Man Takes Girlfriend Up The Shard And Proposes With Poundland Ring

There's an old (and quite frankly ridiculous) rule that a man should spend a quarter of his annual salary on an engagement ring. If Barry Fricker followed this guideline, then it looks like he's raking in £4 a year.

Now you might think that's not a great way to secure a 'yes', but Lizzie Bennetti was blown away by his proposal and the couple are now to be wed.

Her delight with the £1 Poundland plastic topaz ring is made all the more surprising by the fact the 48-year-old used to be a jeweller.

Speaking to Fabulous Digital, she said the ring was 'meant' for her.

She said: "It turns out it was the last ring left in Poundland, and the blue topaz stone in the ring is actually my birthstone, and it fit. So it was fate - I was meant to have that ring for the proposal.

"It's something that I'll keep. It's not really a ring that you can wear a lot because it'll tarnish, so I'll keep it in the box and wear it on special occasions."

Sensible.

Lizzie Bennetti

The proposal - which was surely the first of its kind - was inspired by a combination of conquering fears and watching Channel 5's Do The Right Thing. Barry got the idea for the frugal ring after watching Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford talk about them on the show, while he and Lizzie have been spending days out going up beyond ground level to get over their fear of heights together.

Putting the two together, Barry figured the Poundland ring on one knee up the top of The Shard would represent an offer Lizzie couldn't refuse.

She said: "I'm a huge fan of Ruth and Eamonn and their relationship, we've been going to watch their show since last year.

"When they spoke about the Poundland rings, that sparked an idea in Barry. He was going to try and do the proposal on their show, but then he thought about The Shard.

"We've been going on days out to conquer our fear of heights, and that was on our list."

The plan looked like it was doomed to fail initially, as Lizzie was not keen to make her way up the 72 floors to the viewing platform. But she was eventually coaxed up by her friend Sarah, who convinced her it was for her daughter Kayley's 12th birthday.

Once she eventually got over her fears, she said it was all worthwhile for the 'perfect' proposal.

She said: "I don't know how the kids didn't slip up. They hardly spoke! When we got there Sarah pulled me away for a selfie and we had a wander round.

"Then I saw the beautiful wall of roses where that couple got married on This Morning, and Barry was there on his knees.

"I got so confused and then people started cheering - I couldn't believe it was happening, I was so shocked! It was magical, just perfect."

And if you've got this far and you think this is more cheap than magical, take some comfort in the knowledge Barry later presented her with a £5,000 diamond solitaire band... which obviously wasn't from Poundland.

Topics: UK News, Poundland, proposal

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey