 'lept over' and ignored, which obviously coined the term 'leap year'.

Given that there was absolutely no recognition of the day It was considered, therefore, that as it had no legal status, it was reasonable then to assume that traditions also had no status.

As a consequence, the many women who were desperately concerned about becoming spinsters and being 'left on the shelf' took advantage of this and proposed to the man they wished to marry.

It was also widely accepted that since the leap year day corrected the discrepancy between the calendar year of 365 days and the time taken for the Earth to complete one orbit of the sun (being 365 days and 6 hours), this was an opportunity for the women of the world to correct a tradition that was one-sided and unjust.

An old rhyme refers to tradition:

“Happy they’ll be that wed and wive,

Within leap year, they’re sure to thrive.”

There is actually a document from Scotlandthat states that women were thereafter allowed to propose marriage to the man of their choice in a leap year. If a man dared to decline a woman’s proposal on this day he would be required to pay a fine which could possibly range from a simple kiss to the more costly gift of a silk dress or pair of gloves.

So ladies, we hope you al had a wonderful February 29^th and to those of you who stood up courageously and proposed we wish you all of the good luck that hundreds of years of history has promised.

The Wedding Guru’s

The Wedding of Carla and James

Welcome to the wedding of the gorgeous Carla and James.

In October 2009 James proposed to his beautiful girlfriend Carla on top of the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas. 2 years later in November 2011 they said 'i do' amongst their family and friends in their hometown of Adelaide.

Carla Waye is a solo singer / songwriter (www.carlawaye.com) and has worked with renowned producers such as Darryl Anthony and Isreal who has produced for the likes of Jessica Mauboy, Stan Walker, Ricky Lee and Jay Sean. Carla comes from a very close Filipino family while James is from a proud Greek background, as you will see from the beautiful photo story to follow they were able to incorporate some of both their Filipino & Greek traditions throughout.

It has been a true pleasure for the team at the Wedding Gurus to bring this to you and we hope you enjoy the inspriring and breathtaking story of how their beautiful wedding day unfolded. The couple can’t speak highly enough of their fabulous photographer Jackie Tran who captured all the truly spectacular and memorable moments of the days events.

The sweet and classically simple flower girl dresses are from Tea Princess

 

Carla with her proud mum. The Jewelery including headpiece, custom brooch and earrings,

by Maria Elena Headpieces

 James with his handsome groomsmen and page boys

Carla's overwhelmingly beautiful wedding dress is by San Patrick purchased at

Anastasia Bridal Couture

The colourful & breathtakingly beautiful Church, St Dimitrios of Adelaide

In a traditional Greek wedding ceremony the bride and groom are crowned with a Stefana. 2 Crowns are linked together with a single length of ribbon symbolising the joining of two souls and the creation of a new household. It is a symbol of combining two people as one.

The stunning bridal procession of all white Jags courtesy of Jags With Grace

The Classic Jets Fighter Museum at Parafield Airport was the perfect location to capture these unique and timeless shots

The bridesmaid dresses were individually designed by each bridesmaid and crafted by

Adriana Loro Designs on Port Road, Adelaide

 

The elegant and intricately crafted 8 tier wedding cake was created by the talented team at

Sugar and Spice Cakes on Goodwood Road

The couple share their first dance at the spectacular Sunrise ballroom of
Sfera's Park Suites & Convention Centre, Adelaide

Carla Waye is an acclaimed singer / songwriter and amazed her guests with a beutiful vocal performance with the help of David Fitzgerald. Carla sang a medley of songs including 'make you feel my love', 'angel of mine', 'heaven' and 'even when im sleeping'

As part of James' Greek Background, his family and friends pin money and lucky charms on him as a sign of good luck and fortune for the couples lives together.

Carla performs a traditional Filipino dance 'Tinkiling'. The two parralel bamboo poles are hit together and raised into the air and back to the ground to the rythmn of the music, as this is done Carla hops over and around the them in a skillful graceful manner.

We saved the most magnificent awe-inspiring photo till last.

As Carla and James embark upon their future together, we wish them a marriage filled with blissful and everlasting love, laughter and happiness.

Mike Proposes to Christie with Animation

I just love this beautiful animation where Mike has created this video to propose to Christie, I find the use of technology to propose very facinating and romantic - what do you think?

Mike & Christie - Proposal from cstmartin on Vimeo.

Their Story - Written by Christie:

After a week trip down to Bentonville, Arkansas to visit my best friend (I spent 10 years in the south and with me currently living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada I don't get many opportunities to visit my old home). It was the best trip ever and we got back to Toronto on his birthday. Within 5 minutes of getting home on his OWN birthday, he gifted me with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet and when I turned it on it immediately played this animation. :)
It was originally a flash animation, so when it asked me the big question it has "Yes" & "No" buttons on the screen. Upon pressing yes, it played the final animation after the fade. Curious to know what happen if I pressed "No", I went back and replayed the animation. I had Michael press no for me, and to my surprise the button moved! I guess he wouldn't take no for an answer :)


When I finished with the video he presented me with a teal Birks box and inside the most beautiful ring I have ever seen. He's truly the sweetest man ever and I am incredibly lucky to have found him.