Toddler Suddenly Realizes His Mom Is the Bride at Wedding — His 'Heart-Melting' Reaction Is Priceless (Exclusive)

• During Kristie and Bobby Mihelich's wedding ceremony on April 22, 2022, their then-2-year-old son, Pierson, had the sweetest reaction to seeing his mom as the bride.

• A viral video of the toddler's reaction shows him sprinting down the aisle to hug his mom.

• "I couldn't even believe it was happening," Kristie tells PEOPLE. "It completely diverted my feelings of getting married to just heart-melting."

A toddler created "the sweetest moment" of a bride's life on her wedding day.

Kristie Mihelich (née King) and Bobby Mihelich got married on April 22, 2022, at the Planterra Conservatory in West Bloomfield, Mich. But it wasn't their "I dos" that captured their wedding guests' hearts — it was the sweet reaction from their then-2-year-old son, Pierson.

As captured in photos by Orange Blossom Photography and a video that went viral, the toddler couldn't contain his excitement when he saw his mother at the end of the aisle. "Hey, Mom!" he shouted while waving both of his hands in the air, which caused everyone to erupt into laughter.

Pierson couldn't wait any longer to give his mom a hug, so he sprinted down the aisle with his arms open wide. When he reached her, he happily wrapped his arms around the bride's white mermaid-style wedding dress. Then, he turned around and ended up walking down the aisle with her. He stood between his mother and grandfather, holding each of their hands.

"I couldn't even believe it was happening," Kristie tells PEOPLE. "It completely diverted my feelings of getting married to just heart-melting. And honestly, I think it was the sweetest moment of my life."

The moment was "the highlight" of Kristie and Bobby's big day, and left their friends and family "in awe."

Kristie was shocked by Pierson's reaction. She didn't anticipate her son to have such a positive response due to his previous attitude toward the wedding.

"The night before at the rehearsal dinner, I couldn't even get him to stand up next to us to practice at all. He wanted nothing to do with it," she recalls. "I was just happy he was standing there and participating. And then when that happened, I'm like, 'You're kidding me. This could not be better.' "

Kristie isn't sure what exactly was going through Pierson's head but suspects he simply wasn't used to seeing her dressed so fancy and was eager to reunite with her.

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"I really think he was like, 'Oh, Mom, you're dressed up. You're not in jammies.' It was probably just like, 'You look so pretty.' I don't know," she surmises. "I'm thinking that he was just shocked to see me come walking around the corner all dressed up."

She continues: "He didn't understand about the whole walking down the aisle and he hadn't seen me in a while since the first look. So then he was probably like, 'Oh, there's Mom, but wait a minute, why is she down there?' "

Pierson, who served as the ring bearer, saw his mom earlier in the day when they shared the first look together. His reaction then was just as adorable.

"His mouth was just like jaw-dropping, and then all my bridesmaids were in tears almost because he came running to me and I picked him up, and it was really sweet," Kristie says.

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Later in the night, Pierson continued to wow guests — only this time, with his dance moves.

"He literally danced the entire night on the dance floor afterward," Kristie says. "So cute."

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Pierson, now 5, is even closer with his mother today.

"Oh my gosh, I just feel like our bond has grown so much stronger since then," Kristie tells PEOPLE. "He's definitely a mama's boy."

Her son has seen the viral video of himself a few times, but doesn't fully understand its significance.

"He can't believe he was on TV and sometimes it'll even kind of pop up on my phone and he just can't believe it," Kristie says. "Whenever I tell him he's a celebrity, he doesn't quite know what that means yet. So I think it'll take a minute for him to really understand what went down."

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