SAMUEL ELI SHEPARD, INTRO: Today is leap day! It only comes once every four years, and it presents a special opportunity to do something fun!, some people …even decide to get married! Desiree NIkfardjam reports from the City Clerk’s office in Manhattan where couples are taking the leap.
DESIREE NIKFARDJAM, BYLINE: It’s 9 am and outside the Marriage Bureau this morning, couples are slowly arriving. They’re about to step through the revolving doors, getting ready to legally bind their love.
Den Bayaca and Charlie Delrosario, are taking wedding photos. Delrosario is in a dark suit and Bayaca is wearing a short, white satin-y dress. The couple looks nervous. And… excited.
BAYACA: So, we’ve been together since, uh, Leap Day of 2016.
NIKFARDJAM: That’s why they’re getting married today! Delrosario asked Beyaca to be his girlfriend 8 years ago on Leap Day. In case you forgot, that’s February 29th. So he gave her 29 reasons why they should be together.
NIKFARDJAM: That’s a lot of, you have [to be] very creative!
DELROSARIO: Some of the ideas were trash, but, I just –
BAYACA: [laughs] He got to 29!
DELROSARIO: Yeah, I got to 29.
NIKFARDJAM: And a couple of anniversaries later, they’re tying the knot! But leap day only comes so often. So Bayaca says on normal years they’ll celebrate their anniversary at the end of February, with one special anniversary every four years.
(SOUNDBITE OF COUPLE BEING COMPLIMENTED OUTSIDE: "I Love it! You guys love fabulous!")
Through the doors and inside the building, Odelis Lopez and Aiden Hernandez, say they picked this date not for romance, but for another reason –
HERNANDEZ: Actually it’s more cheaper for the gifts because its every four years. Nah, just kidding
NIKFARDJAM: But Lopez says she has strong feelings about getting married on February 29th!
LOPEZ: I think 29 is an amazing number, its the perfect number.
NIKFARDJAM: And so what does this mean for your guys’ anniversaries, are you guys going to be dong anniversaries every four years, or every year?
LOPEZ: I think we’ll do it every year. It doesn’t matter if it’s the 29th, every year it’s going to be our anniversary.
NIKFARDJAM: But for some couples, leap day was not part of their wedding planning. Doris and Edwin Gegila had no idea.
DORIS: Leap year, interesting, You know I love that movie that’s my favorite movie.
NIKFARDJAM: Really? And you didn’t know –
DORIS: No, no not until you said it… Now I’m excited.
NIKFARDJAM: Besides they had another problem on their mind. Their witness was not going to make it on time. And they had a favor to ask. Would I fill in? How could I say no to a bride on her wedding day?
(SOUNDBITE FROM CEREMONY: “We’re gathered here today to witness the marriage between Edwin and Doris. Both have made a commitment to devote themselves to one another, and to have come together on this day to affirm their love.”)
NIKFARDJAM: They’re not waiting another four years to celebrate. Instead, they’re kicking things off today - heading to Cancun for their honeymoon. Desiree Nikfardjam, Uptown Radio News.
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