A phonics fairy tale — newlyweds first 'married' in kindergarten
On June 12, Mallory Warner, left, became the bride of Brevin Beckler. The two reconnected nearly two decades after being 'married' in a ceremony when both were in kindergarten.
Mallory and Brevin Beckler were in kindergarten the first time they wed.
They married again for real on June 12, 2021.
The couple said their vows at the historic Church of God in Moreland where, in addition to the normal wedding pictures, they also posed with Miss Unusual Umbrella and Mr. Quiet Question, the Letter People they represented in a Wooster Township Elementary School ceremony uniting Q and U. They also recreated the photo taken of them that day in 2005.
“I remember the Letter People hanging in the classroom,” Mallory Beckler said. "I learned from them. I will never forget that Q and U always go together.”
But it’s unheard of that the kindergartners who play the parts in the end-of-the-year celebration wind up together in real life.
Mallory and Brevin Beckler reconnected just three years ago.
They were “always friendly” during their student days in the Triway Local Schools, Mallory Beckler said. “We just weren’t in the same friends’ circle and we had different interests.”
Mallory graduated from The Ohio State University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness and applied economics with a minor in agricultural communications. She’s employed as a rural 1st loan officer for Farm Credit Mid-America. Brevin Beckler works alongside his father at Beckler Landscaping.
A friend suggested Mallory and Brevin might be a good match, and after a chance meeting with Brevin Beckler’s parents at a restaurant, Mallory decided to reach out to him. The two began talking, then dating, “and the rest is history,” she said.
“We’re polar opposites,” Mallory Beckler explained. “He’s very quiet and I’m outgoing, but our personalities mesh so well. He keeps me grounded.”
Mallory Beckler said it’s her husband’s kindness that won her over. “I could not have asked for a kinder, sweeter husband than Brevin. He really is the most genuine, kind-hearted person I know.”
Brevin said he admires his wife’s “drive and motivation” and her kindness as well. “She’s just a really good person.”
While Brevin said he has no memory of the Q and U kindergarten wedding, he does remember the moment he saw his bride walk down the aisle. “It hit me that we were actually getting married,” he said.
Brevin’s mom Kelli Beckler admitted Brevin “wasn’t really thrilled” about his role as the groom in the kindergarten wedding, “but he was a good sport about it. That’s how boys are in kindergarten,” she said. “They’re not really into girls yet.”
Mallory Beckler’s mom Stacy Warner remembered her daughter having “the biggest crush” on Brevin Beckler in kindergarten, “but he was not having it. He did not like girls. Though something must have changed along the way.”
Angie Carmichael said she remembers Mallory and Brevin Beckler as students in her Wooster Township School kindergarten class. “Even as five-year-olds they were the most kind-hearted little people. It melts my heart that they grew up and fell in love.”
Carmichael, now the school’s principal, said she used the Letter People to teach students about the alphabet and letter sounds. Each character has its own personality, song and or poem. Q and U are united because Q needs U standing beside it, she said, to make its sound such as what’s heard in the words quarter, quilt, quiet and question. “They are together forever in the land of Letter People.”
The Q and U wedding, complete with a gown for the bride and tuxedo for the groom; dressed up flower girl, ring bearer, groomsmen and bridesmaids; balloons, cake and fake champagne glasses filled with pink lemonade, “was our grand finale of the journey through letters and sounds,” Carmichael said. Parents were generous to donate supplies.
While there was only one bride in the ceremony, she said, “I let every little girl (in the class) try on the bridal dress and took her picture in it. I wanted each one to feel like the bride.”
When she saw that Mallory and Brevin Beckler were dating, Carmichael told them, “I get credit for this one, just so you know.” Both of them.” she added “are very dear to me.”
Carmichael said the Letter People have been replaced in the classroom with more modern types of curriculum. Shreve Elementary teacher Judy Campbell is the only teacher she knows who still uses the Letter People in the classroom in some manner and plans a Q and U wedding each year.
Carmichael unboxed her vinyl Letter People and allowed Brevin and Mallory Beckler to use Q and U for their wedding photos.
“It’s cute to see the photos,” Kelli Beckler said. “They look the same, but older. Everybody just loves the story.”
“Who gets to have a love story like this? It’s just precious,” Stacy Warner said.
“Q and U “led us here,” Mallory Beckler said. “I view it as, ‘God knew we were meant to be together.”