88 Kindergarteners Create 'Heartfelt' Centerpieces Defining What Love Is for Teacher's Wedding (Exclusive)

• Julia and Moritz Merz got married on March 8 in Fort Myers, Fla.
• As a kindergarten teacher, Julia thought it would be sweet for the entire kindergarten class to help decorate her wedding table centerpieces. All 88 students participated, writing their definition of what "love is" on a piece of paper. The couple chose their favorites to display
• "We found the kiddos came up with such heartfelt responses. I knew that I just had to include them in my special day!" Julia tells PEOPLE

Kindergarteners helped their teacher make her wedding day one she'll never forget. 

Julia Merz, 25, and Moritz Merz, 24, got married on March 8 in Fort Myers, Fla. While the bride and groom are usually the stars of the show, the couple's 100 wedding guests couldn't take their eyes away from their adorable centerpieces.

Ahead of the big day, Julia — a kindergarten teacher in Punta Gorda, Fla. — came up with the idea of having her students help decorate her wedding tables.

"The idea for the centerpieces came about from a Valentine’s Day writing journal prompt," Julia tells PEOPLE. "In our classrooms, my co-teachers and I prompted our kindergarteners with the sentence stem 'Love is…' and they were told to fill in the blank."

"The kids were so excited to be part of our special day!" she adds.

With the help of three other kindergarten teachers, Julia had the entire kindergarten class, which was made up of 88 students between the ages of 5 and 6 years old, complete the project during writing time at school.

"We found the kiddos came up with such heartfelt responses," Julia says. "I knew that I just had to include them in my special day."

Although students in all four kindergarten classes completed the "Love is…" assignment, Julia and Moritz chose only their favorites to put on each table.

Some responses include: "Love is… like fireworks," "Love is… when you want to be with someone forever," "Love is… when someone gives you roses," "Love is… having fun together," "Love is… hugging your teacher," "Love is… getting all the stickers you like," and "Love is… kissing ewww!" 

A few of the couple's favorites were "Love is… forever," "Love is… eating good food together," and "Love is… sharing your heart."

"I had seen them individually as they were completing them, and I absolutely loved them! But seeing them on display in the gold frames, along with the romantic atmosphere of our venue, was just so special!" Julia says. "Our guests absolutely loved them too. I had several people ask me about them, and take photos and post them on their own social media."

Three days after the nuptials, wedding content creator Ashley Reynolds of AR Special Moments posted clips of the different table displays on TikTok on March 11. Her post quickly went viral, garnering 5.6 million views and more than 900,000 likes.

"Actually the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen 🥹," she wrote in the caption.

Julia, who has been teaching for four years, showed her students the viral video and says "they were so excited that everyone loved their ideas." 

"People really resonated with their heartfelt responses about their definition of love," she notes.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Even major brands jumped into the comments section, with Coca-Cola writing, " 'Forever.❤️' 😭." Aquaphor commented, " 'sharing your heart' 🥹💙," while e.l.f. Cosmetics said, "making us wish we were a teacher so we could do this 😭."

"They just get it 🥹," Amazon Beauty wrote, with U by Kotex adding, "seeing this on day 2 and I am UNWELL 🥹🤧 adorable."

Another special aspect of Julia's wedding was that nearly all of her bridesmaids work in education, with three of them working at the same school as her.