DOWNTOWN — Deshawn Carnegie and Alexandra Vasquez only realized the day before their wedding that it will be four years before they can celebrate their first anniversary.
"It was already planned, honestly," said Vasquez, a 31-year-old bride at the City Clerk's Office on Wednesday, Feb. 29. Watching the television news on Tuesday reminded her of the leap year.
"To us it was just a Wednesday," added Carnegie, 26.
Some romantics wanted a unique leap day anniversary and for others it was an honest mistake, but either way, couples flooded the clerk’s office to legally seal their love on the rare date that hits calendars only once every four years.
"It seems that more people are coming here to get married than on a normal Wednesday," said Michael McSweeney, who oversees the office and its Marriage Bureau, which performs some 40,000 weddings each year.
"The last leap year we were a little busier then normal," said McSweeney, adding that the day still did not compare to the usual Friday rush, the bureau’s busiest day of the week.
For Carnegie and Vasquez the surprise of a leap day only added to their special day.
"It is not like everyone does it," said Carnegie, a basketball coach who lives in Brooklyn. "It will mean even more to us."
They shared the day with their three children Deshawn, Mahogany and Kevin, who didn't quite grasp the leap-year concept and were simply excited to get the day off school.
Adam Pring, 30, and Peter Roins, 31, overlooked their five-year anniversary on February 28 to have an extra special and rare wedding date.
"We may as well be a bit quirky," said Roins, who works in advertising. The couple lives in London and, with relatives scattered throughout Australia, Cyprus and England, decided on a small quick affair with the added bonus of a holiday in New York City. The simple ceremony would be followed by wedding receptions in Australia and England.
"We are technically going to have three weddings," Pring said. The couple waited for their ticketed number to be called before entering one of two private chapels within the City Clerk's office at 141 Worth St. for their ceremony.
As for the anniversary arrangement, Pring said he was expecting to consolidate the many dates into one.
"We can have an uber anniversary," he said, as wedding photographer Carl W. Nunn, who specializes in City Hall weddings, captured their big day.
Kimberly Raynor, who was waiting to become Kimberly Egbert, wasn’t going to let her fiancé, Archie, off the anniversary hook.
"I’m not too subtle," said the 27-year-old. "I will be like ‘Honey what’s coming up?'"
"I am going to demand something every year," said Raynor, a preschool teacher.
The couple met seven years ago and were friends in Utah. Archie married someone else, had a son and got divorced.
"I looked her up again and she wasn’t upset [about the delay]," said Egbert, a 32-year-old student.
The couple has been engaged since August and is planning on a more elaborate celebration later. However, like Pring and Roins, they could not resist the unusual wedding date.
"We just needed to pick a day," said Raynor. "I said ‘Wouldn’t it be funny to get married on the 29th?'"
