NEED TO KNOW
- A bride named Tess had her brother Max serve as her wedding officiant
- Max, who is on the autism spectrum, was nonverbal as a child
- His funny and touching speech garnered lots of laughs and a few tears from the happy crowd in a now-viral video
One bride picked the perfect officiant for her big day — her brother.
In a touching and funny viral video, a bride named Tess had her brother Max, who is on the autism spectrum, officiate her outdoor wedding. Max gave the perfect speech for his sister and future brother-in-law Chris’ big day, made even more impressive by the fact that as a child, Max was nonverbal.
“Max was nonverbal as a child and today he officiated his sister’s wedding. You can’t teach this kind of timing,” Max and Tess’ proud dad, Paul Cella, captioned their now-viral TikTok post.
In the sweet video, Max, who often describes himself online as “your best pal with autism, Max,” welcomed the crowd, saying, “I’m Tess’…” before checking his notes and adding, “brother,” as the guests laughed along.
“Tess is a good sister except in high school she was kind of a sourpuss,” Max said as Tess laughed and admitted, “True.”
Max went on to note that he’s known “all of her boyfriends,” before naming “Chris, Sam, Elliott.”
“Chris over there is my favorite,” Max added of the groom. “Chris and I enjoy eating fast food as long as we’re in shape.”
And while Max declared that the couple would be “an extra excellent husband and wife,” he noted, “The only problem is that their dog growls at me.”
Max also had some rules for the newlyweds, informing them, “Being married means both of you must remain in love forever,” and adding, “Never quarrel, not even once, be gentle with each other and stay in shape and also be happy the entire time.”
Max also got the honor of pronouncing the pair husband and wife and introducing them to the cheering guests.
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The video has been viewed more than 800,000 times on TikTok with 162,000 likes and nearly 3,000 comments.
Of course, commenters adored Max’s speech taking to the comments section to highlight their favorite parts.
“Him name-dropping the ex-boyfriends had me cracking up hahaha,” one person wrote.
“I’m Tess’ (checks notes) brother! Haha this was the best!!!” another commenter wrote.
Another person thought Max had a future as a wedding officiant, writing, “Max about to be booked and busy next wedding season.”
Another commenter noted the seemingly symbolic weather, writing, “anyone else notice the sun comes out during the vows? their marriage is smiled upon 🥰”
Dad Cella, who posted the video, replied to the comment, “Exactly. And the forecast was for torrents of rain.”
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