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With this diamond engagement ring...The glitter of diamonds engagement rings competes with the twinkling of
holiday lights. Twenty-six percent of all engagements take place during the
holiday season. and they're not "Merry Christmas, Happy New Year." The holidays are a time for warm and fuzzy family gatherings, rekindling childhood friendships and igniting romantic relationships. By Joe McAllister, CORRESPONDENT 12/20/2006 found at zwire.com "Will you marry me?" is heard under mistletoe, at comfy corner tables-for- two and around red-bowed Douglas fir trees. The glitter of diamond engagement rings competes with the twinkling of holiday lights. For many, this festive season begins and ends with the "C" word: commitment.Christmas weddings and engagements get hot just when the weather turns
cold. "We book more weddings in January and February because everybody
gets engaged over the holiday season," says Joy Fox, banquet director and
certified wedding planner for D'Ignazio's Towne House in Media. "Guys
recognize that they can't go wrong and women like to show off their rings to
friends and family. Most couples plan to marry within seven to nine months
after their engagement." Even the blogosphere is a-chatter with the big news. "It's hard this
time of year because more and more people get engaged and leave us behind.
It's hard not to be jealous. Anyone else becoming obsessed with engagement
thoughts?" writes KissyKissy on a diamond consumer information Web site.
She gets 27 instant responses. For many women of all ages, the yuletide season is a time of anticipation:
Will he propose? These ladies in waiting eschew the traditional holiday gifts
in favor of the gift of a lifetime: a wedding engagement ring. "People
get caught up in the spirit of giving, love, joy and happiness," says
Fox. "It's every little girl's dream to get engaged at
Christmastime." Intimacy expert Helga Hayse, author of "Don't Worry About a Thing,
Dear" says Christmas may be the worst time to get engaged. Hayse says
that despite the romantic illusion, the holidays are too hectic a time to
enter into a lifetime contract. "There are a lot of distractions and family obligations and then
someone surprises you with a ring. Who can say 'No!' to a one-carat
diamond," questions Hayse. "Twenty-six percent of all engagements take place at holiday time.
There is a magical haze around Christmas that creates a make-believe world
that doesn't exist," she says. "The fact is an engagement ring is like a letter of intent, a prelude
to a contract of commitment and should never be perceived as a gift." Bah-humbug says the eternal romantic in all of us and retail numbers back
us up. According to Blue Nile, the largest
retailer of diamonds and engagement rings in the U.S., "June is the
traditional month for weddings but for engagements, December takes the prize.
One out of five engagements are said to occur in the last month of the
year." Jean Sanders Torrey, a nationally known writer and author of "Why Men
Marry and Why Men Don't" says the holidays serve as "a spark or
prodding" for men to take a relationship to the next level. "Sometimes the calendar is the catalyst that gets the man going. An
engagement is not the actual commitment of marriage but a step forward. It
doesn't involve the legalities or the vows but gives the man training wheels,
a learning time, a warming period," she says. Although in these modern, hurry-up times, the engagement "warming
period" has been shortened, Sanders Torrey still believes in a yearlong
pre-marital courtship. "People should stay together for four seasons to get to know each
other's habits," she says. "The man may be active in sports like
golf and swimming in the spring and summer but spend the winter on the couch.
It's best to know these things about your partner in advance." The mall is the crossroads of the holiday spirit where romance, intimacy
and marketing merge. "There is a significant increase in engagements
between November and continuing into January. Most of our customers are
waiting until Christmas or New Year's Eve to get engaged and its reflected in
our sales,' says Gretchen Howie, store manager for Littman Jewelers in the
Granite Run Mall. "Many of our customers share with us how they plan to propose. Some
get engaged while decorating the Christmas tree or during dessert in a
romantic restaurant. It makes our staff feel part of something special and
makes for an excitement in the store." According to the Diamond Information Center, retail sales of diamonds have
steadily been increasing, from $26.3 billion in 2000 to $33.7 billion in 2005.
The industry takes in most of its annual diamond sales revenues between the
period of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Howie says it's usually the man who picks out the engagement ring.
"The couple have already discussed the subject, visited the store or
looked online," she says. "He usually knows what she has in mind and
normally knows her ring size. We get very few exchanges." The ever-pragmatic Helga Hayse believes that despite the giving nature of
the season, a ring is no mere gift but rather the signature ink on a long-term
contract. "An engagement ring is a prelude to a lifetime commitment. It should be thought through and each couple should exchange rings. It should be a 2-way street," she says. "If the engagement is broken, in Pennsylvania, the man gets the ring back. That's the law."
©News of Delaware County 2006
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