It’s when 16 percent of proposals take place.
If you’re feeling romance in the cool December air, there’s good reason. This is the most popular month to get engaged. Exactly 16 percent of all marriage proposals take place during the 31 days of December, according to The Knot’s ninth annual Real Weddings Study.
What’s more, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are the No. 1 and No. 2 most popular days for popping the question. These facts come from Facebook, whose 1 billion active users (yes, that’s billion with a “b”) love to report their “relationship status.” (If you were wondering, the Nos. 3 and 4 most popular days for going down on bended knee are New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day.)
Facebook has 191 million users in the U.S. and more than 2.5 million will change their status to “engaged” in an average year. Thirty percent of all “engaged” status updates will take place during November and December.
Experts believe that the winter engagement phenomenon is attributed to two factors: the romantic nature of the season … and convenience. Suitors likely choose December to pop the question because they get swept away by the magic of the holiday season. And, certainly, there’s no better time to propose than when all the family is in town to celebrate with the newly engaged couple.
The Knot’s survey revealed that the average amount spent on an engagement ring in the U.S. was $5,871 in 2015 and the average engagement lasted 14.5 months. The most popular wedding months were October (17 percent) and September (15 percent). The Knot noted the average marrying age of those surveyed was 29 for the bride and 31 for the groom.
These ages are a bit higher than what Facebook has reported in the past. The average age of Facebook’s newly engaged couples is 24, which would put their marrying age at about 25.
Keep an eye on your Facebook page, because there’s a very good chance that somebody you know will be changing his or her relationship status from “in a relationship” to “engaged.” There’s sure to be an engagement ring selfie captioned with a romantic note colorfully tagged by a string of engagement ring, diamond and heart-shaped emojis.
Facebook continues to monitor relationship statuses by providing a growing list of options. They now include “single,” “in a relationship,” “engaged,” “married,” “in a civil union,” “in a domestic partnership,” “in an open relationship,” “it’s complicated,” “separated,” “divorced” and “widowed.”
HOWARD COHEN is the Shoreham, NY-based editor of The Jeweler Blog, a daily blog ghost-written for retail jewelers. Cohen, a long-time industry veteran, is dedicated to making social media tasks simple and affordable for every jeweler. For more information, visit thejewelerblog.com or contact Cohen at 631-821- 8867, hscohen60@gmail.com. Websites: thejewelerblog.com,thejewelerblog.wordpress.com.
This article is an online extra for INSTORE Online.