Traditionally, the wedding industry in the United States defines engagement season the period between Thanksgiving to Valentine’s Day. First things first, you should know that 40% of wedding engagements occur between those two dates. With many of the most popular months to give an engagement ring being squeezed into the winter months, we are sure you will recognize many of these most popular dates. In addition, the holiday season often provides the perfect time for that element of surprise when giving a diamond ring.

Engagement Season Dates

The popularity of these months for popping the big question is not surprising to Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo for a couple of reasons. During this festive season, many family members and friends are home and it is the best time of year to create that special moment.  Couples have the opportunity to share this special time and the engagement with family and their closest friends.

Additionally, there are a lot of holiday decorations, cheer and festivities to set the mood.  This festive period is certainly the most popular time for a romantic proposal during family gatherings.  What better way for everyone to share in the holiday spirit and admire your perfect engagement ring.

We have seen photos from our grooms-to-be popping the question on popular engagement dates in front of the illuminated Christmas tree in front of City Hall in Center City, Philadelphia. We have also seen proposals happen at the Christmas Village in Love Park! The holiday lights and decorations leave limitless opportunities to create the perfect backdrop for a memorable proposal.

Engagement Season and Major Holidays

We are well aware of this ever-so-popular time of year to get engaged. Typically, it begins on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Usually, we are booked with bridal appointments and often have a waiting list to try on wedding dresses during that time of year. This just lends to the fact that Thanksgiving tends to kick-off what is known as “engagement season”.

A few years ago, COVID changed things a bit with regard to the days and places chosen to propose to your fiancé in 2021 and 2022. Fortunately, COVID is all behind us, and public places, restaurants and festivities have all opened up again; we are seeing a more normalized trend for days and places for marriage proposals.

Each year, the most popular days to get engaged may change slightly. But, there are always those days that we see year-after-year (think New Year’s Eve proposal!),

Engagement Season – 2023 – 2024 Survey 

Based on a survey of our brides and grooms from the 2023 and 2024 engagement season; we found the following days to be the most popular days to get engaged. This is during what the wedding industry defines as engagement season:

1. Valentine’s Day
2. Saturday Before Christmas
3. Christmas Eve
4. Christmas Day
5. New Year’s Eve
6. New Year’s Day
7. Two Saturdays before Christmas
8. December 23rd
9. Thanksgiving Day

Many consider Valentine’s Day the most romantic day of the year and that is clearly a lucky day for the engaged couple.  Year after year, we find a Christmas proposal a very popular day.  In fact, the entire Christmas period seems to be one of the right time of year to offer good news.  And what better gift than to get a fiancé for Christmas?!

A couple of runner up days to get engaged that were not in what is considered engagement season were:

1. Birthday
2. Anniversary of the day the couple met
3. 4th of July or Independence Day

Another big day for getting engaged is July 4th.  We think summer vacations or summer months are great way to celebrate these new beginnings.  July 4th is an ideal time to get engaged and may be a better time for outdoor proposals due to the warm weather!  Again, no surprise to us because we always experience many more bridal appointments around the 4th of July holiday and immediately after it. Independence Day is certainly prime time for engagements and is a good time because you have built-in fireworks on the Fourth of July, clearly a romantic setting!

One last engagement date that we have heard about from many brides and grooms is to propose on the couple’s first date anniversary.  Quite a memorable date that is important to anyone in a serious relationship.

Certainly there are many days of the year that are a wonderful time to propose, but truthfully, you don’t have to get engaged during the most popular season of the year.  There are certainly external factors that determine when someone pops the question.  Your special day chosen can be all times of the year and does not have to be one of the most common dates.  This is one of the most important decisions of your life and we believe that any date is a great time to get engaged.

Once you are engaged, celebrate! Perhaps a party, luncheon, or happy hour. A zoom call with cross-country friends and family. However you do it, your loved ones want to wish you happiness and joy during this special time.

You will choose a venue: You may have one in mind already, or you may want to tour multiple. Important to remember that there are popular wedding months that book up much faster, but they usually carry a premium price. If if you want a venue that is out of your budget during these popular months, ask what they offer on a Friday or Sunday, or what specials there are for winter months. Winter weddings are magical!

Our Couples Wedding Months 2025

Next is booking the date: In 2025, the most popular wedding date is 05/25/25, and who doesn’t love a spring wedding?! In the last 12 years, October has always been our busiest wedding month. This year, May is in the lead! Once you have your venue and date – it’s go time!

Wedding planing is exciting and fun! In our Wedding Guides you will find everything you need for Brides, Grooms, Mothers, & Fathers!  You will make memories that will last the rest of your life.  We could not be happier for you!

What do you think is the perfect opportunity for popping the question?  Submit your idea to us and tell us about your love story and engagement date.  You may just be featured by Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo in one of our blogs! may just be featured by Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo in one of our blogs!

The post When is the Most Popular Time of Year to Get Engaged? appeared first on Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo PA | Wedding Dresses | Tuxedo Rental Shop in Warrington PA | Wedding Dress Shops Near Me.

One strategic aspect of our bridal and tuxedo store when we founded it was to always be closed on major holidays and we have never made an exception since day one. This is important to us because for anyone who has visited us, you know how busy we are and how hard our employees work. We want them to be home with family and friends during the holidays. In fact, since our founding, we have always been closed on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. Yes, you read that correctly! Black Friday! We are okay with zero sales on Black Friday for the sake of taking care of our most valued resources: our employees.

This year ends a little over a year and a half of challenges and triumphs in the wedding industry, mostly from the effects of COVID. Some of our brides and grooms have had the misfortune of having to reschedule their wedding dates 4 to 5 times.

Certainly, the stress of coordinating and rescheduling weddings has only added to the challenges of wedding planning. Congratulations to all of you who made it through these challenging times and were able to celebrate your nuptials!

That meant, however, many weddings that were scheduled in 2020 were rescheduled to 2021. On top of that, we had to manage the weddings that were originally scheduled for 2021.

Basically, more than double the weddings when you count the growth of our business! WOW, that was intense!

As for our amazing employees, we have the best. Customers tell us that all the time, that they are “nicer”, “more fun”, “honest”, “friendlier”… we know they are. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts from Wendy, Franco, and Daria:

Courtney:  You’re a delight to have in the family (no matter whose shirt you wear), adorable and happy, and your brides love you so much. Thank you for always supplying me with all the fun photos! We love being part of your wedding and planning, and that you brought us your fiancee, too!

Fola: You bring the best perspective to the store, youthful yet so worldly. You have handled the tuxedos quite well, and we know you will be amazing (and love it) in prom!

Joe: We had to get you back, there was no other way. Everyone here likes you far too much for you to be anywhere else. You can organize a chaotic weekend by Monday at noon and make hundreds of tuxedos every week look like child’s play (maybe Grant and Harper want in?).

Kaitlyn: Moving you to bridal was a great choice and you make it look so easy. Your sense of humor is amazing (I know where it comes from) and we are so proud to have you back in bridal, Tik Toking, manifesting, and reading Tarot cards!

Maria: You caught on so fast and your brides love your kindness, guidance and advice. We are lucky and so happy to have you in the family!

Marissa: Wise beyond your years and such a star. You do it all! We have loved watching you grow and hope we can keep you for at least little while longer. I live for your bridal notes.

Paul: A harder worker we have yet to meet, you are constantly doing something to help improve the flow of things. Your humor doesn’t hurt either!

Rob: We cannot wait to see the impact you will have full-time! Your connection with the grooms is incredible, it’s as though every one of them is your friend within 5 minutes. We are lucky and proud to have you (and your adorable fiancee).

Sarah: We didn’t know what we were missing until you came on board. Now we don’t know what we would do without you! Your brides absolutely love you and so do we. You’re stuck with us, sorry not sorry.

Shannon: You really are like one of ours, no matter what name anyone calls you. Jennifer, Cheyanne, whoever. From that first day in prom to married with a master’s degree, watching you over these years has been truly special. You have grown exponentially and we always want you on our team!

Suzanne: I have come to rely on you, your intuition, and your sense of humor. You are also THE best gift giver. We are grateful for you and your friendship, not to mention the impact you have on our Moms and brides. Thank you. Thank you also for letting me know where “sympathy” is in the dictionary.

Tori M: From prom girl to bridal, from Miss Mengel to Mrs. Vilk, we are so proud to have you with us still. You are one of the kindest souls out there and the world would be so much better if there were more like you.

Tori S: If we could only clone you. Losing you to school was the worst, we were grieving and having you back even just a few days is like a reward. You still hold the record for the youngest person left in charge of the store and we never worried once.

You all helped Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo and our brides and grooms get through one of the most intense and challenging years. It wasn’t always easy but you did it with grace, patience and zest. We are forever grateful for your kindness, dedication and know-how. We appreciate and love you!

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday at home with your family and friends!

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I feel pretty lucky because my wife and I own Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo and I have a choice of over 70 suits and tuxedos to wear every year. Add to that over a 1,000 different styles and colors of bow ties, long ties, vests, pocket squares and shoes and you can probably say I have quite a large wardrobe!

Every year, we add several new suits and tuxedos to our already large selection of rental and purchase offerings. This year was no exception and I was personally excited to wear some of our new styles.

While I will not have an opportunity to show off our new suits and tuxedos this year, I would still like to tell you what I would have worn had ‘COVID-19 not interrupted life.

Personally, I am a huge fan of Ike Behar suits and tuxedos. Why? There are two precise reasons: 1) all of this designer’s suits and tuxedos fit like a custom suit; 2) I have yet to find another designer that has more comfortable and luxurious fabric than Ike Behar.

Having said that, I have worn Ike Behar’s navy tuxedo, charcoal gray tuxedo, checkered tuxedo jacket with black pants, burgundy tuxedo jacket with black shawl lapel and black pants and his classic black tuxedo with full satin peak lapel.

This year, there are two new styles I really wanted to try for our formal galas. The first one was quite unusual and I thought it would have been perfect for an October or November event. It is the Allure Men Mulberry tuxedo. The super elegant 130’s wool was one of the most comfortable I’ve felt in a long time and the unusual color was both subtle and handsome.

While this style is considered a tuxedo, there is no satin to be found on it! Allure Men cleverly created a stitched outline on the fabric of the lapel to emulate a satin border on the lapels. It adds formality to the tuxedo without giving it any sheen. In addition, the buttons on the jacket and matching vest are covered in the fabric of the tuxedo. I find this to be a nice touch. I would have worn the jacket, matching vest and slim fit flat front pants with brown shoes, a textured wine colored bow tie and pocket square, white and gold studs and cufflinks and a swiss pleated microfiber shirt.

The next styles I wanted to wear would have been more for a November or December event. I think it would have been more appropriate closer to the holidays. It is Ike Behar’s hunter green suit. We already went over how amazingly well his suits and tuxedo’s fit! The hunter green color is festive yet understated. The trim fit notch lapel suit is made of comfortable 100% worsted wool and has a matching hunter green vest. The hunter green flat front slim fit pants have very fashionable straight leg bottoms which is a common and great design of all Ike Behar pants (no bell bottoms here!). I certainly would have worn brown shoes with this suit and the long tie or bow tie and pocket square would have either matched my wife’s dress, shoes or had a festive theme to it.

Finally, if I needed a classic tuxedo for a formal event, I would have probably gone for the Ike Behar black tuxedo with full satin notch lapel. This tuxedo is striking in its looks but doesn’t make you stand out in an unusual or flashy way.

So there you have it. My two new picks for future galas are Ike Behar’s hunter green suit and the Allure Men Mulberry color tuxedo. And of course, my classic perennial standby black Ike Behar notch lapel tuxedo.

We hope next year brings a lot more cheer and festivities. When 2021 arrives, Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo will be ready to make you look your best. Any questions, text us at 215-491-8500. Browse one of our many suits and tuxedos here.

About the author: Franco Salerno is co-founder and co-owner of Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo, now in their eighth year in business. In that time, he built the tuxedo department into a force rivaling big box stores by providing expertise, caring service, and beautiful, quality formal wear. Personally invested in every transaction, Mr. Salerno provides customers with the utmost trust and confidence, assuring their wedding or formal event attire will be perfect. A native of Philadelphia, he currently resides in Warrington, Bucks County with his wife and store co-founder/co-owner Wendy, and their two daughters for whom the store was named, Daria and Deanna.

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1) Have a clean store (clean up after yourself!)

2) Be kind (like we need to explain that one!)

3) Don’t lie (well, again, do we really need to explain?)

This may sound strange but some did not learn those values in kindergarten, or ever. Before we started our business, we searched for the biggest complaints at bridal stores based on a variety of online reviews throughout the country. Those were the three most common complaints in the reviews.

We didn’t set out to “change” in this industry, only to do it better and authentically. We hire our staff based on kindness and personality. To this day we advertise any new positions at Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo requesting “no experience preferred”. We will teach you our way! We look for kind, genuine people who fit our culture. And now? Now there are a whole lot of stores working hard to be like us, but trying to be someone else isn’t authentic and people see through that.

We know that if we take care of our team, they will take care of the customers. And nearly eight years into this fun business and thousands of brides, grooms, bridesmaids, groomsmen, mothers and fathers later, we can confidently say that our approach is working! Read our reviews, we are so proud. Voted Best of Bucks/Mont every year since opening. This is because of our employees a/k/a our team, our friends, our extended family.

Being a family business, we’ve established a lot of “family policies”. One of those policies that we instituted from the beginning is that we are closed on ALL major holidays, no exceptions. That kicks off with Thanksgiving AND Black Friday.

We’ve taken a lot of heat for not being open on Black Friday. Once a very emotional caller told us she “has NEVER heard of a retail store being closed on Black Friday”! Well, we are. Sorry, not sorry.

Our staff deserves time off with family and friends. The team here works incredibly hard. Anyone who has been to our store knows how crowded it gets and our employees rarely get a moment to sit down when they are here serving customers. The days are intense, fun, and often physically exhausting.

As with every year, and hopefully every day, we would like to express our gratitude our team for the immense effort they put into Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo and of course the dedication they show our brides and grooms. Especially this year – one of the most trying years on record.

Our industry is high emotion under normal circumstances, but the stress thrown at our couples in 2020 was way too much. We tried our best to help where we could and found that simply being nice was exactly what was needed, offering small acts of kindness to make it easier to cope.

In that spirit, we hope you will take some time to relax, reflect, and enjoy entering this holiday season.

As owners, we are committed to serving you whether the store is open or not. Our website permits an online chat directly with us. More conveniently, you can text our store telephone number at 215-491-8500 and we will personally respond to you, wherever we are. If you need us, reach out!

We know that the holiday season is the most popular time of year for getting engaged. If an engagement ring is in your future, you can also make an online appointment with us even when we are closed. We keep adding and changing to stay fresh and fun, and can’t wait to show you!

Joe, Suzanne, Tori S, Shannon, Tori M, Jess, Marissa, Jenna, Courtney, and our Daria, THANK YOU. We wouldn’t be who we are or where we are without you.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and thank you for helping us survive this unusual year!

With gratitude, Wendy, Franco, Daria, & Deanna

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