It’s not every day a bride-to-be is proposed to while she’s already wearing a wedding dress, but that’s what happened for Vicki Tinkler on stage in Cranbrook last night.

Miss Tinkler was playing the female lead in the Cranbrook Operatic and Dramatic Society’s production of High Society in the Queen’s Hall Theatre, in which she marries the male lead at the end, played by her real-life partner, Simon Tomlinson.

But unbeknown to Miss Tinkler, her co-star had arranged to round off the performance - in front of some 200 people - with a real proposal, sung with an orchestral accompaniment, to Frank Sinatra’s You Make Me Feel So Young, finishing by getting down on one knee.

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He did this while she stood on stage wearing her wedding dress for the part.

Miss Tinkler, 29, a part time singing teacher, said: “I was crying a bit.”

Mr Tomlinson, who works in IT for an investment bank, said: “I’ve been thinking for a while I’d like to do it, and when we both got the lead roles it seemed the right time to do it.”

Arrangements were made over the last five months with everyone, including the director, musical director, cast and orchestra, in on the secret, but despite that, it stayed a surprise until the right moment.

There had even been a couple of secret rehearsals to make sure everything went according to plan.

She said: “I had no idea. I cannot believe so many people kept it a secret. I’m on cloud nine because I’m engaged.”

The couple, who live in Hurst Green and have six children from previous relationships between them, met three and half years ago when they were members of the Staplehurst Dramatic Society.

Video: The moment Simon Tomlinson proposed on stage to Vicki Tinkler