New research by ROX Diamonds & Thrils has revealed that 96% of women don’t want their proposal to happen in public, in front of family or friends.
The study looks to uncover what the nightmare proposal looks like by surveying 2,000 heterosexual men and women in the UK. The findings come to light as ‘proposal season’ (considered to run from November to February) is about to begin.
Over a quarter of women (28%) said they don’t want to be proposed to in a fancy restaurant or hotel and almost a fifth (17%) said they don’t want to get engaged in their homes.
Location, Location, Location…
Although TV and film might tell us that a public declaration of love is the most romantic way to get engaged, ROX’s survey found that the majority of women (86%) would much prefer their proposal to be in a private setting, with over half (60%) preferring it to be somewhere personal and a place that is meaningful to them as a couple.
Alongside hotels, fancy restaurants and at home, the research found all the other places where women least want to be proposed to dispelling some common clichés.
See below* for the full breakdown of the places where women least want to be proposed to:
*Percentages of women that said they don’t want to be proposed to in each location
| In a fancy restaurant or hotel | 28% |
| At home | 17% |
| A treasure hunt | 11% |
| In front of a famous landmark | 11% |
| On an adventure – a hike, a hot air balloon etc. | 10% |
| With the help of your pet | 8% |
| On vacation | 4% |
| Somewhere in nature | 3% |
| Somewhere personal, a place that is meaningful to you as a couple | 2% |
| At a concert | 1% |
How long is too long to wait to propose?
The research found that 4 out of 5 (82%) women believe that the engagement should happen on or before the 3-year mark in the relationship.
However, just 1 in every 6 (15%) women said they think a couple should be together for 4 to 5 years before someone pops the big question and barely anyone (1%) said they think over 6 years is the acceptable time to wait.
What days to avoid popping the big question?
Surprisingly, even though previous studies have shown that the most popular time to propose is between November and February, the least popular choice for a date when it comes to getting engaged is New Year’s Day, with just 2% of women wanting to be proposed to on that date.
Over a third of women (39%) want to be proposed to on the date of their anniversary, closely followed by their birthday with almost one in five women (18%) saying so.
Are diamonds still a girl’s best friend?
Google search data shows that one of the most common questions surrounding engagement rings is how much you should spend on them, with over 2000 people in the UK asking the web this every month.
According to ROX’s research, 90% of people would pay up to £3,000 for an engagement ring. The perfect amount to spend on the ring was found to be £1,429. When looking at the differences between how much men and women believe should be spent on a ring, women believed that on average a ring should cost £1,567. Comparatively men, believed it should cost £1,284 – £283 less.
Over half (55%) of women said their gemstone of choice would be a natural diamond. The least popular gemstone with women appears to be aquamarine with just 2% of them choosing it, closely followed by opal (2%) and amethyst (2%).
Kyron Keogh, Co-founder of ROX Diamonds & Thrills comments:
“It can be challenging to know where to begin when it comes to proposals. Social media can be oversaturated with ‘perfect proposals’, but the most important thing to remember is that a proposal is merely the beginning of the beautiful union you’re creating with your partner.
“And while it’s easier to think your partner might want something straight out of a fairytale, in reality, they might want something much simpler and personal to you as a couple.”
“To make things a little easier, our experts in-store can steer you in the right direction, helping you make the right choice when it comes to the engagement ring and making sure you get the ‘perfect proposal’ for you as a couple.”