The hen party had been in the planning for months, intended as an unforgettable surprise for bride-to-be Martha Privitelli.

The bridesmaids had already collected some €500 from guests to cover food and drink when she informed them the wedding would have to be postponed due to the coronavirus measures.

Rather than let all the hard work go to waste, however, the guests agreed to donate the money to a charity of Martha’s choice.

“I was really moved when my lovely ladies told me this,” she said.

“Having to postpone the wedding we had been planning for over two years was very difficult. But it made me happy that something good came of it.”

The money has been distributed to the family of Miriam Pace who died when her Ħamrun home collapsed on March 2, to the Foodbank Lifeline Foundation, the Association of Abandoned Animals and the Carers for Stray and Abandoned Felines.

The wedding of Martha, 30, and her fiancé Kevin D’Ugo, 33, had been set nearly three years ago for May 1 – the date of one of their first dates back in 2012.

“It was difficult to let go. We had been building up for so long,” she said.

Still, they did not want to let go of any of the suppliers or the venue, with whom they had built a strong relationship. But finding a new date was turning out to be difficult.

“It started stressing me out and at one point I stopped looking,” Martha said.

Then, she received a call from the venue informing her that June 7, 2021 – a sought-after date that falls on a public holiday – was available. By some miracle all her suppliers were also available.

“Sometimes life has a funny way of working out,” Martha said, encouraging other couples going through the same experience to stay calm and support one another.

“Everything will turn out just fine.”