Most popular day for marriage proposals revealed

New research has revealed the most common dates for marriage proposals in the UK, with Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day taking the top three spots. In order to delve into engagement trends, a UK wedding venue has conducted a survey of married, engaged and single people...

More than 2,700 people aged 18 and over took part in the research, 76% of whom were married or engaged and 24% of whom had not been engaged yet. Respondents answered questions about their past proposals, or what they would want from a proposal in future. Wedding venue www.hensolcastle.com first of all asked what date of the year anyone who was or had been engaged was asked for their hand in marriage (or did the asking), which revealed the following top five dates to be the most popular of the year:

1. Christmas Day – 4%
2. New Year's Eve – 3.5%
3. Valentine's Day – 3.2%
4. Christmas Eve – 2.7%
5. Boxing Day – 2.6%

December (17%) was by far the most popular month for proposals, followed by February (12%) and then August (11.5%). Asked whether it was an intimate proposal with just the two of them, or in front of a crowd/other people, the majority (62%) said that the proposal had happened with more than just the two of them present. However, three quarters (76%) of the people who were yet to be engaged said they would only want it to be them and their partner present at the time.

Regardless of the date the engagement happened, those who had been proposed to in the past were asked if they suspected or had a feeling that it would happen on the particular day that it did. 53% said 'yes'.

Laura Bremner, Wedding Manager at www.hensolcastle.com, said the following about the research: "Christmas is a special time of the year, especially as it's a time for coming together and spending quality time with those you love. Proposing over the festive period allows a couple to celebrate with their nearest and dearest, and go into the New Year full of love, hope and excitement for what the future brings.
"The first few months of the year are our most popular time for wedding enquiries, both at Hensol Castle and Vale Resort, and we love meeting with couples and hearing their engagement stories. While there's no doubt that some dates are more popular than others for a couple to get engaged, no two proposals are the same – and it's the love of a couple that is being celebrated on their big day."