Why is everyone getting engaged?

It’s Tuesday evening. Your boyfriend of 3 years asks you to go on a midsummer’s afternoon/evening stroll on the beach. It’s just before dusk, but the sun is still high enough above the horizon to give everything that warm orange tint. You suggest east sands because it’s closer, but for some reason he insists on the trek to west sands, you shrug it off and agree to go with him. Skip forward 10 minutes of hand holding and impromptu compliments, and you’re there, alone – supposedly. Then you realise that he’s stopped walking and has taken you by the hand, and he’s looking right into your eyes, like he’s about to do something crazy – and he is. Cue the bended knee and the feelings of disbelief and hopefully euphoria, you’re being asked to marry your significant other. You say yes. You both laugh, you both smile, and perhaps you’ll even cry. You’re engaged. [And you were never alone, his buddy photographer caught every Love Actually moment, hence his suggestion of West Sands]

Now despite being the reckless optimist that I am, I know that all relationships will either end, or end in marriage (or a committed co-habitation agreement). One of the girls in my flat is engaged to her long time boyfriend and is due to be married later this year. Of the people who lived in the flat before me, one of the girls got engaged in mid 2013, and is due to be married this summer. Another of the girls from the flat got engaged in Paris pre-xmas 2013. That just covers my flat! I haven’t begun to mention the numerous others I know of, people from class, people from church, people from Dervish…

That last one was a joke but seriously – there are a lot of young couples (pre 25) these days, not just in St Andrews but also across the UK that I know personally, making big commitments. THE big commitment you could say. The pessimist in me would chalk it up to a number of factors. Couples don’t want their love to end prematurely, because who knows what could happen after graduation? Also somewhat more controversially: sex. Some couples may feel that religious constraints are keeping them from fully progressing in their relationship, so logically, if getting married removes said constraints, then why not? Maybe the spark in the relationship is dying, so what’s more romantic and spontaneous than getting down on one knee and proposing? There’s also less risk, as getting a divorce is about as commonplace as ordering a happy meal these days. Getting married isn’t necessarily the be all and end all of your love exploits if you end up getting it wrong the first time.

But enough pessimism – proposals are one of the greatest displays of love any one person can muster for another. It boils down to pure, 100%, unfiltered, unadulterated love, between two people. That’s the reason why everyone is getting engaged.

Image courtesy of : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Санкт-Петербург_2010_(0041).jpg