“She’s one in a million” - Halifax bride-to-be says I do at B&Q!

The couple have been an item for about three months and recently moved in together at their home in Lightcliffe.

The unique proposal was helped come to fruition by Craig’s friend Jane Marriott, a wedding photographer, who also captured photos of the moment.

”The proposal spiralled out of control,” said Craig, 48. “I decided on the Tuesday that I was going to do it on the Wednesday.

“I had some plans in place that I was going to propose to her in-front of all our friends and work colleagues in the car park, which is what I did.

“But Jane Marriott, who is an old friend of mine, got involved and said ‘I’ll come down and take photos’ because she’s a professional wedding photographer.

“Half an hour later she came back to me and said ‘I’ve pulled in a favour, there’s a gentleman that does laser light shows for nightclubs and he’s willing to come down and project ‘Debs will you marry me’ across the entire back wall of B&Q.

“So I didn’t have to say a word, I just brought her out, walked her to it, gave him the thumbs up, he lit it up, she looked at me, burst into tears and said yes.

“A lot of work colleagues had come out of the store, everybody couldn’t come because we had customers in.

“People on their days off came down to watch as well. It was lovely.”

Debra, 51, has worked at B&Q for five years and Craig has been at the store for 18 months.  

“It was the lockdown period that threw us together,” said Craig.

“Over lockdown we were on furlough and we were video calling each other every night.

“We decided we’d bite the bullet and we now live together, which we did four weeks ago.

“I’ve known her for 18 months and there was something between us around Christmas time but I never did anything about it.

“I’m a bit of a shy guy, I’m quiet, but I just decided life’s too short at the end of the day. I’m nearly 49 years old, I’m not getting any younger.

“She’s one in a million. She makes me laugh, she makes me smile, she makes me happy.

“I’ve literally never met anyone like her before in my life.”

The couple are hoping to have their wedding next year.

”Obviously I sprung this on her really quickly so the other day she said ‘the wedding is going to be a while isn’t it?’ and I said, just joking, ‘how about Monday?’ said Craig.

“Hopefully it’ll be next year. We’ve got some saving up to do but we don’t want anything big, and grand. We just want something nice and simple with just family and friends.”

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