Boyfriend Albert Ndreu, 26, spent two weeks meticulously planning the perfect proposal after buying a ring for girlfriend Valerija Madevic.
Albert, from Yorkshire, decided to surprise Valerija by filling their living room with candles, around 100 tealights, and roughly 60 balloons.
The doting boyfriend then went out to pick Valerija up to surprise her – but after he left, the flat caught fire.
Three fire crews rushed to the scene after Valerija saw clouds of dark smoke emanating from their flat’s door in Sheffield.
But Albert was undeterred and got down on one knee in the charred room to ask the love of his life if she would marry him
With sirens wailing in the distance and their flat engulfed in flames, the love-struck girlfriend said the all-important ‘yes’.
While the happy couple is delighted to be engaged, their studio flat was gutted by flames and smoke damage.
Albert said: ‘I was planning the proposal for over two weeks – I kept struggling to find the right thing to do to mark the special moment.
‘I wanted to do something from my heart even if it didn’t go exactly as planned.
‘Valerija always says the most important thing is the small gestures every day – but I wanted to do something special for the proposal.
‘I bought the most important thing, which was the ring, and I just needed to make sure the day was perfect.
‘It didn’t go exactly as I thought it would but she said yes, so I think the day took an unexpected turn but ended up exactly how I wanted it to.’
Albert spent over four hours preparing his romantic setting – two of which were spent blowing up the balloons and lighting up the candles.
Of all the things that Albert worried could go wrong, he never expected to find his home left in ashes.
He said: ‘I put balloons and candles everywhere, I had to go all out.
‘I was so worried about everything going wrong I never imagined I could set the house on fire.
‘But it will always be an unforgettable day for us and a story which will be amazing to tell our children.’
Albert and Valerija have been together for just over a year after meeting on a dating website.
‘We spoke for hours and hours and talked about anything and everything,’ he said.
‘We got on like a house on fire, but maybe we took that a bit too literally.’
He added: ‘I hope this serves as a warning for others that maybe there is such a thing as too much love or too many candles.’
Valerija says her fiancé greeted her at her work with flowers, which led to her being suspicious that he’d done something stupid and was groveling.
She said: ‘When I got the flowers I thought he must have broken something or destroyed something in the house.
‘Little did I know he had destroyed our entire living room.
‘We walked up the stairs to the flat and there was smoke everywhere, I told him to call the firefighters because our house was on fire.
‘I was in total shock, I was shaking because it looked like it was really bad.’
But Valerija was about to get an even bigger shock after she walked down the stairs to find Albert down on one knee.
Valerija said: ‘He pulled out a box from his pocket and I was just speechless.
‘He said that he messed up – our house was literally in flames – but asked me if I would marry him.
‘And I said yes.’
The pair are currently staying with Albert’s cousin and are waiting on more information relating to their insurance in the flat they moved in just a month ago.
Thankfully only a laptop, a speaker, and some books were lost in the fire.
They’re not sure when it will be safe for them to return to the flat but said the most important thing was that they were together.
Valerija said: ‘You can replace things in the house, but not our love for each other.
‘In the end we’re in good health and we’re together, and that’s all that matters.’
‘But Albert is banned from candles and balloons for a while, even with his birthday coming up.’
The pair hope to tie the knot on the anniversary of the fire and said they’d invite the fire brigade as a special guest – both to thank them and as a preventive measure.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/06/boyfriend-writes-marry-candles-romantic-proposal-accidentally-burns-flat-13091097/
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