An Engaging Day – February 14th

​Bridal magazines and jewelry companies say that 40 percent of all proposals of marriage occur in the month of February.  These proposals are centered around the celebration of St. Valentine whose Feast Day is February 14th.  This day of love usually includes flowers, candy, and a special meal.  When you add a proposal to the mix, the festivities also include a ring.

The engagement ring traces back to the 1400s. Archeological digs have revealed women, and occasionally men, wore special rings to signify they were promised or engaged to someone.  In the United States, jewelers experienced an upswing in the sale of diamond engagement rings right as the Depression was ending. The increasing sales were credited to the advertising campaign of the DeBeers jewelry company who made a diamond engagement ring de rigueur for couples.

Engagement rings range from the traditional to custom one-of-a-kind pieces that reflect the tastes and personalities of the couple.  The traditional diamond engagement ring is a band of platinum, gold, or silver with a single stone, in a prong setting, in the center of the band.  Popular diamond shapes are the round, square, pear, marquise, heart, rectangular, and oval. Cushion is the same as square and emerald, princess, and radiant are all cuts of the rectangular shape.

The shape is the appearance of the stone.  The cut of the diamond is the way that it reflects light.  This reflection is what makes the diamond sparkle.  Certain shapes can be cut to allow greater reflection than others. These cuts obtain names of their own.

Pure diamonds are perfectly colorless and transparent. When grading a diamond, you will hear about clarity or how transparent or pure the stone appears.  While the clear diamond is the most popular engagement ring stone choice, many betrothed sport colored diamonds on their ring finger.

Yellow diamonds, brown or chocolate diamonds, black diamonds, pink diamonds, and blue diamonds have all set fashions trends in the past 50 years.  Color is many times made a popular choice when a celebrity or fashionista betrothed gifts them with a colored diamond.  In the last decade, canary yellow diamonds were on the hand of Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Underwood, Nicki Minaj, and Heidi Klum.

Diamonds are not the only popular stone in engagement rings.  By far, one of the most famous engagement rings in the world is a blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds.  That ring was the one selected by a nineteen-year-old Lady Diana Spencer when Prince Charles asked her to marry him in the early ’80s.  The ring presently is worn by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge since it was Prince Williams choice to present to her when she was asked to marry him.

Iconic engagement rings, in addition to Princess Diana’s heirloom ring that Duchess Kate wears, is the emerald and diamond ring of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, the emerald cut, platinum set, 18 karats on Beyoncé’s ring finger, and Lady Gaga’s heart shaped diamond presented on Valentine’s Day a few years ago.

Regardless of the day, type of stone, or if the ring is an heirloom or not, your engagement ring is special to you.  Once engaged, you want your wedding venue to be just as outstandingly special. Le Pavilion in Parc Lafayette invites you to consult with them and their many experts to plan your perfect day.

In addition to being an exquisite wedding venue, Le Pavilion can host your special events like rehearsal dinners, engagement teas, and private parties.  Come tour this engaging space today as a wedding and reception venue.

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