- 2.2 million marriages take place in the United States annually. That breaks down to about 6,000 a day.

- 138,600 marriages were performed in Nevada during 2003. So many couples "tie the knot" in the Silver State that it ranked fourth nationally in marriages, even though its total population that year was 35th.

- 25.3 and 27.1 are the estimated U.S. median ages at first marriage for women and men, respectively, in 2003. The age for women is up 4.3 years in the last three decades. The age for men is up 3.9 years.

- The proportion of women 20 to 24 years old who had never married more than doubled between 1970 and 2003 — from 36 percent to 75 percent. Changes were also dramatic for men — the corresponding rate for men in this age group increased from 55 percent to 86 percent.

- 54% and 57% are the percentages of American women and men, respectively, who are 15 and over and currently married.

- There were 4.6 million cohabitating couples who maintained households in 2003. These couples comprised 4.2 percent of all households, up from 2.9 percent in 1996.

- There are 118 single men (i.e., never married, widowed or divorced) who are in their 20s for every 100 single women of the same ages.

- There are 33 single men (i.e., never married, widowed or divorced) age 65 and over for every 100 single women of the same ages.

- 24.6 pounds of candy per capita was consumed by Americans in 2003; it is believed a large portion is consumed around Valentine’s Day. Candy consumption has actually declined over the last few years; in 1997, each American gobbled more than 27 pounds of candy a year.

- The combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut roses in 2003 was $52 million for all operations in 36 states, with $100,000 or more in sales. Among all types of cut flowers, roses were second in receipts to lilies ($70 million.

- There were 28,914 jewelry stores in the United States in 2002. In February 2004, these stores sold $2.4 billion worth of merchandise — a much higher total than in the preceding month or succeeding months.
link

What a wast of time and energy!!!!! ha ha ha i wont tie the knot again i would rather play with a handgrenade with its pin out

That sucks! I wonder what the stats are for the 30-40 age range?

Edit: AND, no wonder so many of the older women I know are grouchy!

I didnt feel like starting anouther thread, so I thought I'd chuck this in with Lotties ....

There's no bigger way to declare your love today than in letters half a kilometre high and five kilometres up above Melbourne, readable all the way from Werribee to Ringwood.

Rob Vance is the manager and chief pilot of Ace Above Skywriting. He boasts that when it comes to marriage proposals written in the ether, he and his Cessna 182 have had a 100 per cent success rate.

And, being St Valentine's Day, you can bet that today — sometime, somewhere — love will be in the air.

"I'll do messages like 'Marry me Susie' with a big heart," he says.

"All the proposals we've done have been successful. We've also done quite a few repairing relationships with 'I'm sorry' or 'Forgive me' and a big heart."

With 20 years of such skywriting under his belt, Vance has perfected the end-of-proposal question mark that wondrously transforms into a heart. That heart may be crucial to your Valentine's message (which all up will cost $3000 to $4000), but blue sky is even more important — which means that in Melbourne, psychologically at least, St Valentine's Day is vexed from the outset. Blue skies not being our strongest suit.

"In Melbourne you've got a 50- 50 chance of good weather this time of the year," Vance says. "But life's a bit of a gamble anyway, isn't it?"

It certainly is, and this is the day to place your bets. Chocolate helps set the mood, that much is a given. History tells us that the Aztec ruler Montezuma drank 50 cups of the brown stuff a day to maintain the romantic staying power necessary to satisfy his harem of 600 women. Casanova, too, reportedly put his faith in chocolate to fuel his rampant libido.

Leading chocolate expert Suzie Wharton says we're lucky here — Melbourne is the chocoholic capital of Australia. The author of Spoil Yourself: A Chocoholic Guide to Melbourne, Wharton says the perfect chocolate gift may include a range of treats. "You desensitise your palate if you eat too much of the same of anything," she warns.

Sensitive Valentine's Day palates should be scouring Melbourne's chocolate emporiums for Koko Black's truffles, Wharton says.

Haigh's hazelnut praline bars or chocolate scorched almonds, and Kennedy & Wilson dark chocolate are just some of her other recommendations. But are roses worth a punt? Every rose has its thorn, after all.

One red rose for your lover may be welcomed as devastatingly romantic, or just cheap. Do you need a dozen, or, as one woman suggested to me this week, is 33 the perfect number?

Are roses even appropriate? The Americans, who take Valentine's Day almost as seriously as Superbowl XXXIX, have conducted research revealing that a bouquet of wild flowers plucked from the side of the road is much more romantic than long-stemmed red roses.

Or is music the food of love? After the wild bunch of flowers, should you be whisking your paramour off to see Rhonda Burchmore at the Victorian Arts Centre during lunch hour, or waiting until night falls for soft music on a Yarra Gondola Cruise, remembering, at all times, to stay in the boat? Or what about that old favourite, a candlelit dinner?

The American Psychology Today survey revealed that while the human voice and the saxophone are considered romantic, the tinkling of a piano sets the most seductive mood. But that guy in the Lygon Street restaurant serenading you on his violin? Respondents were equally divided over whether such an intrusion could be perceived as romantic or downright annoying.

Wharton loves surprises, admitting that apart from a range of desirable chocolates, her dream Valentine's date would involve her partner somehow discovering her favourite restaurant without her knowing, and whisking her off to it without telling her where they were going. "I like a little bit of intrigue!" she says.

But be warned, the Psychology Today survey found that while 13 per cent of women would be captivated by being unexpectedly "kidnapped" for a romantic excursion, a whopping 87 per cent would be peeved. It's all a punt, but even if your half-a-kilometre high heart is obscured by cloud, and it rains on your gondola, for one day at least love is in the air.





and in case you didnt notice I repeat....

Chocolate helps set the mood, that much is a given. History tells us that the Aztec ruler Montezuma drank 50 cups of the brown stuff a day to maintain the romantic staying power necessary to satisfy his harem of 600 women.

lol i told my boyf that when (and if) he proposes, dont be doing the sign writing, or sign tugging behind the plane.. chances are, i wont be able to see them ( oh yea, gotta love stigmatism )

going back to the choc thing.. im guessing that guy had a bit of an addiction going on there

50 cups of chocolate a day? he must have been one FAT man!!!