Leap Year Proposing

A leap year has that one additional day, which only happens every four years. This day has a special tradition, which started in the 5th century in Ireland. February the 29th is the day that tradition suggests that a woman can propose to her man. It was believed to have been introduced to balance the traditional roles of men and women, in a similar way to how the extra Leap year day balances the calendar.

Different countries have different rules for a leap day/year. Supposedly, a 1288 law by Queen Margaret of Scotland required that fines be levied if a marriage proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss, to £1, to a silk gown, in order to soften the blow.

In Denmark refusal must be compensated with 12 pairs of gloves.
In Finland, the tradition is that if a man refuses a woman’s proposal on leap day, he should buy her the fabric for a skirt.
In Greece, marriage in a leap year is considered unlucky. One in five engaged couples in Greece will plan to avoid getting married in a leap year because of this.

Have you thought about proposing to your boyfriend? It’s now not an uncommon or unordinary thing to propose to your man in the modern day. We do see this quite often and more and more women get involved in the design of their engagement ring. How would you design your own ring?

With leap day just around the corner we have rings ready for you to buy and surprise that special man.