Before they were paired in "50 First Dates," Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore scored big laughs in this tale of a wedding singer and a waitress, who are both engaged to the wrong people, only to discover feelings for each other.
Cary Grant. Katharine Hepburn. Jimmy Stewart. Together in the same movie. Say no more.
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson struck comedy gold as a buddy team of wedding crashers in a hilarious flick that cast Christopher Walken and Jane Seymour as the eccentric parents of Rachel McAdams, painted Isla Fischer as a "stage-5 clinger," starved Will Ferrell of his ma's meatloaf and introduced the world to Bradley Cooper.
Frank Capra's classic invented every romantic comedy cliche you can think of en route to a wedding day finale that finally sends the Walls of Jericho crumbling down. To this day, it joins "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "The Silence of the Lambs" as the only films to win Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay.
The sex comedy of Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson came to a memorable climax in a California church, as Ben interrupted Elaine's wedding by pounding on the church glass and shouting, "Elaine!"
Francis Ford Coppola opens arguably the greatest film of all time with an extended wedding sequence that introduced us to Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, James Caan, Robert Duvall, John Cazale and Talia Shire, all because Marlon Brando's Don Vito Corleone couldn't refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day.
"The Princess Bride" is a classic comedy fantasy on so many levels, it's easy to forget it has "bride" in the title. One of the film's funniest moments comes during a Catholic priest's pronunciation of "Mawwage." Is there a funnier wedding scene? Inconceivable.
"Meet the Parents" not only revived the career of Robert DeNiro as a romantic comedy dad ("Silver Linings Playbook"), it gave Ben Stiller his best role and introduced the world to Owen Wilson. Greg Focker couldn't catch a break between "Puff the Magic Dragon" pot convos, cat-milking dinner stories and a bloody game of swimming pool volleyball. The film was so funny that it attracted Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman for a high-grossing sequel, "Meet the Fockers."
"Father of the Bride" remains one of the best examples of a Hollywood classic and an equally stellar remake. Vincente Minnelli's 1950 original saw Spencer Tracey as the father to Elizabeth Taylor's bride, while the 1991 remake was a huge success for Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Martin Short. Certain movies just make you smile.
Joel Zwick's wedding romp was one of the biggest surprise hits in movie history, to this day standing as the highest grossing wedding flick of all time. The film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and taught us that no problem is too large that it can't be solved with a little Windex.
Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and, um, that other guy made us spit out our popcorn as The Wolfpack bachelor party with a drunken night in Vegas and killer hangover discoveries with Heather Graham, Ken Jeong and Mike Tyson.
Kristin Wig co-wrote and starred in this female version of "The Hangover," which earned Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy, who threw out everything and the kitchen sink in the realm of gross-out humor.
Mira Nair's Indian comedy about an arranged marriage won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and earned the title of instant classic.
Woody Allen's comic tragedy is a tale of murder amid a steamy love affair, but it all comes to a transcendent head with beautiful narration at a Jewish wedding.
"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" was way ahead of its time, predating "The In-Laws" and "Meet the Parents" with a daughter bringing her fiance home to meet the folks before the wedding. Only here, director Stanley Kramer makes it a white daughter (Katharine Houghton) and a black fiance (Sidney Poitier), testing whether her progressive parents (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey) can practice what they preach. Perhaps Poitier's most important role.
Perhaps the greatest of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers pictures, "Swing Time" begins with Lucky (Astaire) late to his wedding, causing him to fall for the beautiful dance instructor Penny (Rogers). Together, they call off the marriage and end up together with some of the fanciest footwork ever to grace the screen.
We all remember "The Deer Hunter" for its horrific Russian Roulette scenes in Vietnam. But the first 40 minutes introduced us to the characters before they went to war, providing a "slice of life" at a western Pennsylvania wedding through the bittersweet antics of Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage and Meryl Streep.
Preston Sturges wrote and directed some of the greatest romantic comedies of all time, from "Sullivan's Travels" to "The Lady Eve." But his best twist came in "The Palm Beach Story" with a wedding framing device featuring Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea.
Question: which film was nominated for Best Picture amid the power pack of "Forrest Gump," "Pulp Fiction," "Quiz Show" and "The Shawshank Redemption?" Answer: "Four Weddings and a Funeral," a stellar British romance starring Hugh Grant, James Fleet, Simon Callow, John Hannah, Kristin Scott Thomas and Andie MacDowell.
This clock-ticking western classic centers around sheriff Gary Cooper's decision to leave his honeymoon with wife Grace Kelly in order to defend his town against the Miller Gang. Tex Ritter's legendary theme song pleads: "Do not forsake me oh my darling! On this our wedding day."
Do you feel it in your fingers? How about your toes? Love is all around us in this London ensemble romance with a deep cast of Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson and Keira Knightley.
Stanley Donen's follow-up to "Singin' in the Rain" (1952) is a classic musical about an 1850 backwoodsman who brings a wife home to his farm, where his six brothers also look for their own brides. Just try to stop singing "Bless Your Beautiful Hide."
Sandwiched between her breakout performance in "Brokeback Mountain" (2005) and her Oscar win for "Les Miserables" (2012), Anne Hathaway earned her first Oscar nomination as a perennial rehab patient who returns home for her sister's wedding.
I can't place this one any higher because the wedding is only a minor part of John Ford's western masterpiece "The Searchers." But I honestly still can't stop laughing at the fight scene where Jeffrey Hunter breaks up Vera Miles' marriage as John Wayne looks on amused. Martin Scorsese liked it so much he had Harvey Keitel and Robert DeNiro watch it in "Mean Streets" (1973).
Before "Runaway Bride" (1999), Julia Roberts earned a Golden Globe nomination as a woman who makes a pact with her college friend (Dermot Mulroney) that they'll marry each other if they aren't both married by their 28th birthday. Just weeks before the big birthday, she learns her friend is about to marry Cameron Diaz, who further complicates things by asking Roberts to be her maid of honor. Rupert Everett also earned a Golden Globe nomination as Roberts' gay friend in this charming rom-com backed by James Newton Howard's Oscar-nominated score.
When you think movie weddings, you first think of romantic comedies like "Father of the Bride" or "The Philadelphia Story." Think a few more seconds, and uproarious comedies like "Wedding Crashers" and "Bridesmaids" come to mind. But memorable wedding moments also have unfolded across genres as varied as musicals, westerns and gangster flicks. Here's my list of the Top 25 Movie Weddings of All Time.
