Newlyweds Mr and Mrs Chard at Brackenridge Country Retreat and Spa on Saturday. PHOTO/CAROLINE ATKINSON
Anniversary every year for Chards
KAREN COLTMAN
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Wairarapa is abuzz with weddings in summer and February is a popular month to get hitched. Leap day on Saturday was no different.
The venues were booked out well in advance – with one couple who tried to book for leap day 2020 three years ago, initially turned down.
Marrying on February 29 posed the question of how often couples marrying on this day would celebrate their wedding anniversary.
The earth takes 365 and a quarter-days to get around the sun, not 365 days.
Every four years in the calendar another day is popped in after February 28 to make up for this missing quarter.
But newly-weds Truong Nguyen, 30, and Blayne Chard, 36, chose February 29 well over a year ago.
In her wedding reception speech Nguyen explained how the IT couple arrived at the date.
“It all started in September 2017 when Blayne said, ‘How good would it be if we got married on a leap day?’
“We looked it up and the next leap day was a Saturday, it was like it was meant to be.
“We inquired at one of our favourite vineyards in Martinborough to see if they were available and they were already booked out right up to February 2020.
“That’s crazy. Other people must have realised about the beauty of only celebrating every four years like we had.”
Brackenridge Country Retreat and Spa had a cancellation and so the couple finally had their date and venue set. They quickly set up a hashtag address, “#leaptochard” to get their friends in the mood.
The couple prepared for their marriage in something of a back-to-front way, which matches the quirky date picked.
“We booked the venue in 2018 and locked in the wedding day then but we didn’t get engaged formally until November 2018,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen picked the gem for her engagement ring in Sydney in September 2018 before she was formally proposed to and engaged. She picked up the ring from Wellington jeweller, the Village Goldsmith but closed her eyes when she got it so Blayne could formally give it to her and propose.
The wedding was a great success and Mr and Mrs Chard were off to Queenstown to have a ‘mini moon’ as they have called it for half a week.
“I feel great,” Mrs Chard said. “We have been together so long now, it was nice to finally get married.”
The couple intend to celebrate their marriage each year with the anniversary of when they met – November 28, 2013 – except in a leap year.
