Marrying at the double

SAMANTHA and Matthew with (from the left) Imogen Smith, Jenny Maguire, Elliot Posser and Mehjabeen Ahmed

WHEN Samantha Fletcher and Matthew Kershaw marry tomorrow in Uppermill, they will feel a sense of deja vu.

They have already said their vows, cut a cake, and been showered with confetti in front of 200 guests — the entire infants’ school, staff and governors at Royton Hall.

The surprise event was arranged by Samantha’s teaching colleagues in the school hall before the last day of term.

They secretly managed to help the children to make hundreds of butterfly decorations, brought in flowers and balloons, and arranged for Samantha’s parents, Laura and Geoff, and brother Jamie, to be there.

Chairman of the governors, Roy Butterworth, walked Samantha, a Year 2 teacher, down the aisle, to where her fiance Matthew (31) was waiting.

And after taking their vows and signing a register, the couple were toasted in juice and ate a wedding breakfast of iced biscuits made by the children.

Samantha, (30), from Shaw, whose real wedding is tomorrow at Sacred Heart RC Church, Uppermill, said: “It was a fabulous day. My colleagues had picked up on certain themes, like the green colour in my wedding invitations, so I was told to wear a green dress and Matthew had to wear a green tie.

“I was handed a bunch of flowers made from tissue paper and given a tiara and veil. And I had two bridesmaids and a page boy.

“We are well prepared for the real thing now. I don’t know how they managed to get everything ready without me knowing, or when they got the children to make the decorations, but we were absolutely delighted.”

Samantha — engaged to Matthew, from Rochdale, for more than 13 years — has taught at Royton Hall for nine years.