Western Massachusetts Engagement Season -- with Numbers!

​If it seems like you've been hearing a lot about engagements lately, that's because it's engagement season! The wedding industry has its seasons and the holidays is a big one for all of us vendors. I was looking for some statistics on engagements when I stumbled across Congress’ wedding guide. Which is strange, right? Because who knew the U.S. Congress was into this stuff. Anyway, turns out, they had some pretty good info. I found a treasure chest of interesting U.S. engagement and wedding factoids compiled by Trip Savvy, a travel website.
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Like did you know that … 
-- 16 percent of wedding proposals occur in December
-- The average American engagement lasts 15 months
-- Every year 2.4 million weddings are performed in the U.S., including 44,230 weddings each weekend
-- 3 out of 4 couples live together before getting married. 

There’s more!
-- The most popular month for weddings are September and October
-- Only 33 percent of weddings take place in a religious institution - 43 percent are officiated by a friend of family member
-- The average number of wedding guests is 136
-- The average per guest cost is $268
-- Each guest spends about $703 to attend a wedding
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Juan proposed to Brittany in Look Park, Northampton and we were there to film it all! It was set up as a portrait shoot but Brittany didn't know I was actually filming and Juan had big plans in store. I later went on to film their wedding at Saltwater Farm Vinyard. You can see their wedding [here].

I see a lot of these trends playing out here in Western Massachusetts. I always get a wave of phone calls around the holidays from newly engaged couples eager to start planning for their wedding videos. 

A couple of times, the groom-to-be has arranged for me to film the wedding proposal without the bride-to-be knowing. I usually try not to stand out while I’m behind the camera, but I don’t usually have to be invisible - this challenge always makes these jobs a lot of fun. And the look on the girl’s face when the guy gets down on one knee is priceless, I’ll never get tired of getting to play a part in such a special moment. 

Congratulations to all the couples who have and will be making beautiful commitments this engagement season!