Is "Engagement Season" a Thing???

Isn’t this time of year wonderful?  It’s full of champagne and sparkly things… No, I am not talking about the holidays, it's officially the beginning of ENGAGEMENT SEASON, folks.

Yes, according to many sources and surveys the time between late November and mid February holds the record for the most engagements of the year.  According to wedding bells 2015 survey “35% of all engagements occur between December and February with December being the most popular month to pop the question.”  To be exact, it was observed that 1 in 5 engagements happen in December. WHOA!

After getting engaged it is natural to want to jump in with both feel and start nailing down the fine details of that wedding that you have been dreaming about since the "Barbie Years".  This is great – I hope your planning enthusiasm stays at maximum capacity throughout your engagement, but the holidays can be quite busy and stressful already, and now you have a wedding to plan?

Let’s take a look at a few more statistics according to the wedding wire survey:

- the average length of an engagement is one year 10 months – with 67% of weddings occurring between June and September.

- The average expected cost of a wedding is in 2015 was $30, 717 with an average number of 129 wedding guests and 75% of brides admitting that they will “Likely spend more than anticipated”

So, what does it all mean?

First of all, don’t freak out – these are just numbers and like everything in life, you get to set your own path. Here are three things to keep in mind as you get used to your new bling this holiday season.

1.  You don’t have to have a plan for your wedding yet – geez… you just got engaged!

Over the holiday season you will likely see a lot of your friends and family.  These well meaning and excited folks tend to have a lot of question – likely that you don’t have answers to.  It may be helpful for you and your fiancé to come up with your stock answer. Example: “We are really excited to get planning, and we will likely shoot for a summer 2016 wedding”

This will give everyone enough information to satisfy that you have thought about a wedding date, but that you need more time to nail it all down.

2. Just relax and enjoy, your engagement over the holidays

With "engagement season" falling directly in line with the holidays, it is a VERY busy time of year.  There will be plenty of time to pour over budgets and spread sheets in the months to come.  Allow yourself to enjoy the holidays and leave the wedding planning for a time when things slow down to the normal pace.  For now, buy yourself a wedding magazine (or two or five) and just enjoy the romance of day-dreaming for a bit.

3. I don't mean to be frivolous…but tend to your nails! ;)

You are about to have everyone and their monkey ask you to display your new bling – this means photos, social media posts and people you barely know paying an unusual amount of attention to your hand – so be proud to show it off and put your best finger forward. 

Once the dust from the whirl-wind holidays settles down a bit you can relax and start your planning process (Think about getting in touch... I'd be happy to help you with this!!!) 

Do you expect to get engaged this season?  Are you planning to pop the question? 

Let us know your tips or tricks on how YOU plan to survive the holidays and getting engaged. 

Already engaged and need some tips to get the planning ball rolling.  Check back next week to see my early planning guide with some great do’s and don'ts for getting started.

(Thanks to Britton Images for the above photo)