No Valentine’s Day wedding craze

Valentine's Day, considered one of the most romantic holidays, is one of the top days to get engaged.

According to Judian Thorpe, owner of Tropical Chic Weddings, many men chose to pop the big question on Valentine's Day.

"Funny enough, we don't have a lot of Valentine's Day weddings," said Thorpe, a wedding planner of five years. "It's more of a proposal season for us ... . It's become more popular for guys to propose, it's almost like kill two birds with one stone," she added.

Similarly, Mitchelle Williams, supervisor of the Registrar General's Department (RGD) marriage unit, told THE STAR that there is normally a lot of weddings on Valentine's Day.

"For this period, we're not finding a lot persons utilising the day itself ... So I see a lot of the weddings happening on the Saturdays proceeding the 14th or the Saturday after the 14th," Williams said.

The RGD is the entity in Jamaica responsible for registering vital events such as births, stillbirths, deaths, adoptions, marriages, and deed polls. Data from the state body indicates that during the period 2012 to 2022, a total of 1,289 couples got married on Valentine's Day.

The year 2015 saw the highest number of Valentine's Day weddings in the last decade, with 228 couples getting married on February 14. However, only 76 couples tied the knot on Valentine's Day in 2021, and the figure further dipped to 70 couples in 2022.