It took military-like planning for Farmer Wants A Wife’s Harry Lloyd to pull off the sneaky proposal he’d planned for his love of four years, Tess Brookman, at Mitchelton Winery in Nagambie, Victoria, on March 14.
“I organised a cover story to go out for lunch with one of my friends from uni then I had her call and cancel last-minute. I’d organised everything with the staff,” says Harry, who met and fell in love with his now-fiancee on the show in 2022.
“They said, ‘We’ll reshuffle the tables. You guys have a wander.’ And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that sounds lovely’. I was none the wiser,” grins his bride-to-be.
“So then I took Tess down to the river and I proposed to her there,” adds Harry.
SO SURPRISED
“I think I said yes before he’d even asked the question,” laughs Tess of the very special moment.
“He went down on one knee and popped out this ring that was sitting in a little cowboy hat – that was the ring box. So cute, and so Harry, if you know him! The ring was gorgeous and I was so caught up in that moment that I was so surprised when our friend, who I thought wasn’t there, popped out from behind a tree and she’d recorded the whole thing.”
ANTIQUE JEWELLERY
Like the couple’s reality TV romance, which has gone the distance, the engagement ring Harry, 27, gave Tess, 26, was meant to be too!
“The story about the ring is actually amazing,” Tess tells Woman’s Day. “It’s a beautiful trilogy diamond vintage ring. While we’d never spoken about too many details about getting engaged or married, Harry knew that I would love to get a vintage or antique ring. I followed a few pages on Instagram of these jewellers that source antique jewellery. He had gone away and followed some of these sites too and messaged the jeweller to find one.
“I think a couple of weeks went past and the jeweller responded that they had a ring they thought he’d love. Anyway, the ring drops online and Harry puts a deposit on it straight away. An hour later, I see the ring pop up in my feed and it’s the only hint or ring I’ve ever sent to him to be like, ‘Ooh, I think this is really pretty!’
And he’d already bought it!
LIVING IN THE COUNTRY
“And I remember the moment because he laughed out loud and said, ‘Oh, Tess. Bad luck! It’s already sold. You’ll have to buy another one.’ It was incredibly special. I feel very spoiled.”
As the couple show Woman’s Day around their farm in Kyabram, Victoria, it’s clear former city girl Tess has settled into rural life with her husband-to-be.
“I never saw myself living in the country, but now I can’t imagine anything different,” she says.
And while the couple are keen to just enjoy their engagement for now, they plan to tie the knot right at home. “I’d be happy in the cow paddock with a barbecue,” says Harry. “A couple of eskies, that’s my dream.”
“I have no problem with it in the paddock, but we might find a nice marquee and zhoosh it up a bit,” laughs Tess.
