When pottery-mad Sarah Smith flew thousands of miles for a factory tour, she was presented with the perfect piece for her collection - a plate bearing the words: "Will you marry me?" Unbeknown to the 20-year-old American, her boyfriend Matt Plumley had followed her all the way from Illinois and secretly commissioned the piece to pop the question.

Sarah has been collecting Wade pottery since she was seven years old and so it seemed only natural to combine the romantic gesture with her love of ceramics.

After being surprised at the factory in Burslem yesterday, Sarah gasped: "I can't believe it. I am shocked.

"I have more than 1,200 pieces of Wade pottery, but this is this is now the most special one in my collection.

"We have talked about marriage, and I always hoped he would do something linked with Wade, but then thought he would just blow off the idea. The plate is amazing."

Sarah had travelled to Stoke-on-Trent with her sister Jennifer for their first trip to the UK. Matt had been planning the proposal for a year and Jennifer was in on the secret.

Sarah began collecting Wade pieces when her parents gave her a little red riding hood figure as a young child.

She said: "They collect antiques and wanted Jennifer and I to collect something of our own. When the opportunity came up to visit England and the factory in Stoke-on-Trent I jumped at the chance."

Sarah explained the proposal was shocking, but not uncharacteristic of Matt's romantic nature and gestures throughout their six-year relationship.

"For every anniversary, he buys me my favourite flowers, gladiolas. But he gets a lot of credit for this one. Our parents get on really well and have always wanted us to marry, so it is great news for everybody."

Matt, a 22-year-old IT graduate, said: "I knew she would say yes - I was more worried about flying'."

He had been liaising with Jenny Wright, Wade's business manager for contracts and collectables, to ensure everything went to plan.

"Wade pottery is number one in Sarah's life and I am number two so I figured this was the right way to go," he said.

Sarah's sister Jennifer, aged 18, described the event as "absolutely perfect".

She added: "It is so obvious how much they love each other and Sarah is mad about Wade - that's what we buy her for Christmas, birthdays or whenever she is feeling a little down."

Matt first hatched the idea for handing her a proposal on a plate after Sarah went to the annual Wade show last summer.

Jenny Wright said: "Matt emailed me last August to ask if we could arrange for him to come to England and propose after I had met Sarah at the show in Pennsylvania.

"Sarah had told me she was planning a trip and asked if she could have a tour around the factory. It took a lot of emails back and forth. As far as I am aware, it is the first proposal we have had at Wade."

Sarah and Jennifer who were on a 10-day break with a tour group to the UK and Ireland, will set off from Heathrow today, while Matt will take off from Manchester looking forward to being reunited with his new fiancee at home.

Sarah said: "It's a shame we don't have much time to look around Stoke-on-Trent, but we would like to come back again together."