A would-be fiancé went through the ringer to give his beloved a ring.
After seven years and 42 rejections, a woman finally accepted her boyfriend’s proposal.
Sarah Wintrip, 38, has finally said “yes” to her long-term patient partner, Luke Wintrip, 36 — on his 43rd attempt.
The couple, who tied the knot on May 17, 2025, have shocked many people with their unusual love story.
Sarah, 38, from Chelmsford, Essex, initially turned down Luke’s first proposal in 2018 after just six months of dating. Both had recently emerged from serious relationships and, despite being in love, Sarah wasn’t ready for another commitment so soon — especially one involving her three daughters.
“I didn’t expect it,” she recalled of the first proposal, which took place during a romantic horse ride in Jamaica. “I loved him, but I didn’t want to say ‘yes’ to something I later retracted. I wanted to make sure with kids and everything going on that it was right. Luke said ‘Okay, fine, but I’m going to keep asking you,” she told Kennedy News.
Luke, a 36-year-old tattooist, was undeterred. With each “no,” he grew more creative — proposing in abandoned castles, hiring musicians, and staging candlelit dinners.
One of the most elaborate proposals happened in Prague, where Luke transformed a deserted castle into a fairy-tale setting, complete with chocolates, champagne, and fairy lights. But even then, Sarah rejected him.
“I knew it was early, but I just knew she was the one,” Luke said. “My friends said to me, ‘You’re trying to beat her down,’ but it wasn’t that. I wanted to prove to her how much I want this, and I hoped one day the girls would look at it and go ‘Well, if Luke loves Mum that much, I need to find someone that loves me that much’.”
Clips of Luke’s repeated proposals — including one at a restaurant where Sarah shyly buried her head in her hands, and another on a busy street — went viral on TikTok. The caption “43 proposals and now we are getting married in two weeks” attracted thousands of viewers.
Sarah finally said yes in 2023 after telling Luke to pause the proposals and wait for the right moment. That moment came in Greenwich, London — where the eastern and western hemispheres meet to form the basis of the Greenwich Mean Time time zone — with a hired busker playing all her favorite songs.
“When he proposed, he said, ‘This is the center of the world and you are the center of my world and I want you to marry me’. He finally won my heart,” she recounted.
Now happily married, Sarah reflects on her decision with no regrets and encourages other women to trust their own timing: “If they’re the one, they’ll put in the effort. You don’t have to say ‘yes’ if you’re not ready. You can say, ‘not right now.’”
“I think he probably should get a Guinness World Record. I am grateful he persisted for so long,” Sarah joked.
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