Man proposes with huge tattoo on his thigh – popping question with jeans around his ankles – The Mirror
A brave barber proposed to his partner with his pants around his ankles, before getting her to ink ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the question via a ‘check box’ on his body
It is hard to come up with a unique and non-cliché proposal when planning the special occasion, but one man proved he meant business; popping the question with a 10-inch 'marry me then' tattoo on his body.
Joe Murray proposed to his girlfriend with a thigh tattoo and asked for her hand in marriage with his jeans around his ankles. The barber from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, said he was inspired by tattoos he'd seen online and asked Ant Payne-Wright – the owner of Liberty Ink Tattoo – for help to create the question on his body.
Ant inked a cartoon version of the couple on Joe's upper-left thigh with the writing 'marry me then…'. The tattoo also has a yes and no tick box underneath last month. Joe's partner Sara Graham was invited down to the studio – thinking she was getting a tattoo of her own – but when she arrived at the tattoo parlour, she was stunned when 33-year-old Joe dropped his trousers before he got down on one knee and held out a ring in the tattoo studio.
As the gobsmacked 36-year-old said yes, while the song 'Love You 'Till the End' by The Pogues played, the dad-of-three slipped the gold and pear-shaped diamond ring onto her finger. She then inked a tick into the 'yes' box.
Joe said: "I thought it would be something very different, very random and something a bit more memorable."
Speaking about his relationship, Joe continued: "Me and Sara are very sarcastic with each other so for me to try and be serious, I froze. I thought I handled it quite well until I got down on my knee and my hand started shaking. I had my trousers round my ankles when I proposed to her.
"Ant pressed 'play' on our song. She still didn't clock what was going on, she just looked at me as I was pulling my trousers down. I grabbed the ring and then threw myself next to her. I was kneeling so the tattoo was showing.
"I said 'babe will you marry me then? I don't think she realised what was going on, then she started getting a bit emotional. She said 'yes I will'."
He added: "I was a little bit nervous of her tattooing me but she has steady hands so I didn't stress too much."
Speaking about her experience, Sara said: "The proposal was a shock to say the least. I wasn’t expecting it at all and it was a very unique way of doing it. The fact I got to tattoo it myself made it that little bit extra special too. It was just a lovely moment and I'll cherish it forever, well he will now it's on his body."
Ant, a tattooist of eight years, said: "It's not a tattoo I do every day. I wanted to do my part but I said to him 'when you actually propose I'll be outside the room'. I was hovering around outside. I didn't know what to do, I just stood there like an idiot.
"When I walked back in with flowers she was nearly crying and he still had his trousers around his ankles. I let her tattoo him, it's symbolic for them both that she tattooed him 'yes'. I never rule anything out in tattooing."
People on social media flooded a Facebook post sharing the tattoo with comments congratulating the couple. One wrote: "Congratulations to the happy couple!" Another commented: "I love this." Another added: "Such a cute tattoo."
Do you have a story? Get in touch via Lucy.Marshall@reachplc.com.
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