Frequent Bunnings shopper Melanie Burwell got a surprise proposal last week—not at a fancy restaurant, but in the aisles of her favourite hardware store, where love and power tools collide.
It was the day of her second anniversary with her partner Jeff Dykstra and Ms Burwell had originally planned to catch up with her daughter during one of her weekly trips to Bethania Bunnings.
But Ms Burwell’s day took an unexpected turn when she heard her name called over the loudspeaker.
“It was a huge surprise, very exciting, but I had been dropping a lot of hints for a while,” Ms Burwell said.
“It was very appropriate because I’m at Bunnings most weekends.
“Bunnings is my first favourite store, and then Spotlight, but he wasn’t ever going to propose to me at Spotlight,” she joked.
At first, Ms Burwell missed all the cues.
While at Bunnings she bumped into Mr Dykstra, who claimed he was there to “buy drop sheets”, even though he already had them.
Then, Ms Burwell didn’t hear her name as it was called over the Bunnings speaker because she was busy ordering Mr Dykstra a coffee.
But she finally heard the Bunnings worker for the second time: “Attention shoppers, is there a Melanie Burwell in the store? If so, Jeff would like to know if you will marry him.”
Then Mr Dykstra dropped to one knee and said the four magic words.
“I had been having a really ordinary week and that really lifted my spirits and brightened my whole day,” Ms Burwell said.
The couple met two years ago, and had their first date at Cafe 63 in Beenleigh.
“If anything, I thought he would have proposed there, but he wanted to surprise me,” she said.
“We’re very down to earth people – we don’t take things too seriously.”
The couple hasn’t yet started planning for the wedding.
“I work full time as a nurse, and I care for my mum who is 77 and she needs a lot of help for a few health issues, and Jeff is in the process of selling his house and moving so we’re busy,” Ms Burwell said.
“We want to get through the end of the year and then we’ll start thinking about things.”
Bunnings regional manager Ben Oram the store was thrilled to be part of the engagement.
“We wish them the very best and look forward to welcoming the happy couple back in store soon,” he said.
