A MAN who proposed to his partner by taking out a newspaper advert got the answer he was hoping for.
Doug Drury popped the question the day after Valentine’s by paying for a half page ad in last week’s HeraldExpress, pictured above.
He took his partner of eight years, Stephanie Barnes, to stand outside the now closed Wishing Well pub, in Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead – the place where they first met – before showing her the proposal and getting down on one knee.
The couple got together after a mutual pal set them up on a blind date.
Doug, 39, said: “We always read the paper anyway. It was just something I came up with.”
He is believed to be the first person to propose using the pages of Hemel Hempstead’s free paper and advertising staff gave him a discounted rate to celebrate the occasion.
Bride-to-be Stephanie, of Fennycroft Road, Gadebridge, says it was the perfect gesture.
She said: “I knew it was coming because we have been together so long now. He asked me if I wanted a grand gesture or something quiet. After eight years I thought I deserved a grand gesture.
“It was right up my street – he knows me better than anyone on this planet.”
The pair are hoping to tie the knot towards the end of the year and are planning a Pagan wedding with the help of Stephanie’s daughter Kelsei, aged 14.