Who got the NYtimes on Sunday, the 25th?????
Well, I got interviewed by a NYtimes reporter for their story on holiday engagements. She used some quotes from Malcolm and I. I of course forgot to buy the paper on Sunday, but if any of you NY ladies has it, please oh please save the article for me. Please oh pretty please.
LIKE "white Christmas," "happy holidays" and "guaranteed delivery before Dec. 25," the phrase, "Will you marry me?" is becoming a familiar refrain this time of year.
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Forum: Weddings and Celebrations
December, traditionally a slow month for weddings, is by far the most popular month for engagements. While only about 7 percent of American couples choose to marry in December, 19 percent of couples become engaged during the holidays, a 2004 study from the Condé Nast Bridal Group reported. That is more than November and January combined, and it far surpasses February, when marriage proposals are often tied to Valentine's Day.
Kalshelia Brown's fiancé, Malcolm Lloyd, had planned on giving her the solitaire he designed for her on Valentine's Day. But because last Christmas was her first holiday away from her family in Florida, he decided to boost her spirits. He created a scavenger hunt around their house in Rahway, N.J., which ended with his getting down on one knee.
"I think it was a way to cheer me up," said Ms. Brown, who is a financial director at an advertising agency in Manhattan. "The holidays are special, and it made it more special for us."
The harmony of jingle bells, wedding bells and the insistent jangle of change in one's pocket rings clearly. Engagement ploys often have an over-the-top quality to them. And many would-be bridegrooms view the already crammed holiday season as a ready-made opportunity to stage a memorable event with plenty of witnesses. The parties are already planned, and the Christmas tree and a blazing fire provide the perfect setting for a proposal.
This month, Tony Beebe proposed to Joyce Tung, his girlfriend of six years, first having secured permission from her parents as well as a 1.6-carat diamond solitaire, which was, he said, priced "in the low teens." The two, who live in Houston, were visiting New York for the first time. Mr. Beebe said that although it wasn't the spirit of the holiday that moved him to act, he did wish to take advantage of New York's holiday flair.
For his big moment he chose a quiet corner of Central Park over the tourist traps of the Empire State Building and Times Square. "New York dresses up pretty well at Christmas," Mr. Beebe said.
Also fueling the propensity to splurge is the year-end bonus, which men of a certain economic stratum can count on to pay for their romantic gesture.
Nick Fox, an environmental engineer in Raleigh, N.C., used his bonus to help pay for the 1-carat diamond and amethyst ring he gave to his high school sweetheart and fiancée, Mary Christine Brown.
"It just seemed like a good time," he said of the proposal, which took place this month during a trip to Charleston, S.C.
Moved in part by the spirit of the season, some men are willing to spend even more than they normally would on a diamond, said Mark Vadon, the chief executive and a founder of Bluenile.com, the online jewelry retailer in Seattle.
Mr. Vadon cited a Blue Nile client, a man whom a company representative would only describe as "a professional, a resident of Massachusetts" and someone who had the means to pay in full. The client bought a 5-carat solitaire for $170,000 in late November for an intended proposal in December. ("While a certain percentage do finance those purchases," said John Baird, a Blue Nile spokesman, any online purchase of that dimension "is typically paid by bank wire and delivered by armored car.")
"Christmas is by far the No. 1 day for engagements," Mr. Vadon said. "It is a season when you're thinking about other people who are meaningful in your life. People are emotional. And an engagement is an important event you want to share with others, especially your family.
"Think about it. You're about to spend the holidays with your in-laws. There's a little pressure there to step up and propose."
The New Year's holiday offers many of the same advantages, said Mr. Vadon, who noted that its popularity for marriage proposals is only slightly less than that of Christmas and Valentine's Day.
"Historically, diamonds have accrued an emotional halo," said Sally Morrison, a spokeswoman for the Diamond Information Center, an industry group that has followed in the glittering footsteps of De Beers, the diamond mining and marketing company, whose advertising campaigns helped establish the diamond ring as the engagement present of choice. "They associate it with warm feelings. If they're going to make an emotional commitment to another human being, they probably feel more moved to make a grand gesture."
The wedding industry, not surprisingly, has put its full weight behind the notion of the December proposals. Bridal magazines publish special holiday issues. Web sites devoted to weddings list ways to propose during the holidays. (Among them: surprising your girlfriend by dressing up as Santa Claus. Or attaching plastic antlers to your dog and placing the ring on a ribbon around Fido's neck before sending him to wake your beloved.)
And to be frank, a diamond ring is also a fine present. With an eye on Christmas sales figures and a nose for big spenders, retailers push luxury items this time of year - cars, home theater systems, fur coats. Sales of diamonds, with their emotional weight and obvious significance, receive a huge boost during the holidays. About 25 percent of all diamond purchases in a year come during the holiday season, Ms. Morrison said.
Some wonder if men plan to give engagement rings during the holidays so they do not have to buy their girlfriends other gifts. Mr. Beebe, the manager of an oil rig in Houston, discounted the thought and also confirmed that, well yes, he's still going to buy Ms. Tung, a doctoral student in economics at Rice University, a Christmas present.
Ms. Morrison agreed with Mr. Beebe, saying the idea that one is a substitute for the other was a little silly. "It's a hugely expensive way to avoid traipsing around the store for another gift," she said.