Anniversaries won't disappear from calendar for Akron's leap day newlyweds

Looking at her soon-to-be husband with their 3-month-old baby in her arms, Weixin Li couldn’t help but grin as Akron Municipal Court Judge Ron Cable read their vows.

Opposite Li, Antonio Crenshaw smiled back before Cable completed the ceremony, pronouncing them wife and husband in the lobby of the Akron Art Museum.

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“We’re very happy,” Crenshaw said with a big grin on his face after the small ceremony. “We knew we wanted to get married, but we didn’t want to wait for a big ceremony.”

Li and Crenshaw were among six couples who tied the legal knot on leap day Thursday afternoon as part of an off-site wedding program through the Akron Municipal Court. The court partnered with four venues for four different events this year, with two on Valentine’s Day, one on leap day and a fourth coming up on March 14 for Pi Day.

A seventh couple opted to reschedule their big day.

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Excited for the big day

Although they are legally married, the two will still celebrate their love with a formal ceremony in the coming years, Crenshaw said. For them, it came down to money.

“We just bought a house and with this little guy around, we didn’t want to wait to get married,” he said, looking at Li and Malachi.

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To celebrate the big day, Li and Crenshaw said they plan to go out for lunch or dinner to celebrate.

Ronald Gould and Shayla Freeman also couldn’t wait to tie the knot. Gould said he called the court every few weeks to make sure they could get married as soon as possible in an off-site event.

“I couldn’t guess where [the wedding venue] would be,” Freeman said after marrying Gould. “It’s dorky and unique. I love the arts in general, and I always think of museums as the flavor of a city.”

Although her Illinois family could not make the ceremony, Freeman said they will have a reception in May before heading out on a cruise this summer.

Celebrating a date that comes once every four years

Because Feb. 29 comes once every four years, these two couples considered how they will mark their anniversaries each year without a leap day.

“I would tell other men that we were getting married on leap day and they said, ‘You only have to celebrate it every four years,’” Gould said. “But I don’t like that idea. I want to celebrate it every year.”

Gould and Freeman said they will celebrate their anniversary on Feb. 28 and March 1.

“Why pick one day when you can have two?” he said.

As for Li and Crenshaw, they will celebrate their marriage on Feb. 28 in non-leap years, but both said they might mark their anniversary on March 1, too.

Bryce Buyakie covers courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @bryce_buyakie.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Chance to wed on leap day draws 6 Akron couples for special ceremonies