Group Events by Week Commencing in Eloquent - grouping

Question

I have the following method in my Event model for my events:
public static function getEvents($perPage = 10)
{
$events = Event::where('active', '=', 1)->paginate($perPage);
return $events;
}
Each event has a start_date and I need to take that start date and group the results in the view by week commencing, as in the Monday of the week each event occurs. I have this in my controller:
public function index()
{
$events = Event::getEvents($perPage = 5);
$this->layout->content = View::make('events.index')->with('events', $events);
}
Can anyone help me out with grouping these events by week commencing? Thanks.
I'm part way there in terms of getting the week commencing date using:
foreach ($events as $event)
{
$start_date = DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d', $event->start_date);
$week = $start_date->format('YW');
$monday = 1;
$day_offset = ($monday - $start_date->format('N'));
$week_commencing = $start_date->modify("$day_offset days");
$week_commencing = $week_commencing->format('jS F Y');
}
Now I just need to use that to group the events but I'm not sure how to.
EDIT: I feel I'm getting closer to a solution but still need a little help. I now have the below in my controller, and it does print out 1 week commencing then all the events but when var_dump(ing) the $events->weeks_commencing there is only 1 date in the object, so I'm nearly there. Any pointers guys?:
foreach ($events as $event)
{
$start_date = DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d', $event->start_date);
$week = $start_date->format('YW');
$monday = 1;
$day_offset = ($monday - $start_date->format('N'));
$week_commencing = $start_date->modify("$day_offset days");
if (!array_key_exists($week, $events))
{
$events->weeks_commencing = (object) array(
'week' => $week_commencing->format('jS F Y')
);
}
}
EDIT: OK I now have this in my controller. It's getting closer but not quite right yet.
foreach ($events as $event)
{
$start_date = DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d', $event->start_date);
$week = $start_date->format('YW');
$monday = 1;
$day_offset = ($monday - $start_date->format('N'));
$week_commencing = $start_date->modify("$day_offset days");
if (array_key_exists($week, $events))
{
$events = (object) array(
'week' => $week_commencing->format('jS F Y'),
'events' => array()
);
}
$events->events[] = $event;
}

Answer 1

OK, so I've solved my issue now, with the following code:
public function index()
{
$events = Event::getEvents($perPage = 10);
$events_by_week = array();
foreach ($events as $event)
{
$start_date = DateTime::createFromFormat('Y-m-d', $event->start_date);
$week = $start_date->format('YW');
$monday = 1;
$day_offset = ($monday - $start_date->format('N'));
$week_commencing = $start_date->modify("$day_offset days");
if (!array_key_exists($week, $events_by_week))
{
$events_by_week[$week] = (object) array(
'week' => $week_commencing->format('jS F Y'),
'events' => array()
);
}
$events_by_week[$week]->events[] = $event;
}
$this->layout->content = View::make('events.index')->with(array('events_by_week' => $events_by_week, 'events' => $events));
}