THERE was high excitement when 200 pupils attended the wedding of two fellow students.

But the marriage was only a mock occasion organised as part of GCSE religious education (RE) curriculum at Houghton Kepier School, Houghton-le-Spring.

The ceremony followed a normal wedding in every detail from the bride and groom in full wedding attire, arriving in a limousine for a religious service, followed by speeches and a reception complete with a wedding cake.

The school had teamed up with Houghton's Bethany Christian Centre for the occasion.

The mock service uniting bride and groom for the day, Chelsea Liddle and Jonathon Round, both 15, was conducted by the centre's Pastor, David Burke, who explained the significance of the religious ceremony.

The school's head of RE and personal social health and citizenship education, Eileen Osborne, said the event had been devised to help Key Stage 4 students with the Christianity Unit of their GCSE studies.

She said: "It was absolutely brilliant and the students enjoyed every minute of it.''