Woman proposes to jigsaw-obsessed fiancée with personalised puzzle
One woman decided to propose to her puzzle-loving fiancée in the most creative way - with a personalised puzzle.
The puzzle showed a photo of Gemma Stanley, 27, holding a ring along with the words “will you marry me?” in big letters beside her.
Unaware what was happening, Karen Ives, 26, started piecing together the puzzle, starting with the outside pieces first - as any keen puzzle-enthusiast would know.
After watching her girlfriend put together the puzzle, Stanley got down on one knee with a ring in her hand, mimicking the photo on the puzzle.
“I'm just so happy. I wanted to get her a 1,000 piece one but I knew I wanted to record it and I had to hide the box. I was so nervous and sweating like hell so when she said yes it was the best feeling.” Stanley said about the proposal.
Read more: Couple turn engagement party into their wedding
Reliving the day, Ives said: “I had no idea it was coming. I thought it would be a few years down the line. At first I thought why is she recording me. I was a bit confused. I started around the outside first. It was about 5-10 minutes into it that I clocked what was happening.
“I just went with it and finished it before I said yes.”
Stanley had the puzzle box in the house since the beginning of February after making the decision to propose to Ives after her birthday.
“Everything just fell into place. I knew I wanted to do it at the weekend but it was during the week that I thought, 'Right, I'm going to do it now'. I told her to go upstairs and run a bath and I'd get dinner on.
“I think we had spaghetti Bolognese. I can't even remember the dinner because I was so nervous and was sweating. She usually comes home from work and spends half an hour to an hour on puzzles so I gave her the puzzle pieces when she sat down.”
“When I was getting down on one knee the song 'Because You Loved Me' came on. Now we're thinking it might be our first dance song.”
Read more: Would you buy your own engagement ring?
The pair, who are both childcare workers from Nottingham, have already put tentative plans together for the big day in September 2022.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, they’ve both found themselves with more time than usual on their hands.
“We've found ourselves with a bit of time on our hands so we've done all the planning without having phoned up venues. We just can’t wait.”
