As a general rule, you should always expect a good cry at a wedding. There’s just something so touching about watching two people say “I do” as they promise to spend their entire lives together. Marriage will always have its ups and downs, but at that very moment, it becomes official — and that’s something worth celebrating with wine and shrimp cocktail.
The other guarantee of weddings is that every celebration will be a little different. Even weddings held at the same venue have little touches to them that make them their own. Whether it’s the dress, the cake, or the choice in the first dance song, weddings are fun because the receptions always have their own flair.
And the same could be said for a ceremony. Even though church ceremonies have a lot in common with each other, sometimes passages or readings can be changed up a bit. And in this case, the choice of music was tweaked.
A dance and musical theater teacher named Liz got married in a semi-traditional ceremony and got the surprise of her life after her groom, Ollie, arranged a special surprise for her before they said “I Do.” It may be one of the sweetest things you see today.
The photographers were in on it.
[image_with_caption text=”Van Rensburg Films / YouTube” image=”https://itsblossom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/wedding-photogs.png”]
As you can see, the photographers were ready for the big moment. Now, Liz seems to be a bit unaware of the change, which makes sense.
When you get married, it’s so easy to be so overwhelmed that you don’t take all the details in.
Really, it’s almost like one big romantic blur standing up there.
Once the guests saw them, they started turning around.
[fm_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TbavjI5nU8&t=”]
To the guests, it might not have been much. But really, it’s a meaningful surprise — especially if you know what the bride does for a living.
Ollie had to nudge his bride to get her to realize what was going on.
And that’s when she saw a bunch of her students singing a surprise song in honor of her big day.
Her response is priceless.
[image_with_caption text=”Van Rensburg Films / YouTube” image=”https://itsblossom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/bride-expression.jpg”]
When you teach a classroom, you likely view your kids there as a second family. After all, you do spend over 40 hours of your week with these people!
You want them to grow up well and have fond memories of your time together.
But, they might be left off the wedding invite list — especially if it’s a big class, which this one seems to be.
That makes this the perfect way to include them in Liz’s big day.
[fm_giphy url=”https://media.giphy.com/media/4TiJLftnLpNUjZj4ke/giphy.gif”]
Now they all have the moment to share.
It also proves how much Liz has meant to them.
This was likely just an idea that quickly took form after the students from Jaykays Dance Company enthusiastically wanted to honor their teacher on one of the biggest days of her life. It’s solid proof that teachers make a difference, and that art education will always matter.
But Ollie didn’t plan this surprise alone.
[fm_giphy url=”https://media.giphy.com/media/3ohs4Az5xSJj0RYrss/giphy.gif”]
When organizing so many kids, you need to go right to the source. He planned this out in advance with Jaren, the owner of Jaykays Dance Company.
The kids were too excited to sing for the bride, who they knew as “Miss Liz.”
And they weren’t the only ones pumped for the surprise. It turns out the video of the performance is the Jaykays Dance Company website as an “Easter egg” for fans of the dance studio to find.
Curious about the song?
[fm_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtOvBOTyX00″]
The JKDC kids are singing a version of “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri.
The lyrics are incredibly romantic.
“I have died every day, waiting for you, Darling, don’t be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years, I’ll love you for a thousand more.”
Good choice, right?
Her reaction proves how important her job is to her.
[fm_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2latiQqwVKA”]
It’s hard work to organize a bunch of kids for a performance. But the wedding video is proof that Miss Liz has taught her kids some wonderful skills of performing and shining under pressure.
They might not have known that their video would have gone viral, but a wedding is an important gig regardless.
Especially when you have such respect for your teacher.
Miss Liz still works with Jaykays Dance Company, primarily as a Dance and Acro teacher.
[fm_instagram url=”https://www.instagram.com/p/BpzojVFh_4L/”]
On their website, she said that the wedding surprise was one of her favorite moments.
The site also lists her resume, which includes playing Wendy in Bob The Builder Live.
She toured through Europe and America for the gig, which means there’s a chance you might have actually caught her on stage before. She also has experience on cruise ships as a dancer. Talk about a traveled woman!
This wedding surprise was one of the sweetest, but it’s not the first time that something like this happened.
[fm_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OdHY7itDiI”]
Even though their song was more animated, the same thing happened in Canada.
Fifteen music students entered the church and started up a flash mob at the wedding of Shannon and Rick.
Rick was the one who was surprised by the whole event, but guests are probably still talking about the unexpected show. It’s a surprise he didn’t notice a few of the students sitting down before the ceremony!
Their parents were also hidden among the 130 guests.
[fm_twitter url=”https://twitter.com/marrbryan/status/423069271472615424″]
Can you imagine being Rick at this very moment?
The wedding surprise took place in St. Johns Church in Niagara Falls.
And the students were from The Music Depot. This is a good clip for them to include with any resume — especially the boy who started singing first, as he had a lot of pressure on him to get his cue right.
There was also the surprise at Kayla and Nicole’s wedding.
[fm_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niUwbnPkhmM”]
Oddly enough, this one seemed to also happen in Niagara. The students and teachers of Music and Performance Niagara Inc. surprised these two brides with a song at their reception.
They sang “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles, with ring bearer Wil taking the lead.
As you can tell, it was a huge hit and both brides were pleasantly surprised.
But for students who are too worried about surprises, there’s another way to make the wedding weekend memorable.
[fm_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUC38-nQ8tI”]
These music students surprised their chorus director at the wedding rehearsal. They also chose “All You Need Is Love” for Mr. Christopher Landis before his big day.
What can we say?
The sweet song is guaranteed to be a hit and is absolutely perfect for a wedding. This surprise definitely has some Mr. Holland’s Opus vibes to it, and it’s so great that the memory was recorded and shared.
Out of all these wedding surprises, Liz’s reaction was likely the best.
[fm_giphy url=”https://media.giphy.com/media/Z9t6QhVVq1MVuwsR3Z/giphy.gif”]
You can tell that including these talented kids made her big day even better.
Plus, it was great that it took her a few seconds to truly figure out what was going on.
Can you believe all of those kids kept such a big secret for so long? The time and dedication they must have put into rehearsals probably made it a little tempting to spill.
Just know, it takes a special bride (or groom) to appreciate something like this.
[fm_giphy url=”https://media.giphy.com/media/wu3xnHyA3RYoU/giphy.gif”]
If you want to pull off a music surprise for someone who is heavy into details, it may not work out.
Planning a wedding can be very stressful.
And if you’re dealing with a Bridezilla, they may get offended that something happened during the big event that they didn’t plan. You might want to consult with other members of the wedding party to make sure it’s a good idea.
Liz will always have this video to look back on.
[image_with_caption text=”Van Rensburg Films / YouTube” image=”https://itsblossom.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/wedding-song-surprise.png”]
Even if she chooses to move on from the Jaykays Dance Company. this video will live on forever.
It’s a real testament to her character.
She’s settling down with the man she loves, and the student she helped teach along the way managed to be there and show their support in such a sweet way. If you’re looking to bring on the tears, this wedding will be hard to top.
Not all wedding surprises are pleasant, though.
And weddings aren’t cheap! Many millennials are opting to wait for marriage until they are more financially stable. So it makes sense that any modern bride or groom would want everything to go according to plan.
That wasn’t the case for this one bride.
Romance author Amy Pennza was, understandably, excited for her big day. She had picked out the perfect everything — including her beautiful wedding dress.
But she wasn’t the only one wearing a wedding dress.
[fm_giphy url=”https://media.giphy.com/media/3orieYnnQhXT2bmBCU/giphy.gif”]
When Pennza showed up on her big day, she saw her future mother-in-law also wearing a wedding dress. Um, what?
Pennza shared the moment with Jimmy Fallon’s #WeddingFail challenge.
[fm_twitter url=”https://twitter.com/AmyPennza/status/1141377170058686465″]
“My mother-in-law wore a wedding dress to my wedding. So, yeah, top that one, Twitter,” she quipped.
People were mad for Pennza.
Everyone wanted more details. Why was her MIL wearing a wedding dress? What was Pennza’s reaction?
“GIRL! You cannot just drop a bomb like this and then walk off!”
This was the general sentiment on Twitter after she initially shared the story. Some even offered their own stories of how their mother-in-laws ruined their weddings.
Most brides would be incredibly upset if this happened to them.
[fm_giphy url=”https://media.giphy.com/media/I6px8ejjBGXny/giphy.gif”]
And we don’t blame them! When you are the bride, all eyes are supposed to be on you, not on your future mother-in-law. But Pennza wasn’t upset with her MIL.
Wait, this happened more than once?
Sadly, yes. There are tons of stories (at least according to Twitter users) of mother-in-laws wearing questionable outfits to the wedding.
In fact, she totally understood her mother-in-law’s choice.
She opened up in a beautiful essay about her mother-in-law’s childhood, and now we totally understand, too. See what she said here.