An Iconic Scene from ‘The Office’ is Based on a Real Minnesota Couple’s Wedding
If you are a fan of NBC's The Office, you know all about Jim and Pam's wedding in Niagra Falls. The episode aired October 8th, 2009, and was episodes 4 and 5 of season 6.
The wedding was full of mishaps like Jim revealing Pam's pregnancy, Pam's veil tearing, Kevin losing his shoes, and of course, Andy injuring his scrotum.
The episode wraps with a big dance number of wedding party members and guests dancing down the aisle in the church to "Forever" by Chris Brown, based on a viral video that came out around that time.
The viral video this dance scene is based on was courtesy of a Minnesota couple. Jillian Peterson and Kevin Heinz shared the video of their fun wedding entrance to YouTube to share with family who couldn't be in attendance. They never dreamed that it would amass over 100 million views and be part of a hit TV show. The video was an instant hit, within 48 hours of posting it online, the couple was flying to New York to be on the Today Show.
To this day Jillian and Kevin are still married and have three kids, JIll is a forensic psychologist and Kevin is an immigration attorney who owns his own firm, Heinz Law, in Saint Paul.
What's extra special is that they use the video as a platform to raise money for charity. Initially, they used the video to direct money to a domestic violence charity for the first several years (the video raised over $70,000). The couple now raises money for Jill’s violence prevention nonprofit, The Violence Project.