How Many People Actually Get Engaged On Valentine’s Day?
Valentine’s Day; for some people it’s about more than just fancy dinners, flowers, and chocolate. For many couples, Valentine’s Day can be a day that’s more about your relationship future than it is about just impressing someone with fancy gifts.
According to an American Express report, nearly six million couples are likely to get engaged on Valentine’s Day. That’s not including couples who decide to actually tie the knot on Valentine’s Day. Sure, it’s romantic but with that many people getting engaged on “love day,” doesn’t it seem a bit overdone?
According to the cold hard statistics, most people think not. In February 2013, jewelry stores that sell engagement rings (as well as other jewelry) sold an estimated $2.5 billion in jewelry. The same American Express report also stated that the average cost for an engagement ring in 2013 was a hefty $2410.
Valentine’s Day can be expensive as is, even without an engagement ring. And some people go truly over the top on their proposals. According to The Guardian, this year, one man, named James, took out a front page advertisement in The Observer Magazine to propose to his girlfriend, Katie.
James and Katie’s love story was almost like a fairy tale from the get go. Apparently, they met through a friend of a friend, and James had thought about Katie for years after they first met. Finally, when he knew he was going to be in Manhattan, where Katie lived, he got in touch with her and asked her out to dinner.
Their second date wouldn’t come until six weeks later, where they laughed for three days, and that’s when he realized he loved her. So it should come as no surprise that their engagement was equally as epic.
On the cover of the magazine, James is pictured down on one knee, holding a ring with the words “Will You Marry Me, Katie?” BBC News later reported that the couple was at a hotel in the countryside for Valentine’s Day and that James would let everyone know once he heard Katie’s response. Word has it, she said yes.
The proposal. That ‘yes’ in smiles: pic.twitter.com/zCWcAEgaOF
— Observer Magazine (@ObsMagazine) February 14, 2016
Other local news stations in the United States were abuzz with epic Valentine’s Day proposals today as well. A British company developed a Valentine’s Day list of the best marriage proposals ever, and a couple from Portland, Oregon, topped the list. Isaac Lamb proposed to his girlfriend Amy Frankel in 2012 by turning a street in Portland into an epic dance party. Who says marriage proposals have to be strictly romantic?
Meanwhile, in New York, where temperatures were below zero in some places, couples braved the cold to take part in surprise marriage proposals and wedding ceremonies. Although eight couples did back out of getting married in Times Square this Valentine’s Day in Times Square due to the frigid temperatures, several others followed through with their plans to wed on the romantic holiday.
One of the grooms, Jordan Abidin, spoke about his Valentine’s Day wedding by saying, “I’m happy, I’m excited, I’m speechless with the cold.”
His wife, Katie, responded, “If this isn’t love, I don’t know what is.”
I love New York and Valentines Day as much as the next person, but I’d much rather spend my ‘love day’ in a warm, cozy cabin in the mountains rather than sub-zero temperatures outside. But, to each their own. I hope everyone had a fantastic Valentine’s Day, regardless of whether or not you got a surprise engagement or had a fancy date. And if you didn’t, there’s always next Valentines Day!
[Photo credits: Getty Images/Christopher Malcolm, AE Pictures & Hero Images]
