IT is the dream of every little girl. But for pupils at an Edinburgh school, their wedding day has come a lot earlier than their parents would have expected.
The junior school at St George's School for Girls spent three weeks planning a ceremony between two six-year-olds, taking charge of every detail, from transport to catering, and buttonholes to dresses.
And to help them celebrate their big day, gue
sts at the wedding – which was conducted by Reverend Alex Stewart of St Ninian's Parish Church in Corstorphine – included nursery pupils and the girls' parents, who were all serenaded by their very own choir.
The idea to have a mock wedding ceremony at the Garscube Terrace school came from the primary two pupils after reading the Katie Morag books – one of which featured the young girl attending a wedding in the Highlands.
The girls decided they should have a wedding too – and gained immediate approval from their teacher, who decided to turn wedding planning into an imaginative way to boost their learning.
Even the fact that there are no boys in the school didn't put the youngsters off as pupil Alexandra Nairn eagerly volunteered to sport a kilt to act as the groom.
The P2 girls organised the whole wedding in record time, sending out invites, baking cakes and sourcing their own outfits from dress-up boxes for the bride, groom and host of bridesmaids.
Louisa Prvulovich, the lucky bride, was chosen by the class and teacher for her overwhelming enthusiasm for the project, while her classmates took roles in the wedding party.
Some of the pupils also volunteered to take charge of the essential behind-the-scenes work such as preparing the bouquets, drawing up name cards and even filming the wedding.
Liz Stewart, head of early years at the school, said: "As young girls, they're engaged in imaginative play and love dressing up so decided they would like to have a wedding like in the Katie Morag books.
"It's taken their learning forward in all ways."
The children thought of everything, and as well as securing the school's catering facilities to make a wedding cake, they also drew up a health and safety risk assessment form for the trolley which transported the happy couple to the ceremony in the school hall.
They came up with solutions to all possible scenarios for the short journey – including being kidnapped and falling off.
The girls spent weeks researching different types of ceremonies – mostly using their parents' experiences of being wedding guests.
They will continue with their learning next week by visiting Rev Stewart's own church to see how a real wedding is carried out.
Headteacher Dr Judith McClure, who sported her best coat and a large hat for the ceremony on Friday, said: "I was proud to join their parents in the celebrations."
The full article contains 478 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
