San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TAKING THE LEAP ON AN APPROPRIATE DAY
County marries dozens of couples on day that only comes every 4 years
It’s not every day you get married on a day that comes around once every four years.
That might explain in part the beaming smile on the face of Carmen Mercado of San Diego, as she stood in the hallway of the sparkling new Assessor/recorder/ County Clerk office in Santee early Saturday morning. She was one of dozens of couples who showed up at the new office to get married, pick up a marriage license, or both.
That’s usually not news — the county office annually performs 12,000 weddings and hands out 24,000 licenses. But Saturday was a special day — the leap day in this leap year.
Once every four years the calendar contains an extra day, tacked on the end of February, in order to bring Earth (mostly) into alignment with how long it actually takes the planet to orbit the sun.
So getting hitched on leap day is perfect for couples looking for a memorable day for their big moment, and the county was ready to assist.
“We wanted to be open for people who wanted to take the leap on leap day,” said Jordan Marks, special assistant to the county Assessor/recorder/county Clerk Ernest Dronenburg, Jr.
That was the situation for Mercado and new husband Miguel. In a brief no-frills ceremony in a special office inside the building in front of a wedding commissioner, the couple tied the knot. They had been discussing getting married for some time, and when they saw the leap year weddings on offer they decided to go for it.
Some couples pick leap day not only because it is easy to remember, but also because they only celebrate an anniversary every four years.
Only some couples, Mercado said with a laugh. “He’s not getting off the hook that easily,” she said of her husband.
The office was open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Marks said they expected to serve 120 couples. Appointments had to be made in advance, though the staff could still accommodate some of those really spur-of-the-moment couples who might walk in without an appointment.
Ceremonies could be conducted indoors or at an outdoor covered wedding venue. That’s where John and David Harrigan decided to conduct their ceremony.
The couple had wanted to get married for some time but had a hard time picking a date. They wanted something memorable — perhaps a date that was a numeric palindrome day, where it can be read the same way backward as forward like 02/02/2020.
So on Friday John awakened, noted the calendar and told David they could get married on leap day. He quickly checked the county website and grabbed one of the last available appointments. In addition to being memorable, getting married on a leap day gives you some flexibility in those nonleap years, John Harrigan said.
“We can celebrate on the 28th or the 1st, whatever day is really is better,” he said. “And then every four years do something really big, go on a trip perhaps.”
Throughout the morning a steady stream of couples came through the doors. Some picked up licenses, good for 90 days, and some obtained a license and got married in one fell swoop. The county charges $70 for a marriage license and $88 for the ceremony.