Groom's 4th graders' sweet centerpiece notes steal the show at his wedding
A teacher's wedding has gained massive attention online thanks to adorable centerpieces featuring sweet and funny notes written by the groom's fourth grade students.
Lindsey Monte, a bridesmaid and cousin of the bride, shared photos of the centerpieces from Halle Strieter and Thomas Randles' wedding on TikTok earlier this month.
The centerpieces displayed the students' responses to two questions: "What is love?" and "Why do people get married?"
Among the answers: "When you look at a person and your heart goes fast and you're in love" and "So they can get smoochey smoochey with each other."
Monte told "Good Morning America" that she didn't know about the students' involvement until she arrived at the wedding.
"So I walked around, I read them all, and I was like, 'These are so cute,'" she said. She took photos, compiled them into a slide of images, and posted it to TikTok the next day.
"POV: 2 teachers get married & the groom's 4th grade class helps with the centerpieces," she wrote over the first photo from the slide.
The post quickly resonated with viewers, amassing over 1.8 million views as of Thursday.
Randles told "GMA" that when he shared the news of his wedding with his students, he invited them to help make the big day special.
"They got very excited … so I was like, 'This is your way of helping me,'" he explained. "I introduced the two questions ... and I said, 'I do not want to look at these responses. I want you to speak, write down what you think from your mind."
The responses, he said, ranged from heartfelt to hilarious, adding that "it was just a very cute, simple moment. And they were just so innocent writing it."
The hardest part, the bride recalled, was choosing which answers to feature. "One after the other, they were hysterical," she said.
After the post went viral, Randles shared it with his students by showing them on a big screen.
"I'm like, 'Look, we're going viral.' And they all got up [and said], 'We're gonna be famous,'" he shared with a laugh.
The couple, both from families of educators, said the students' involvement was a perfect fit for their wedding.
"Everyone really enjoyed it," Strieter shared. "They were getting a kick out of it."
Though neither Strieter nor Randles initially planned to be teachers, both said they found their calling after college.
Strieter, a marketing major, said she was inspired to become a teacher by the care her sister with disabilities received, leading her to pursue a career in special education.
Meanwhile, Randles, who studied sports medicine, said he discovered his love for teaching while working as a one-on-one aide for a child with disabilities.
"I fell in love with the fulfillment of just, like, every day putting a smile on a student's face, just teaching them one thing, whether it's how to tie their shoe or how to zip their jacket," he shared.
Reflecting on their viral moment, Strieter emphasized the depth of children's understanding.
"Children know a lot more than what you think they know," she said. "Even though they might not have the proper terminology or the perfect way of saying something, they feel the way everyone feels, and throughout their life, they've felt some form or people have showed them some form of love, and through their responses, you can tell that each child is loved, and it makes me so happy."
Added Randles, "I find that they just want a connection. So, us getting married and them doing this for us, they just felt an instant connection, like they were a part of my life outside of school…. They just want to feel loved and the responses were just so innocent and adorable, it was just amazing."
