I was on Facebook, and ran into this article someone had posted entitled Rejected Marriage Proposals: The Top 5 Reasons People Say "No" To Getting Engaged, and thought: "Wow- is marriage even sacred

Totally say yes to the pizza.

anymore?  Are we in such a superficial society that puts too much emphasis on trivial details, solely for the sake of impressing others with the "cute story" of how we get engaged/married??"

According to this article, the top 5 reasons are listed as follows:

1. Unromantic proposal setting: 67 %

I get it: You have dreamed up this "perfect setting" for the day your man (or woman) gets down on bended knee and asks you to marry them, but unfortunately, unless you've put a lot of emphasis on how you'd want the day to happen, you're more than likely going to be disappointed.  On top of that, what ever happened to good surprises?  If you've mapped it all out for your partner, and they actually go through with your plan, chances are, you are not going to have that genuine, heart-melting reaction accompanied by tears of joy that should go along with someone asking you to enter a new chapter in your lives together.

Poor ring choice: 53 % 

If you actually say "no" to whatever ring your partner has spent time, money, and brain power picking out for you, then you don't actually love that person.  Some of you many be reading this like, "Jersey Girl- you're
just a bitter, lonely bitch who wouldn't understand a goddamn thing about engagement rings because you're probably single... blah blah.."  I've been engaged before.  I've said "Yes" to the ugly, lack-lustre ring that I felt didn't suit my taste.  Am I married now?  Never.  It wasn't the ring that was the problem- he was simply the wrong guy for me... but I still said "Yes" because it felt right at the time for whatever my reasons were (and whatever number of glasses of wine I was on at that time). 

My point is, if you want so badly for your partner to propose, but you would say "no" to the ring he or she thinks would be perfect for you, but you hate it... wouldn't you want to consider maybe keeping the ring they put their heart, soul, and hard-earned cash to buy for your ass, and maybe... I dunno... make some upgrades?  If the ring is real, you can definitely customize it, whilst wearing the same ring your partner got

Custom R2D2 ring: Well thought out, I'd say.

down on bent knee with.

Bad wording of the proposal: 51 %

How do you word this wrong?  There must be a book or online article somewhere entitled Great Ways To Word Your Marriage Proposal. I kind of agree that the wrong choice of words could ruin the moment, as this moment is about genuine expression of feelings so the right words should come naturally, but in the same way of ruining the moment, so would cue cards.  

Not everyone is good with their words, so anyone out there reading this that would love to get better with wording your proposal, maybe try writing down a list of things you love about your partner, why you want to spend the rest of your life with them, remember all this, recite this mini speech (keep it under a minute or two) right before getting down one knee, then pop the question. Bam. You're welcome.

hahahaha

Lack of trust in the relationship: 39 %

Leave the person- if you don't trust them now (and your relationship is far along enough to even think about marriage), are you actually convinced that you're going to eventually all of a sudden magically trust them the minute they put your perfect ring on your finger?? No- you won't. Seriously.

Scared of the commitment: 36 %                

If you're scared of commitment, why are you in a relationship then?  You probably don't trust this person you're with anyway, because if you did, your fear of commitment would be flushed down the toilet because you are a smitten kitten with someone who you share mutual feelings and life goals with.  Scared of commitment?  Stay single, and don't dick anyone around to believe they have a chance at a future with you if they don't.  Easy peasy.

  If you love someone, a fancy ring, a big fancy wedding, and all that other fluff is trivial and doesn't matter.  Just being with them, appreciating and living in the moment, encouraging and supporting each other, and enjoying each other should be your priorities.  Life is too short to not allow things to work out organically. If you wanna get married to them and change your last name to theirs, getting hitched at City Hall is $550.00 (last time I checked years ago it was anyway).  

  I've heard one too many ridiculous stories on how the thought of marriage has ruined relationships (I'm sorry to hear those stories and best of luck to you all who have shared them with me, as I'm sure your next relationships will be 100 times better), so rather than get frustrated about how you're not married yet, or whatever it is you're after, consider the fact it's just a piece of jewelry followed by a huge, overpriced party.  If you get these, great and congrats.  If not, life goes on so enjoy it either way.

@JerZGrlinCanada