Organizing a wedding can be stressful, especially when picking bridesmaids and groomsmen, but one woman had the perfect way to decide. Mason McDowell and Alexandra Stamps are both teachers. They met at a job fair and fell in love. The two people didn’t expect to meet someone who would change their lives at an event in Wichita, Kansas, but they did.
McDowell thought Stamps was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. A few weeks later, when they ran into each other again, the two Kansans started dating. It was the start of an exciting love story. Alexandra Stamps, a fifth-grade teacher, didn’t think twice about asking her students to be her bridesmaids and groomsmen on her wedding day. After dating for almost a year, the Science and Technology Elementary School teacher from Wichita, Kansas, married her boyfriend, Mason McDowell, in July. Mason, who teaches third grade, also wanted his students to participate in the big day.
The couple asked their students to come to their wedding and be bridesmaids and groomsmen. “I love them, and they are important to me.” Alexandra told the Wichita Eagle, “I want them to be up there with me because they are my biggest fans.” Alexandra took a video of the moment she asked her students and put it on TikTok. It quickly went viral, with over 19 million people watching it.
At the beginning of the video, Alexandra says, “I’m about to ask my students to be at my wedding.” It shows her in her classroom, where she tells her students, “Okay, so I have an essential question to ask you. “Khloe, Mary, Reagan, Angelina, Esmeralda, Lucy, Lily, Bella, and Harley, will you be my junior bridesmaids at my wedding?” When she asks, the girls answer, “Yes!”
“Boyland, Max, Eric, Emilio, Kayden, Will, Conner, Jessie, Jose, and Sebastian, will you be my junior groomsmen?” She then asks, and the boys answer immediately, “Yes!” Alexandra said their students were so happy to be asked that about six or seven started crying. Alexandra said she and her husband asked their students because they spend over 40 hours a week with them and love them so much.
So I thought it would be fun to include them in the festivities instead of just having them watch. I want to give them this special piece of my life. I want them to be a part of it because I’m so proud of their hard work this year. I’m also proud that they’ve survived and thrived in the pandemic. After watching them grow as people this school year, they deserve to be up there with me.
The students had been following the couple for months, and Stamps said in a clip that they had asked her when she would get engaged. Stamps told her class in another viral video that she had a big question for them. The kids were amazed and curious when she called out each child’s name and asked them to be a part of her big day. The girls in the class started crying, and the boys started shouting with excitement. Everyone attending the Central Christian Church event could see how much Stamps and McDowell love each other. Their wedding also gave them a chance to put a value on the students they saw every day.
Alexandra said she first asked the students’ parents if they could participate and gave the girls fake pearl necklaces and the colorful boys sunglasses. Stamps asked the kids’ parents for permission to invite them to her wedding before she asked them. The idea made everyone happy, and the kids made memories they will remember forever. After she asked the students to be her friends, she gave them all rainbow-striped lollipops. What a great way for her to show her appreciation for her students! I can’t even imagine how excited this group of students must have been.
The wedding in July had 170 people there, and it was a beautiful, happy event. Morilee, the bridal company that made Stamps’ beautiful white dress, gave the mini bridesmaid dresses for the special ceremony. Bella Veil Bridal, which rented the boys’ sharp formal wear, ensured that the little groomsmen were not left out.
Stamps couldn’t have asked for a better day, and she was glad to have the children with her. Teachers shape the lives of their students, and kids often have the same effect on their teachers. A teacher from Kansas loved the kids in her class so much that she included them in one of the most important events in her life.
