Photo: TikTok
Not just anyone could recreate their wedding with their schoolchildren.
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Mar 30, 2023
There are many things in the classroom today that divide parents around the country, varying from what’s being taught to them or what they’re allowed to wear, but one thing you might not have expected to divide people is a mock wedding one teacher decided to set up in her class.
Mrs. Shumaker, a first-grade teacher on TikTok (@thatfirstgradeteacher), has recently caught a lot of flak for posting what she described as one of the “top 3 events in my whole life.”
Mrs. Shumaker recreated her wedding with her first graders in attendance—but TikTok did not appreciate the event.
“Something I haven’t shared about yet but ranks in top 3 events in my whole life,” reads the caption of Shumaker’s TikTok video posted on March 18, 2023. “I waited years for this.”
“In second grade, my teacher got married and had a mock wedding for her students. From that day forward, I wanted to do the same thing,” she explains in the video.
She, along with her husband, her sister, and her mother, decorated her classroom and planned the “mock” wedding for all of her kids to enjoy — even saving cupcakes from her actual wedding to bring to all of the kids in her class.
“We made bride and groom goodie bags, a signature drink,” which is hopefully non-alcoholic, “brought napkins from the wedding, decor, we had centerpieces and tablecloths, and my hubby was vlogging,” and she even wore her wedding dress complete with a bouquet.
Mr. Shumaker seemed to have dressed down a little, sporting a more casual non-tucked button-down, jeans, and a pair of sneakers, but Shumaker assures everyone that her kids were “obsessed” when they met him.
“We walked in with the same song that I walked down the aisle to and the reactions from my kids seeing me in my wedding dress is something I’ll never forget.”
While blurring her kids’ faces, she shows how one of them dressed up nicely and brought a crown in order to be the officiant. Her mom kept the student’s laughing and they found the heartfelt guestbook from the wedding funny as well, but it seemed like they had an all-around grand time — everyone except for people online.
Many people pointed out how privileged Mrs. Shumaker was for being able to post that.
The top comment on TikTok explained exactly that, reading “this is cute! Sadly, all teachers aren’t able to share their personal lives this way, some are criminalized for it. Hope the future is better for all.”
The conversation on Twitter was very much the same, with one viral tweet reaching over 7 million views reading: “I'm happy for her but if a gay teacher did this they would get fired and LibsOfTikTok would post their address,” referring to the hostile, far-right Twitter account LibsOfTikTok.
Others joked about what the response would be if this was a same-sex wedding, saying it would be deemed "disgusting" and "bizarre" while others noted that, regardless of the marriage, Schumaker's job is to teach, not to show off her wedding.
In recent years, they’ve grown in popularity among conservatives and have been accused of encouraging violence toward vulnerable groups. Had an LGBT+ person posted something similar, others are claiming they would have been crucified and sparked some sort of anti-LGBT legislation written in congress.
Shumaker's naysayers are somewhat correct — in February we wrote about a teacher whose job was threatened when parents noticed a framed photo of his husband on his desk. And in March, Christian TikTokers Jaymi Lynn and Joshua opened up about how their social media posts in support of the LGBTQ community got them banned from their kids' school.
There are double standards at play when it comes to the reception this harmless TikTok video received, and while Mrs. Shumaker likely didn’t make the post in order to forward some grand political agenda, it’s important to recognize that not everyone could do the same thing she did and should advocate for that kind of equality.
It's a very cute video and Mrs. Shumaker and her husband look very happy, but not everyone can recreate their wedding with the children they're supposed to be teaching at school.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.