Stuart's wintry message melts Sarah's heart

It was the most romantic proposal she could have imagined when ambulance worker Sarah Manly was woken on her birthday.

It was written in the snow in the garden of the Wolverhampton home she shared with Stuart Blaze.

When the 29-year-old eventually tore herself away from the window overlooking the back garden message, boyfriend Stuart was on one knee holding out a jewellery box containing a diamond engagement ring and Will You Be Mine? love hearts.

That was in January, and Sarah thought her year could not get any better. Now the couple have learned they have won a £5,000 wedding reception at a four-star Midland hotel.

The lovebirds had booked Nailcote Hall, in Warwickshire, for the venue as it is a midway point for relatives from Wolverhampton, where Stuart's family live, and Cambridgeshire, Sarah's home county.

Out of more than 60 couples getting married at the hotel this year, their names were pulled out of a hat in a prize draw.

Sarah said today: "We're just gobsmacked. I was still recovering from the marriage proposal."I have never won anything in my life – not even a tenner on the Lottery."

Sarah, who works in the West Midlands Ambulance Service control room in Brierley Hill, said of the message: "I blubbered like a baby when I saw it."The couple, who have set up home at Hall Park Street, Bilston, are now planning an October wedding

.Stuart, aged 33, director of Wolverhampton Print Company, said the snow proposal was one of the most nerve-wracking nights of his life.

"I waited till 1am when she was asleep then sneaked out to stamp down the snow with my feet. A couple of the neighbours wondered what was going on," he said.