How a picture of a romantic proposal in Chester took the country by storm

How a picture of a romantic proposal in Chester took the country by storm

As reported by the Chester Standard a picture of a couple getting engaged at The Cross in Chester has gone viral – after the romantic moment was captured on camera by a passer-by Annabell Parry and posted to chester's biggest community notice board in the hope of finding the couple so they can have the moment to treasure forever.

The post was clicked and share thousands of times and through the power of social media the happy couple have been found. 

Tom, 27, and Beckii Heard, 24, say they have been “overwhelmed” by the public response to the photo.

Tom joked the response to the photo was “madness” but added both he and his fiancee were thrilled a complete stranger had kindly taken so much trouble to ensure they could see it.

Tom explained that while he had been planning to propose to his partner of three years for several weeks, events did not quite unfold as planned.

He had originally intended to pop the question at the couple's home, off Liverpool Road, but had a change of heart and instead decided to do it after a 60th wedding anniversary meal for his grandparents on Sunday.

But when family members left The Architect pub sooner than expected, Tom was forced into Plan C – to take Beckii for a short walk and propose at The Cross where they met for their first date. The actual spot he chose was just outside Siddall’s Optometrists, a few metres from The Cross.

Beckii said: “We got to The Cross and Tom went down on one knee, I thought to tie his shoelaces. But he grabbed hold of me and was shaking and pulled this ring out.“My first words were ‘oh my God’.

“He was stuttering and said ‘will you be my wife, will you marry me?’, and I said ‘of course I would, of course, yes’.”

Tom said: “It was right in the middle of Chester. We had people clapping and cheering which was great.

“It went from the original plan of just the two of us to this massive, massive celebration which is great – just brilliant.”

The city centre was busier than usual due to a major Pokémon Go event taking place, and passer-by Annabell was on the hunt for characters at the time with her children.Annabell has been “surprised” by the reaction to the picture, adding: “All I wanted was to give them a lovely photo of the moment.”

The happy couple continued their celebrations at the Commonhall Street Social bar over a bottle of Prosecco.

It was not until later that evening when the picture was shared online that their phones started to buzz with messages from friends and family.