Matthew McConaughey gave longtime girlfriend (and mother of his two children) Camila Alves the ultimate Christmas present this year when he proposed on Christmas Day. It is sweet and lovely and undoubtedly very romantic. But for many, Christmas Day is not the ideal time to get engaged.

Of the people I know, few got engaged on major holidays because, for many men, there is too much pressure attached to those days. Alves and McConaughey have two children who are two and three, which means that Christmas morning is likely pretty hectic and crazy around their house, so how did they squeeze in an engagement?

The reason many people don't like holiday engagements is that it takes away from the holiday. From now on, Christmas will be the day they got engaged rather than Christmas.

Certainly, for some it is highly romantic to be engaged on a holiday. And truth be told, I think it is incredibly romantic to be engaged in such a romantic way. He likely involved the children and it makes the whole thing very sweet and intimate.

But I can also understand why some men would want to steer clear of the holidays. Getting engaged on Valentine's Day or Christmas or some one's birthday does sort of steal the thunder of the day itself. For many, this is considered an engagement "faux pas."

Perhaps a "better" engagement strategy would be to propose on a day that is its own special day. October 23 might be a better surprise or July 24 or even June 4. These days have nothing in common except the fact that they are meaningless. Unless one of those days happens to be your birthday (in which case I apologize for calling it meaningless), then those are perfect days to get engaged.

Don't get me wrong, personally, I could not have cared less when my man proposed and if Christmas was the day he chose, I would have been thrilled. But I can also see why it is considered a "faux pas" to some.

The fact is, whatever day you officially decide to spend your life with someone is a special day. It does not have to be Christmas to make it amazing and in many cases, it is probably better that it not be.

But for McConaughey and Alves, my guess is any day is perfect. These two seem perfect. Congratulations to the happy couple!

Do you think it is bad to propose on a holiday?

 

Image via burningkarma/Flickr