A wedding moment to treasure

Wedding bells rang to the beat of a flash mob as more than 1,000 pupils and teachers staged an incredible act of celebration to mark the upcoming wedding of St Christopher’s School Principal Ed Goodwin and his sweetheart Wendy Bataineh, head of the junior school.

In a stunning climax to the school’s end-of-year house assembly the students secretly staged a colourful dance to surprise the couple who were asked to come up on the stage and sit on Tudor-styled ‘Posh and Becks’ thrones.

Callum Matthews, a Year 6 pupil, danced down the aisle and was quickly accompanied by a flash mob of 1,100 infant and junior pupils as well as around 100 members of staff who synchronised their moves to the sound of singer Bruno Mars’ global hit Marry You.

PE teacher Rebecca Lambert organised the celebratory dance as a surprise for the couple and circulated an email to all members of staff which gave them two weeks to learn the dance and keep their lips sealed.

She said: “We all wanted to do something for the couple-to-be because we couldn’t let them go without them having a final ‘congratulations’ from the school.

“A friend of mine, Kerrie Mulleague, came up with the idea of a flash mob and I thought it was brilliant.

“It sort of all came together from there … I made up the moves, recorded myself, sent the choreography to the teachers and when Wendy was away on official business, we spoke briefly about teaching it to all the students as a ‘brain-break’ during lessons.

“I said to the teachers, just remember it’s a secret. The kids loved the fact it was top secret and it was well kept.

“I was extremely nervous on the day as we had all practiced separately and didn’t know how it would come together. In the video I had made, I mentioned when each year group would come in for the dance and I just worried something might go wrong.

“But when they sat on their thrones and the music was played it was perfect. It was like a real celebration … the kids on the balcony were throwing party poppers and confetti, everyone was smiling, everyone was supportive and most importantly, everyone had a really good buzz and feeling after it all happened. We all had a great time.”

Wendy certainly did! She described the gesture as ‘a wedding moment to remember and treasure’ and was in complete shock when the music started.

“It was a total surprise!” she said. “To see around a thousand children and more than a hundred staff members all happy, smiling and dancing in unison to the tune of Marry You was incredible.

“I had no idea that they had been practising for weeks. They had even posted look-outs at the classroom doors, in case I came past at the wrong moment.

“I was very touched by it all and will never forget sitting up there on the ‘throne’ looking down at a sea of joyous faces, dancing away to a perfectly co-ordinated and choreographed tune.

“Rebecca, who led and planned it so that all the children and teachers from nursery to year six participated, has really given us a wedding moment to remember and treasure.”

Ed was just as shocked and had a feeling something fishy was going on when he was pestered by colleagues about the house assembly. However, he wasn’t expecting to be placed on a throne.

He said: “Having been cajoled to make sure I didn’t miss the end-of-year house assembly, I knew that something was going to happen, but had no idea what. I half expected a simple ‘congratulations’ in front of the school. I should have known better!

“We were led to the thrones on the stage and then the music started and the dancing commenced. I couldn’t believe it as the wave of dancing starting at the back of the hall, moved nearer, year group, by year group, finally engulfing even the three-year olds in the nursery. 

“And, then there was the surge of staff down the aisle, splitting left and right and spinning to face the pupils to lead the remainder of the dance.

“Rebecca Lambert had taken Kerrie Mulleague’s idea, choreographed it and then, somehow, arranged for 1,100 children and 100-plus adults to rehearse it, with the aid of a video of herself that was distributed widely ... and, here’s the even more amazing aspect ... all in secret!

“I was amazed, very moved and elated by it all ... a wonderful send-off from St Chris! Thank you.”

Wendy and Ed will be jetting off to the UK to get married on July 20 in a civil ceremony in Bamburgh Castle in the northeast of England. The wedding kicks off at 5pm and will be followed by an evening reception at the Pavillion at Alnwick Gardens.

“Both are stunning venues and I feel very lucky,” said Wendy, a divorced mother-of-two. “Friends and family are travelling from all over the world to be with us on this special day.”

As reported in GulfWeekly, Wendy had battled breast cancer almost two years ago with the support of family, friends and Ed, also a divorcee. The couple says their feelings for each other grew from a close friendship into love during this time.

Wendy lives with her daughter Alyaa, 25, a teacher at St Christopher’s School. Her eldest child Marion, 31, lives in Jordan with her husband, Zeid, and their two-year-old daughter Al Anoud, who was born in the midst of Wendy’s chemotherapy treatment which was carried out in London.

Ed also has a daughter, Vicki, who is a mother to teenage son, Brodie, and lives in Hexham, Northumberland, UK, with her husband, Ant.

Both Wendy and Ed have asked those who are attending the wedding to donate through a Give in Celebration page that Wendy set up in aid of cancer research, rather than showering the couple with gifts.

The newly-weds will return to Bahrain and set up together in a new home in Saar, close to the school.

Wendy said: “At this point in our lives, as we are combining two houses into one, we do not need any more material goods … so rather than wedding cards or gifts we have asked those who would like to donate instead.”

*Visit https://giveincelebration.cancerresearchuk.org/0001321 for more information or to donate.