Six in ten brides have used dirty tricks to get engagement ring on their finger



Sixty per cent of married women have used underhand tactics in an effort to get engaged, a startling new survey has revealed.

Of the 3,600 brides polled, a third admitted to bullying their partner into proposing by threatening to leave him.



Seventeen per cent sent themselves flowers from a fake admirer, and 10 per cent deliberately get pregnant or falsely claimed to be expecting.

Dirty tricks: Of 3,600 women polled, a third admitted to bullying their partners into proposing by threatening to leave them

Researchers, who questioned women aged between 16 and 50 who had wed during the previous year, found that 60 per cent had used underhand tactics.

Eighteen per cent said they took matters into their own hands, by asking their partners to marry them.

Young women aged between 16 and 20 were found to be the worst offenders with 62 per cent resorting to dirty tricks. Of these, 32 per cent became, or pretended to be pregnant, to entice their boyfriends into engagement.

The survey, commissioned by UKTV channel Really to mark its 'Up The Aisle' season, revealed that nearly a third of women did not enjoy their wedding day as much as they thought they would, and a staggering 62 per cent of couples did not have sex on their wedding night.

Tiredness was cited as an excuse by nearly half of brides, while excessive drinking stopped 31 per cent of newlyweds from consummating their marriages.

Over a quarter of the women questioned said their one regret about their wedding day was their choice of groom.

Really channel head Clare Laycock said: 'Our findings highlight the sometimes shocking and bold lengths that some of us will go to in order to have our dream wedding.'

The poll also suggested that such underhand tactics may not lead to marital bliss with 26 per cent of all couples rowing on their honeymoon.



Money worries were cited by 29 per cent of brides as the cause of the first marital argument, while nine per cent blamed the groom's inappropriate wedding day behaviour.

Other triggers included issues over infidelity and the presence of an ex-partner to the wedding.

Four in ten women said they attached too much importance to the wedding itself rather than a happy start to married life with their partner, though nearly a third said the first day of their marriage was more enjoyable than the wedding ceremony and celebrations.



One in five women admitted that with hindsight, they would have scaled down their nuptials as they proved too stressful. The same number say they forgot to relax and enjoy the day because they were so stressed about arrangements.

















