By Rebecca Bull Southland's Waiau Area School swapped school bells for wedding bells last week as one of their own tied the knot (again) on campus. Christopher Wedderburn, a teacher of four years at the Tuatapere school in western Southland, on Friday remarried his new bride Emily Serafini. Wedderburn is South African and Serafini is American so they knew they wanted a destination wedding.
The pair got married on 7 July in Casertavecchia, Italy, a small village where Serafini's grandmother is from. However, with such a deep connection to the school - including Wedderburn's mum also working there and the students so excited in the lead up to the big day, the newlyweds had to throw a second event. "Leading up to the wedding all my students and the other students I previously taught were so excited, and sad they couldn't be there.
Some students would say things like 'Can you take me with you in your suitcase?'," Wedderburn, who has taught years two to six, told RNZ. "The students so wanted to be a part of our day so with the help and organisation of the WAS (Waiau Area School) faculty we hosted another ceremony at the school. All the students received cordial invites, learned what to wear when attending a wedding and brought plates to share with their classmates.
"We and the WAS faculty wanted to give them a wedding experience as some students had never been to one before. We wanted to show them a real-life fairytale from the beautiful wedding gown to the commitment you make to .