In 2017, primary school teacher Demi Hilton taught her first-ever class, a group of Year Ones.
It was a fateful pairing, as they fell in love with each other – and last month, the little students walked their former teacher down the aisle at her wedding.
It all started when Demi, 23, began planning her wedding to her partner Matthew, 30. She knew she wanted her special class to be part of the day. And so last month, on 7th April 2018, at the Stella Maris Catholic Church in Maroochydore, Demi had ‘her kids’ in her bridal party as page boys and flowers girls.
"My students are such a big part of my life and I knew as soon as we started the wedding planning that I would like to have them involved in our special day," Demi told Mamamia.
"I asked my soon to be husband and he wasn't surprised at all as he knows how special they are to me."
Demi had three adult bridesmaids, and another little flower girl. But she said that by far, her students were the most thrilled to be part of the bridal party.
"They were so excited when I asked them...they squealed with delight and gave me the most precious smiles, one little girl started to cry, they could hardly contain their excitement!"
Demi told Mamamia that being part of the occasion meant involvement with all aspects.
"The children were greatly involved with the preparation leading up to our wedding day. They made little hearts and cards and pictures trying to guess what my dress would look like. The students also attended the rehearsal practise the day before with some very wonderful parents that also helped make this possible."
Demi's students from her current class were not forgotten.
"A month before the wedding my prep students from this year (not the ones who walked me down at aisle as they were my first class last year), with help from some of the other teachers, had a special morning for me, where they dressed me up with their own creations and made me into a bride."
Having her students involved made Demi's day more memorable and special than she could have imagined.
"I will never forget the moment we drove up to the church and my little precious students were there all dressed up in their best whites ready to walk down the aisle, perfectly in two lines awaiting my arrival," she recalled.
"I was so overwhelmed to have them there that it brought tears of joy to my eyes. They were just as excited to see me as I was to see them."
Demi and Matthew were so appreciative of everyone's efforts that they planned a surprise for immediately after the ceremony.
"I actually planned their very own little reception celebration. I wanted to have something special with just the children so I had a cupcake ceremony with them outside the church straight after we were married. It was really special, and they loved it, even the priest joined us."
And while one might imagine that with so many young children involved, there may have been a few 'technical glitches', Demi says everything went smoothly on her big day.
"I couldn't imagine our wedding without them, they made it extra special and I wouldn't have had it any other way."
If you're a fan of weddings, make sure you listen to our brand new podcast - Hitched. We've just launched episode one where we run through your immediate post-engagement to do list. Note books at the ready please.