Article written by Samuel Burnett.
The Royal Wedding has come and gone and, for the average British citizen, their lives remain completely unchanged. In fact, in my opinion, the royal family could have gone and set fire to 32 million pounds of taxpayer funds for all the impact it has had on the average person.
That said, it clearly gained a lot of coverage and since everyone is still a little wedding crazy, I thought it might be fun to look back and rank some of the best weddings that have been put to screen.
This ranking will be based purely on the weddings themselves and is not meant to indicate which works are better as a whole
Number 10: The Sound of Music (Captain Von Trapp and Maria Rainer)
What can you say about this one that hasn’t been said a hundred times already? Music numbers and Nazis aside, The Sound of Music is about two people coming out of their shells, the stoic captain allowing his stiff exterior to slide as he lets himself love again, and Maria realising that the life of a nun isn’t for her. She wants a family.
She wants excitement. Most of all, she wants love. While the wedding scene itself is brief this romance has been built towards for the entire film that when you hear the nuns sing their reprise of ‘How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?’ you can’t help but smile.
Number Nine: Crisis on Earth-X (Barry Allen and Iris West, and Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak)
The four-show crossover, Crisis on Earth-X, combined four separate shows for one epic television event. It featured Supergirl, Green Arrow, The Flash and The Legends of Tomorrow teaming up to fight invading Nazis. But enough about the B-plot. Of course, the main draw for this unprecedented crossover was the wedding between Barry Allen (The Flash) and Iris West. This wedding had been built up to since the first episode of the show (what with the revelation that Iris would one day change her last name to West-Allen) and it certainly lives up to the hype.
Their first attempt is a truly massive affair, with characters from all of the CW’s DC shows. Iris’ father, Joe, has tear-jerking speech about how the happy couple were his family, the friendship between Barry and Kara (AKA Supergirl) is a delight to see as always and arsonist Mick Rory requests to sit on the Bride’s side as he “has tried to kill the groom” several times before.
Sadly, before the minister can declare them legally wed, they are interrupted by their Nazi doppelgängers (this is a weird show at times) and everyone needs to spring into action to save the day.
After the gruelling battle over several days, both Barry and Iris decide that they don’t want to go through all that again and decide to have a quick ceremony accompanied by their friends Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak. The latter pair have been having problems of their own, Oliver wants to get married but Felicity is happy with the way they are. However, after several talks with Iris, she changes her mind and requests that they get married alongside Barry and Iris. While this could potentially come across as hogging someone else’s moment, the friendship that developed between the two women robbed the request of any selfish emotion and the two couples were married side by side.
Number Eight: Smallville (Clark Kent and Lois Lane)
This wedding addressed a concern I have with traditional weddings, this antiquated custom of ‘giving the bride away.’ It hearkens back to a time when marriage was a business transaction and the bride was a commodity, whose ownership would transfer from father to husband. Not really a custom that makes sense in this modern age.
Lois Lane’s father is unable to attend the ceremony so she assumes that she will simply walk down the aisle alone. Not if Clark has anything to say about it. Arguing that they do everything together for the rest of their lives, he takes her hand and they begin their walk down the aisle.
As they walk there are multiple cuts to show their friends and family watching them and, just before they reach the alter, Clark sees a vision of his father (and the show’s best character) smiling at him. What’s not to love?
Without him, it would have felt like there was something big missing from this moment and I really love that they didn't feel the need to explain him away either. Jonathan Kent has always been just where Clark needs him most.
While the wedding is quickly interrupted by the events of the episode, it really doesn’t matter. Lois and Clark made their commitment to sharing everything with each other.
Number Seven: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Amy Santiago and Jake Peralta)
Now I know that this one is less than a week old at the time of publication but, what can I say? Michael Schur really knows how to write romantic moments. The long-awaited wedding between the two detectives had a lot of pressure unexpectedly heaped on it as the show had been both cancelled and revived during the week prior meaning that the episode needed to both be suitable series finale and then later a justification for the show to continue.
No pressure, right?
Thankfully, the episode was near flawless, celebrating not only the happy couple but the bonds between the entire ensemble as a whole. The wedding looks to be in jeopardy as a criminal Amy put away has sworn revenge and successfully manages to make the venue untenable.
However, thanks to the effort of their friends and commanding officer, they are able to salvage their day and have a more intimate, unique ceremony. Their mentor, Captain Raymond Holt, officiates and, best of all, the ring bearer is replaced by a bomb defusing robot.
Robots combined with some of the best wedding vows ever put to screen easily earn this a spot on the list.
Number Six: My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Toula Portokalos and Ian Miller)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding might be one of the most perfect romances of all time. At no point is there tragic, teary breakup of the couple due to some horrible misunderstanding. No, rather than the relationship chafing under the pressures placed upon it, the couple stand wholly united against the sheer insanity that takes place during the film. In fact, Toula and Ian take the crazy in stride, even being able to laugh at it. Despite her family’s reluctance for Toula to marry a non-Greek, by the time the big day arrives, they all stand united to give her the wedding she deserves.
Her father, originally the biggest obstacle between them and wedded bliss finally swallows his pride and admits that the Greeks are not all that different from everyone else:
“I-I was thinking last night, um, the night before my-my daughter was gonna marry, uh, I-an Miller, that, um, you know, the root of the word Miller is a Greek word. Miller come from the Greek word "milo", which is mean apple, there you go. As many of you know, our name Portokalos is come from the Greek word "portolakli", which means orange. So, okay, here tonight we have, uh, apple and orange... we all different, but, in the end, we all fruit.”
It’s a funny, heartfelt moment and will stick with you long after end credits.
Number Five: About Time (Tim and Mary)
Boilerplate disclaimer, I have serious problems with the movie About Time. For me, the opening third could easily be described as a stalker film where the lead pursues his unwitting victim through time.
Yeah, yeah, I hear you, it’s romantic and all that jazz.
That said, the wedding scene is truly delightful. It is optimism in the face of disaster. The happy nuptials are interrupted by truly massive tempest, almost literally blowing them from the ceremony to the reception, Despite this, everybody still manages to smile and laugh as they are all so happy that nothing as mundane as the weather is going to get in the way of their joy. Unbeknownst to Mary, her new husband is also a time traveller and when he casually asks if she would have preferred a less stormy day she contentedly replies, “No. Not for the world.”
And, besides, that red wedding dress was gorgeous. If nothing else, it earns a spot on the list simply because I had never seen that before.
Number Four: Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (Alice and Cyrus)
In television, a wedding can be many things. Sometimes it takes place in beginning to establish the married couple. Sometimes it can be at the end of a long multi season “will they/won’t they?” story arc. There are even times when it’s a tragedy, the wrong people are getting married to provide a cliff-hanger to draw people back for the next season.
Of course, sometimes a wedding happens because it’s the end of the story and the writers want to finish on a happy note. This is one of those times.
Most of the scene is silent, the only noise heard being the musical score and the camera moves over the various characters and lets you reflect on how they all managed to end up here in this moment. One of the guest was the Red Queen, initially the antagonist of the show but after the development that character went through, it never feels forced that she is the most ecstatic when they are finally wed, contentedly leaning against her boyfriend. The officiating White Rabbit even manages to sneak in some meta commentary on the final episode and the fact that people never really die in television:
“I believe this is the part where I'm supposed to say something about "for better or worse, in sickness and in health", but you've already been all those things, and you survived. Not even death could do you part. That's actually true for most of you here, isn't it? So, I guess that all that's left to say is what everyone here already knows. Cyrus and Alice, you two are now one. May you live happily ever after. You may kiss the bride.”
After all of the struggles that they all went through just to be in that room, no happy ending has ever felt so earned.
Number Three: Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End (Elizabeth Swan and Will Turner)
It is said that any Dothraki wedding with less than three deaths is considered a dull affair. So the wedding between Pirate King Elizabeth Swan and her fiancé Will Turner would be considered a riotous event that brought down the roof, considering the final body count ended in the hundreds at least.
After three movies, this on and off again couple finally decide to tie the knot during the middle of a war. Wait, hang on, I don’t think I’m describing it properly. After all, many people get married in times of war but how many couples say, “I do” while fighting for their lives while dangling on the precipice of a maelstrom?
I imagine significantly less.
As it is clear that they could both die at any second, Will decides that there is no time like the present and proposes right in the middle of the melee. After her initial surprise, Elizabeth agrees and they are married by the cantankerous Captain Barbossa, culminating in one of the most silly, cheesy, unbelievably awesome film kisses of all time.
Number Two: Parks and Recreation (April Ludgate and Andy Dwyer)
I know I’m cheating, throwing in another Michael Schur written wedding and, trust me, I nearly added a third but what am I supposed to do? The man can write romance.
This is not the kind of relationship you expect to stand the tests of time. Both April and Andy are essentially grown up children and have only been dating for a month or, as Ben Wyatt puts it, “My Brita filter’s older than their relationship… Wait a second, should I change my Brita filter?” But somehow, this spontaneous ceremony leads to one of the most stable and supporting relationships in television.
Their vows are truly special (and, in Chris Pratt’s case, foreshadow a future movie role) from April’s:
“I guess I kind of hate most things. But I never really seem to hate you. So, I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. Is that cool?”
To Andy’s:
“April, you're the most awesome person I have ever known in my entire life. I vow to protect you from danger. I don't care if I have to fight an ultimate fighter, or a bear, or him (the female officiator), your mom I would take 'em down. I'm getting mad right now even thinking about it. I'm telling you. I wanna spend the rest of my life, every minute, with you. And I'm the luckiest man in the galaxy.”
Afterwards, the normally stoic to the point of emotionless April Ludgate is seen unashamedly crying tears of joy and, honestly, you’d be hard pressed to find someone watching this that didn’t do the same.
It’s silly, stupid, has no business working and it is one of the most romantic declarations of love I have ever seen.
Number One: Twilight: Breaking Dawn: Part One (Bella Swan and Edward Cullen)
We all knew that this one was going to be at the top of list. Everyone remembers that feeling they got the first time they saw cinema’s most popular couple finally say, “I do” to one another. Just look at the pained grimace on Bella’s face, clearly illustrating her love for…
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! OH GOD! THAT WAS PAINFUL TO WRITE!!! NO, I’M SORRY, I WOULDN’T DO THAT YOU
Okay, okay, this is serious. Serious article for serious people. I can do this.
Number One (For real this time): Cougar Town (Jules Cobb and Grayson Ellis)
When I tell people that my favourite wedding comes from Cougar Town, the most common response is, “What’s Cougar Town?” or some variation. It’s a difficult show to properly explain and, even once you do, the show doesn’t sound that impressive on paper.
A bunch of people drinking wine and hanging around on a land-boat doesn’t sound like the most interesting of shows.
But, it’s one of my favourites.
And the reason why this particular wedding has snagged the number one spot is fairly simple, if I ever get married, this is how I want it to be; simple, uncomplicated and with friends and family.
Jules had always wanted a beach wedding but was unable to obtain permission to do so from the mayor. Rather than sulk, she and Grayson decide screw it, and they have it anyway. With her father officiating while choking back tears, the couple and their friends walk along the beach as Katie Herzig’s Lost and Found plays in the background.
As some patrolling police officers amble by, curious as to what is happening, their friends act as a distraction while they hop onto a horse and quite literally ride off into the sunset.
Honestly, this scene just hit me a way that I can’t fully explain. It’s simply romantic and that really works for me
Honourable Mention: The divorce of Dr. Cox and Jordan
Yes, I know, this isn’t a wedding but it still deserves a shout out. Doctor Cox and his ex-wife Jordan have recently reconciled. However, due to misfiled paperwork, they discover that they are in fact still legally married. This causes tension between them until Cox finally pops the question:
“Jordan, Jordan! Will you divorce me?” he asks on bended knee.
“I thought you'd never ask,” she replies happily and, along with their loved ones, they gather out in the park and stand before their lawyer who declares:
“And so, by the power vested in me by the American Bar Association, I pronounce you ex-husband and ex-wife. You may now do whatever the hell you want.”
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