Pilbara romance blossoms in steakhouse

South Hedland resident Ben Marshman said he first knew Bonnie Short was the woman for him when they went on a date to a steakhouse and Bonnie ate an entire rack of ribs.

"I thought it was really attractive, actually," Mr Marshman said.

"I saw Bonnie eating the ribs and I thought, 'I'm going to marry that girl'."

They got engaged on January 17 during a camping trip to the Murrah River in NSW.

"We shared a bottle of champagne at sunset and I asked Bonnie would she marry me," Mr Marshman said.

"I gave Bonnie a $2 plastic ring from the dress shop; I actually gave her two because I wasn't sure which one would fit her finger."

To the recounting of this tale Ms Short chimed in, "neither of them fit and they're both hideous".

They announced their engagement the next day when they were back in the land of the living and regained mobile reception.

"I'd been thinking about it all year but I just wanted to wait until we were home so we could see family and friends," Mr Marshman said.

Ms Short, who is a teacher at Hedland Senior High School, said her engagement ring was expected to arrive in about two weeks, and had been designed with a sapphire as the main stone and a diamond gifted from her grandmother, pulled together with a rose-gold band with white gold.

The couple met one fateful day while working at a restaurant called The Bathers' Pavilion in Balmoral, Sydney.

"We started chatting at work and he eventually asked me out on a date," she said. "He made me go to the footy on a Friday night in Sydney, in the middle of winter, it was really cold."

Mr Marshman said he thought, "if she said yes to a date at the footy then she must like me". The couple, who have been together for four-and-a-half years, said they were planning to marry in February 2015.