Relationships Talk

Though it may seem like your calendar is especially packed with weddings as soon as the summer rolls around, contrary to popular belief—and to the entire plot of Bride Wars—June actually isn’t the most popular month to get married. In fact, according to the Brides 2018 American Wedding Study, summer weddings overall have decreased by more than 20 percent in the last year, while fall weddings are seeing a steady rise in popularity.

In what may come as a bit of a surprise, the most popular month to get married is a tie between September and October, per the study. Those two months were each chosen by 16 percent of those surveyed; with a combined 40 percent of weddings taking place in September, October, and November, up from 37 percent in 2017—making autumn officially the most popular time of the year to tie the knot.

Summertime, meanwhile, continues to lose its traditional grip on the wedding industry, even though June was the third most popular month for weddings, with 12 percent of those surveyed saying they were married in that month. The peak summer months of May, June, and July dropped from hosting a combined one third of weddings in 2017 to just a quarter of them this year—a 21 percent drop in popularity—thanks in large part to the fact that only 4 percent of couples chose to marry in July, compared to more than double that amount in 2017.

This overwhelming shift toward fall weddings and away from the summer and winter—the latter of which makes up fewer than one in 10 of those surveyed—makes a lot of sense, since, let’s face it, it can be just as unpleasant to sweat through your outfit and makeup as it is to navigate through freezing temperatures and snow in a party dress and heels. Autumn, however, offers a more comfortable climate and, as a bonus, falls in the lull between summer vacations and holiday madness, making a fall wedding the ultimate win-win.

The timing on engagements, however, is almost the complete opposite. While summer and winter aren’t most couples’ first choice for their weddings, interestingly enough, those two seasons are when most engagements take place. According to the survey, December is the most popular time to pop the question, with 14 percent of respondents getting engaged at the end of the year, and July and August were tied for second, with just over 10 percent each. Overall, while the percentage of spring and summer engagements largely stayed the same, those in the winter (December through March) saw an increase from 33 percent in 2017 to 36 percent in 2018. Fall engagements, meanwhile, decreased from about a quarter of those surveyed in 2017 to just under 20 percent this year.

See more: 6 Helpful Tips for Winter Engagement Photos

The most striking change in engagement timing, however, wasn’t seasonal. Of all the brides surveyed, a whopping 28 percent got engaged on a holiday or other special occasion, compared to just 12 percent last year. Basically, if you take anything away from this data, let it be that you should definitely keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious jewelry boxes around the winter holidays.