All brides get to be the centre of attraction on their big day but, when Chettina Fenech walks down the aisle in July, she will be proudly bearing the title of 'Bride of the Year' after winning a competition organised by a news agency in the UK, where she lives.
"I love it that I was the only Maltese person in the competition and won. And this was thanks to the support I had from Malta," the 28-year-old bride-to-be says as she thanks the readers of The Sunday Times who voted for her after a story featured a fortnight ago.
Ms Fenech and her English fiancé Alex Masters will be tying the knot in Buckinghamshire on July 5 with a day-long wedding, which will be a cross between Maltese-Mediterranean and English-country-garden.
"Now that we won we are going to be able to do more with our wedding," she says. Mr Masters adds: "It gives us more scope to be free with other things. For example, we can spend more money on Chet's bridal accessories and provide children with more entertainment."
And any money they save will go towards their Victorian house where they plan to raise a family.
Ms Fenech's family lived in the UK for several years when her father worked there. Her parents eventually moved back to Malta, and live in Gżira, but she decided to pursue her education in the UK.
About three years ago, she met Mr Masters while working part-time at a software company to support her studies. She eventually left the company but remained in contact with him and, as friendship evolved into romance, they started dating.
Then, last year, they came to Malta together and he proposed to her in Valletta. Soon after, they got engaged.
Earlier this month Ms Fenech's mother secretly signed her up to the Bucks Free Press 'Bride of the Year' competition for which about 2,000 brides-to-be had applied.
Some time later Ms Fenech received an unexpected phone call informing her that she had been chosen to be one of 30 future brides to compete in the competition.
The 28-year-old immediately suspected that her mother had signed her up as she had sprung such surprises in the past. But once Ms Fenech was part of the competition she decided to give it her all and called on the Maltese public to vote and help her seize the title.
When she and Mr Masters went to the finals last Sunday, they first heard the host announce the names of the brides who came in third and second place.
"Then the host said: 'and the winner is...' and paused adding she would not be able to pronounce the name. That's when I knew it was me as all other competitors had very English names. In fact she did not say my surname properly," Ms Fenech laughs.
Mr Masters says: "For me, she would have always been the bride of the year. I mean, there was an element of surprise but... some sort of level of expectation as well because she's beautiful," he says.
The couple won a £500 (€663.38) voucher for bridal wear, a £200 (€265.24) voucher for a menswear hire shop, a £250 (€331.55) voucher for the mother of the bride, wedding invitations and their own bridal photo shoot.