With Valentine's Day coming up a lot of men will be getting ready to propose marriage to the ones they love. I honestly do not know what to think about that, but I can see why the temptation would be there to choose this day - seeing as it is supposed to be so "romantic". When I worked for a jewelry store there would always be guys who chose this as the special day and obviously I could not tell them that this was such a cliché idea - because I was in the business of selling cliché ideas.

Seeing as I am not longer a jewelry store employee, I wanted to let the guys out there know that Valentine's Day is probably not the best day to propose.And here's a few reasons why:

First, the jewelry stores (both online and "brick and mortar") are expecting you to do this and they will raise prices on diamonds and settings accordingly (usually months in advance so that you don't notice) meaning you will spend more. In fact the most expensive time to buy jewelry (wedding jewelry in particular) is when everyone else is doing it - between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day - because so many Holidays fall during this time. Well meaning guys generally want to propose during these months because it's likely they can show off the goods during family gatherings, plus you can "save money" by getting one giant present instead of a ton of smaller ones - so it's a two birds one stone mentality that actually drives this price increase.

Second, while it might sound romantic at first, all you are really doing is setting the stage to try and top that romantic gesture for the rest of your lives together - and let me tell you, that is nearly impossible. A dozen roses will never compare to a diamond - even if you throw in some chocolate.

Third. and most importantly, you are taking out the personalization from your relationship. A better day would be one that you both share together - like the day you met, your first kiss, the night you first made sweet lovin', or some other day that has a really special meaning to you (if you can remember these things).

My point is, unless Valentine's Day has a really special meaning to you, you might want to just get the flowers - instead of a lifelong commitment built on a corporate "Holiday".