Wedding Movies

The Drama

Drama · US · Directed by Kristoffer Borgli · Zendaya, Robert Pattinson

A week before their wedding, a couple's relationship is shaken by something one of them reveals, and the preparations go on under the strain.

A sharp, uncomfortable film about how well you really know the person you're marrying.

Another Simple Favor

Thriller · US · Directed by Paul Feig · Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding

Stephanie is asked to be maid of honor at Emily's wedding to a wealthy Italian on Capri, and people start dying.

A camp murder-mystery destination wedding.

Bhool Chuk Maaf

Comedy · India · Directed by Karan Sharma · Rajkummar Rao, Wamiqa Gabbi

A Varanasi groom gets stuck reliving the day of his haldi ceremony, the day before his wedding.

A time-loop comedy with Indian wedding rituals at its center.

Freakier Friday

Family · US · Directed by Nisha Ganatra · Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Julia Butters

Anna is engaged to a widower, and their teenage daughters conspire to sabotage the wedding before a body swap derails everyone.

The Freaky Friday sequel is also a comedy about blending families.

Materialists

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Celine Song · Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal

A New York matchmaker meets a rich suitor at a client's wedding she has just talked the nervous bride into going through with.

A cool-eyed romance about what we want in a partner, opening with a wedding.

Picture This

Romantic Comedy · UK · Directed by Prarthana Mohan · Simone Ashley, Hero Fiennes Tiffin

A portrait photographer, told she will meet the one on one of five dates, faces her younger sister's wedding and her first love as best man.

A bright British-Indian remake of Five Blind Dates.

A remake of Five Blind Dates (2024).

Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari

Romantic Comedy · India · Directed by Shashank Khaitan · Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra

Two jilted exes team up to disrupt their former partners' wedding in Udaipur by pretending to be a couple.

A glossy Bollywood wedding comedy in a palace setting.

The Wedding Banquet

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Andrew Ahn · Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan

In Seattle, a Korean art student whose visa is running out marries his boyfriend's lesbian best friend, who needs help paying for IVF, and his wealthy grandmother flies in to stage a traditional Korean wedding.

A warm remake that updates Ang Lee's comedy for chosen families.

A remake of The Wedding Banquet (1993).

You're Cordially Invited

Comedy · US · Directed by Nicholas Stoller · Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon

Two wedding parties discover they have booked the same small island venue for the same weekend and try to share it.

The double-booking nightmare, played for broad laughs.

Anora

Drama · US · Directed by Sean Baker · Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov

A Brooklyn stripper and a Russian oligarch's son marry impulsively in a Las Vegas chapel, and his family sends men to force an annulment.

The Palme d'Or and Best Picture winner turns the quickie wedding into a screwball tragedy.

Five Blind Dates

Romantic Comedy · Australia · Directed by Shawn Seet · Shuang Hu, Yoson An

A tea-shop owner in Townsville, told by a fortune-teller she'll meet her soulmate on one of five dates, returns home for her younger sister's wedding.

A warm, family-driven Australian romantic comedy.

Laapataa LadiesEditor’s pick

Comedy · India · Directed by Kiran Rao · Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava

In 2001, two brides wearing identical red veils are swapped on a crowded train, and one groom brings home the wrong wife.

A funny, humane film about brides and the veils that hide them.

Mother of the Bride

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Mark Waters · Brooke Shields, Miranda Cosgrove, Benjamin Bratt

A mother travels to Phuket for her influencer daughter's sponsored wedding and discovers that the groom's father is the college sweetheart who jilted her.

A sunny Netflix fantasy about the influencer wedding and the mother who pays attention.

Anyone but You

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Will Gluck · Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell

Two people who can't stand each other pretend to be a couple at a destination wedding in Sydney.

A breezy hit that sent couples searching for Sydney wedding venues.

Book Club: The Next Chapter

Comedy · US · Directed by Bill Holderman · Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen

Four lifelong friends take Vivian's bachelorette trip to Italy, which ends in an intimate surprise wedding in Tuscany.

A charming reminder that the bachelorette trip is not only for the young.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Nia Vardalos · Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan

The family travel to Greece for a village reunion, and the trip ends with a wedding in the village.

Destination-wedding inspiration for Greek island dreamers.

Priscilla

Drama · US · Directed by Sofia Coppola · Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi

Priscilla Beaulieu's years with Elvis Presley include their Las Vegas wedding in May 1967.

Coppola's re-creation of the 1967 wedding is a cool, precise study of a celebrity bride.

What's Love Got to Do with It?

Romantic Comedy · UK · Directed by Shekhar Kapur · Lily James, Shazad Latif, Emma Thompson

A London documentary maker films her childhood friend's arranged marriage to a woman from Lahore, and travels to Pakistan for the wedding.

A thoughtful romantic comedy that takes arranged marriage seriously.

Father of the Bride

Comedy · US · Directed by Gaz Alazraki · Andy García, Gloria Estefan, Adria Arjona

A Cuban-American architect in Miami wants a big traditional wedding for his daughter; she and her Mexican fiance want something smaller, and two families' traditions collide.

A bilingual update of the classic, set in Miami.

A remake of Father of the Bride (1950).

Ticket to Paradise

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Ol Parker · George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Kaitlyn Dever

A long-divorced couple fly to Bali to stop their daughter's impulsive marriage to a local seaweed farmer.

Clooney and Roberts sparring, and a warm portrait of a Balinese wedding ceremony.

The Invitation

Horror · US · Directed by Jessica M. Thompson · Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty

A New York woman discovers a family she never knew and is invited to a lavish wedding at an English estate that is not what it seems.

A gothic horror spin on the destination wedding.

Marry Me

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Kat Coiro · Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, Maluma

A pop star who learns onstage that her fiance has cheated on her marries a stranger holding a sign in the crowd instead.

A pleasant fantasy about a wedding in front of a stadium audience.

The People We Hate at the Wedding

Comedy · US · Directed by Claire Scanlon · Kristen Bell, Allison Janney, Ben Platt

Two resentful American siblings and their mother travel to England for their glamorous half-sister's wedding.

A comedy of family grudges at a country-house wedding.

Shotgun Wedding

Comedy · US · Directed by Jason Moore · Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Coolidge

A couple with cold feet at their Philippine island destination wedding are taken hostage with all their guests.

An action comedy for anyone who has fought with a fiance the day before the wedding.

Palm SpringsEditor’s pick

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Max Barbakow · Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J. K. Simmons

A wedding guest and the bride's sister get stuck reliving the same day of a Palm Springs wedding in a time loop.

Groundhog Day for the wedding-guest generation, and the best wedding toast in years.

Little Women

Drama · US · Directed by Greta Gerwig · Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh

Meg March's modest wedding, where Jo begs her to run away with her, is one of the film's key memories.

A lovely picture of a homemade wedding, and an Oscar winner for costume design.

Plus One

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer · Maya Erskine, Jack Quaid

Two old college friends agree to be each other's date to every wedding in one crowded summer.

The most accurate film about wedding season in your late twenties.

Ready or NotEditor’s pick

Horror · US · Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett · Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Andie MacDowell

On her wedding night, a bride is told she must play a family game, and the game is hide-and-seek with the in-laws armed.

The ultimate in-laws nightmare, with a bride fighting back in her torn gown.

The Wedding Guest

Thriller · UK · Directed by Michael Winterbottom · Dev Patel, Radhika Apte, Jim Sarbh

A mysterious Briton travels to Pakistan and kidnaps a bride from the house prepared for her arranged wedding.

A tense, atmospheric road thriller.

Crazy Rich AsiansEditor’s pick

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Jon M. Chu · Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh

A New York economics professor meets her boyfriend's fabulously wealthy family in Singapore for his best friend's wedding.

The wedding at CHIJMES, a former convent in Singapore, is the most romantic movie ceremony of the century so far.

La boda de Valentina

Romantic Comedy · Mexico · Directed by Marco Polo Constandse · Marimar Vega, Omar Chaparro, Ryan Carnes

A Mexican woman living in New York is pulled home by her political family to keep up a fake engagement to her ex.

A glossy Mexican romantic comedy about family expectations.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

Musical · UK · Directed by Ol Parker · Lily James, Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep

Sophie reopens her mother's hotel as the film looks back at how young Donna met the three men of the first film, with a detour to help a fisherman reach his love before she weds another man.

A companion piece to the first film, best watched as a double bill.

Veere Di Wedding

Comedy · India · Directed by Shashanka Ghosh · Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhasker

Four school friends reunite in Delhi for the wedding of one who isn't sure she wants to be married at all.

A frank, glamorous friendship comedy with a bridesmaid squad in lehengas.

C'est la vie!Editor’s pick

Comedy · France · Directed by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache · Jean-Pierre Bacri, Gilles Lellouche, Jean-Paul Rouve

A veteran caterer running a wedding at a 17th-century château fights disaster after disaster over one long night.

The best film ever made about the people who work at weddings.

Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana

Romantic Comedy · India · Directed by Ratnaa Sinha · Rajkummar Rao, Kriti Kharbanda

A bride walks out on her arranged wedding to take up a civil-service post, and the jilted groom returns years later with a grudge.

An Indian small-town drama about dowry, ambition and second chances.

Shubh Mangal Saavdhan

Romantic Comedy · India · Directed by R. S. Prasanna · Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar

A Delhi couple engaged through their families discover, before the wedding, that the groom has a problem nobody wants to name.

A frank and funny Bollywood film about intimacy and expectations.

The Wedding Party 2

Comedy · Nigeria · Directed by Niyi Akinmolayan · Adesua Etomi, Banky Wellington, Enyinna Nwigwe

The groom's brother proposes by accident to a bridesmaid, and her aristocratic British family agrees to a wedding in Dubai.

A glossy sequel that moves the Lagos wedding to the Gulf.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Comedy · US · Directed by Jake Szymanski · Zac Efron, Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza

Two party-loving brothers are ordered to bring respectable dates to their sister's Hawaii wedding, and hire two women who are worse than they are.

A raucous destination-wedding comedy.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Kirk Jones · Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan

Toula's father discovers the priest never signed his marriage certificate, and the family plans the wedding her mother never had.

A wedding for the parents, with the whole Portokalos clan back.

The Wedding Party

Comedy · Nigeria · Directed by Kemi Adetiba · Adesua Etomi, Banky Wellington, Richard Mofe-Damijo

A lavish Lagos wedding between a tech entrepreneur from a very wealthy family and his bride unravels over the course of one day, starting with an argument over who enters the hall first.

For several years the highest-grossing Nigerian film, and a riot of family politics.

The Wedding Plan

Romantic Comedy · Israel · Directed by Rama Burshtein · Noa Koler, Amos Tamam, Oz Zehavi

An Orthodox woman whose fiance leaves her keeps a Jerusalem wedding hall booked for the last day of Hanukkah, trusting that God will provide a groom.

A romantic comedy of faith, with an unforgettable heroine.

Spanish Affair 2

Comedy · Spain · Directed by Emilio Martínez-Lázaro · Dani Rovira, Clara Lago, Karra Elejalde

A Basque father enlists his daughter's Andalusian ex to stop her wedding to a Catalan man.

A regional-rivalry farce and the sequel to the 2014 hit Spanish Affair.

The Wedding Ringer

Comedy · US · Directed by Jeremy Garelick · Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, Kaley Cuoco

A groom with no friends hires a professional best man, who must also supply seven groomsmen.

A comic take on the headcount problem of the groom's side.

The Case Against 8

Documentary · US · Directed by Ben Cotner and Ryan White · Ted Olson, David Boies

A behind-the-scenes account of the legal battle to overturn California's Proposition 8 and restore the right of same-sex couples to marry.

An inside view of the legal fight that made thousands of weddings possible.

Queen

Comedy · India · Directed by Vikas Bahl · Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Lisa Haydon

A Delhi woman jilted two days before her wedding takes her honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam alone.

A delightful story of the solo honeymoon that changed a life.

Serial (Bad) Weddings

Comedy · France · Directed by Philippe de Chauveron · Christian Clavier, Chantal Lauby

A conservative Catholic couple from Chinon, whose three eldest daughters have married a Muslim, a Jew and a Chinese man, pin their hopes on the fourth.

A huge hit in France about in-laws, prejudice and wedding planning.

Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania

Romantic Comedy · India · Directed by Shashank Khaitan · Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt

A small-town bride-to-be in Delhi to buy a designer wedding dress falls for a local college student with weeks to go before her arranged marriage.

A cheerful Bollywood homage to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

Wild Tales

Comedy · Argentina · Directed by Damián Szifron · Ricardo Darín, Érica Rivas, Leonardo Sbaraglia

In the final of six tales, a bride discovers at her own Jewish wedding reception that her groom has been unfaithful, and she takes over the party.

The most exhilarating reception meltdown ever filmed.

About Time

Romantic Comedy · UK · Directed by Richard Curtis · Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy

A young man from Cornwall who can travel back in time within his own life falls in love, and the film follows the couple into marriage.

Richard Curtis's gentlest film, and a reminder that the wedding is the start of the story.

The Big Wedding

Comedy · US · Directed by Justin Zackham · Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Katherine Heigl

Long-divorced parents must pretend to still be married for their adopted son's wedding, for the sake of his biological mother.

An all-star cast in a lakeside wedding farce.

Bridegroom

Documentary · US · Directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason · Shane Bitney Crone, Tom Bridegroom

A documentary about a young couple who could not legally marry, and what that meant after one of them died in an accident.

A moving argument for marriage equality, told through one couple's love story.

Four Sisters and a Wedding

Comedy · Philippines · Directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina · Toni Gonzaga, Bea Alonzo, Angel Locsin

Four sisters come home to stop their younger brother's hasty wedding, and end up confronting one another.

A huge Filipino hit about siblings, family pressure and wedding gowns nobody likes.

I Give It a Year

Comedy · UK · Directed by Dan Mazer · Rose Byrne, Rafe Spall, Anna Faris

A couple who married after seven months struggle through their first year, starting with an excruciating best man's speech.

The anti-romantic comedy, and a guide to what not to do at a wedding.

In Bloom

Drama · Georgia · Directed by Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß · Lika Babluani, Mariam Bokeria

In 1992 Tbilisi, a fourteen-year-old is abducted into marriage, and her best friend attends the wedding with a heavy heart.

A quiet, powerful film about girlhood and the tradition of bride kidnapping.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

Romantic Comedy · India · Directed by Ayan Mukerji · Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Aditya Roy Kapur

Years after a trek in the Himalayas, four friends reunite at one of them's destination wedding in Udaipur.

The Udaipur wedding sequences set the template for a generation of Indian destination weddings.

A Few Best Men

Comedy · Australia · Directed by Stephan Elliott · Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall, Olivia Newton-John

A young man who proposed a week after meeting his fiancee brings three friends to her family's Australian estate for the wedding, where chaos follows.

A raucous farce from the director of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Fill the Void

Drama · Israel · Directed by Rama Burshtein · Hadas Yaron, Yiftach Klein

After her older sister's death in childbirth, a young Hasidic woman in Tel Aviv is urged to marry her widowed brother-in-law.

An intimate look at matchmaking inside Tel Aviv's Haredi community.

The Five-Year Engagement

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Nicholas Stoller · Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Alison Brie

A San Francisco couple's engagement is postponed again and again as her career takes them to Michigan.

A funny, perceptive film about engagements that go on too long.

REC 3: Genesis

Horror · Spain · Directed by Paco Plaza · Leticia Dolera, Diego Martín, Ismael Martínez

A wedding at a country estate turns into a zombie outbreak, and the bride takes up a chainsaw.

The bride in the bloody gown with the chainsaw is an instant horror icon.

The Hangover Part II

Comedy · US · Directed by Todd Phillips · Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis

The Wolfpack reunites for Stu's wedding in Thailand and loses the bride's younger brother in Bangkok.

A darker destination-wedding sequel, strictly for fans.

Tanu Weds Manu

Romantic Comedy · India · Directed by Aanand L. Rai · R. Madhavan, Kangana Ranaut, Jimmy Sheirgill

A London-based doctor looking for a bride in India is rejected by a wild-spirited Kanpur woman, then meets her again at a friend's wedding in Punjab.

A lively small-town romance built around wedding after wedding.

BridesmaidsEditor’s pick

Comedy · US · Directed by Paul Feig · Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne

A Milwaukee woman whose bakery has failed becomes maid of honor to her oldest friend and loses a battle of one-upmanship with the bride's glamorous new friend.

The comedy that made the bridesmaid the heroine, with the most famous dress-fitting scene ever filmed.

Jumping the Broom

Comedy · US · Directed by Salim Akil · Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso

A wealthy family and a working-class family meet on Martha's Vineyard for the wedding weekend of their children.

Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine as dueling mothers, and a moving look at the broom-jumping tradition.

MelancholiaEditor’s pick

Drama · Denmark · Directed by Lars von Trier · Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland

Justine's lavish wedding at a country estate falls apart over one long night as her depression takes hold, while a rogue planet approaches Earth.

The most beautiful and disturbing wedding reception on film, and a Cannes Best Actress win for Dunst.

Something Borrowed

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Luke Greenfield · Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield

A lawyer sleeps with her best friend's fiance after her 30th birthday, and the summer countdown to their wedding becomes agony.

A glossy take on the maid-of-honor dilemma, with John Krasinski as the friend who tells the truth.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1

Drama · US · Directed by Bill Condon · Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner

Bella and Edward marry in an outdoor ceremony before a honeymoon in Brazil.

Bella's Carolina Herrera gown was one of the most anticipated movie wedding dresses of its decade.

Band Baaja Baaraat

Romantic Comedy · India · Directed by Maneesh Sharma · Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma

Two Delhi graduates start a wedding-planning business, move from Chandni Chowk to the grand farmhouse weddings of the rich, and fall for each other along the way.

The best film about the Indian wedding industry, with Ranveer Singh's first lead role.

Our Family Wedding

Comedy · US · Directed by Rick Famuyiwa · Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia

A Mexican-American bride and an African-American groom must bring their feuding fathers together before their Los Angeles wedding.

A comedy about merging two families' traditions.

The Hangover

Comedy · US · Directed by Todd Phillips · Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis

Three groomsmen wake up after a Las Vegas bachelor party with no memory and no groom, and have one day to find him before the wedding.

The bachelor party movie, and the reason “not Vegas” is on so many engagement lists.

Bride Wars

Comedy · US · Directed by Gary Winick · Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Candice Bergen

Two best friends who have dreamed of June weddings at the Plaza discover they have been booked on the same day.

A catalog of wedding-planning panic, from the venue to the tan.

The Proposal

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Anne Fletcher · Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White

A Canadian book editor facing deportation forces her assistant to marry her, and his family in Sitka, Alaska, throws them a wedding at home.

The rushed family wedding is the movie's comic and emotional peak.

Up

Animated · US · Directed by Pete Docter · Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai

Carl and Ellie's small-town wedding opens a wordless montage of their whole married life.

A wordless opening montage that says more about marriage than most feature films.

27 Dresses

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Anne Fletcher · Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Åkerman

A perennial bridesmaid with a closet of 27 dresses watches her sister get engaged to the boss she secretly loves.

The montage of one bridesmaid at two weddings on the same night is the funniest thing in it.

Made of Honor

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Paul Weiland · Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd

A serial dater agrees to be his best friend's maid of honor at her wedding in Scotland, planning to stop it.

A gender flip of My Best Friend's Wedding with a Scottish castle ceremony.

Mamma Mia!Editor’s pick

Musical · UK · Directed by Phyllida Lloyd · Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan

On a Greek island, a bride-to-be secretly invites three men who might be her father to her wedding.

ABBA, Meryl Streep and a clifftop chapel: a pure-joy wedding musical.

Rachel Getting MarriedEditor’s pick

Drama · US · Directed by Jonathan Demme · Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin

A woman on leave from rehab comes home to Connecticut for her sister's wedding weekend, and the family's old grief comes with her.

Demme films the multicultural, music-filled wedding like a home movie, and it's the most lifelike wedding on screen.

Sex and the City

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Michael Patrick King · Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon

Carrie Bradshaw's planned intimate wedding to Mr. Big grows into an extravaganza after a Vogue bridal shoot lands her a Vivienne Westwood gown.

The most influential movie wedding dress of its era, and a cautionary tale about the guest list.

White Night Wedding

Drama · Iceland · Directed by Baltasar Kormákur · Hilmir Snær Guðnason, Margrét Vilhjálmsdóttir

A middle-aged professor prepares to marry a former student at a small church in remote Iceland during the white nights of midsummer, while memories of his first marriage intrude.

A darkly comic Icelandic drama, with a wedding in a landscape that never gets dark.

The Heartbreak Kid

Comedy · US · Directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly · Ben Stiller, Michelle Monaghan, Malin Åkerman

A San Francisco bachelor marries in haste and meets the right woman on his Mexican honeymoon.

A broader update of Elaine May's comedy about marrying too soon.

A remake of The Heartbreak Kid (1972).

License to Wed

Comedy · US · Directed by Ken Kwapis · Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, John Krasinski

An engaged couple must pass an eccentric reverend's marriage-prep course before he will marry them in the church.

A comic take on premarital counseling.

Margot at the Wedding

Drama · US · Directed by Noah Baumbach · Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black

A New York writer comes to her estranged sister's wedding at the family house and sets about dismantling it.

A caustic portrait of the sister who can't be happy for you.

Confetti

Comedy · UK · Directed by Debbie Isitt · Martin Freeman, Jessica Stevenson, Olivia Colman

A bridal magazine holds a contest for the most original wedding, and three couples compete with a musical wedding, a tennis wedding and a naturist one.

A mockumentary about theme weddings and the planners who make them.

Sione's Wedding

Comedy · New Zealand · Directed by Chris Graham · Oscar Kightley, Shimpal Lelisi, Robbie Magasiva

Four Samoan friends in Auckland, banned from weddings for bad behavior, must each find a serious girlfriend to be allowed at Sione's.

A warm comedy of Pacific Island family life in Auckland.

Vivah

Drama · India · Directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya · Shahid Kapoor, Amrita Rao

A Delhi businessman's son and a small-town woman meet through an arranged proposal; days before the wedding, a fire tests the engagement.

An earnest celebration of the arranged-marriage courtship, beloved by many families.

Corpse Bride

Animated · US · Directed by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson · Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson

A nervous groom rehearsing his vows in a forest slips a ring onto what he thinks is a root, and finds himself married to a dead bride.

A beautiful stop-motion fable about vows, and the most romantic Tim Burton film.

Monster-in-Law

Comedy · US · Directed by Robert Luketic · Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Vartan

A newly fired television anchor sets out to sabotage her son's engagement to a Los Angeles dog-walker.

Jane Fonda's return after 15 years away, as the mother-in-law from hell.

Wedding Campaign

Comedy · South Korea · Directed by Hwang Byung-kook · Jung Jae-young, Soo Ae, Yoo Jun-sang

Two aging bachelor farmers from rural Korea go on a ten-day matchmaking tour of Uzbekistan in search of wives.

A tender, funny look at the international marriage business.

Wedding CrashersEditor’s pick

Comedy · US · Directed by David Dobkin · Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams

Two divorce mediators crash weddings to meet women, until one falls for the daughter of the Treasury secretary at her sister's wedding.

The crashing montage is a comic love letter to every kind of American wedding.

The Wedding Date

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Clare Kilner · Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney, Amy Adams

To face her ex at her younger half-sister's wedding in London, a New Yorker hires a male escort as her date.

A breezy fantasy for anyone dreading a family wedding alone.

Head-On

Drama · Germany · Directed by Fatih Akın · Birol Ünel, Sibel Kekilli

A young Turkish-German woman desperate to escape her family persuades a self-destructive older man to marry her in a sham wedding.

A ferocious Golden Bear winner whose wedding scene is raucous, funny and heartbreaking.

Bride & Prejudice

Musical · UK · Directed by Gurinder Chadha · Aishwarya Rai, Martin Henderson, Naveen Andrews

Jane Austen moved to Amritsar: the Bakshi sisters meet a rich American at a friend's wedding, and the whole story plays out in Bollywood song.

A cheerful Austen crossover with wedding numbers in India, London and Los Angeles.

Brides

Drama · Greece · Directed by Pantelis Voulgaris · Victoria Haralabidou, Damian Lewis

In 1922, a Greek seamstress sails for Chicago as one of 700 mail-order brides aboard a ship, and falls for an American photographer on the way.

A handsome period drama about the brides who crossed an ocean to marry strangers.

Kill Bill: Volume 2

Thriller · US · Directed by Quentin Tarantino · Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen

The Bride's wedding rehearsal at a small chapel becomes a massacre, and the second volume finally shows what happened there.

The chapel scene is Tarantino's most restrained, and the most unsettling wedding in any action film.

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement

Family · US · Directed by Garry Marshall · Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews

Mia must marry before she can take the throne of Genovia, and her wedding day does not go to plan.

A royal-wedding fantasy for younger viewers, and a finale that gives Julie Andrews her due.

The Syrian Bride

Drama · Israel · Directed by Eran Riklis · Hiam Abbass, Clara Khoury, Makram Khoury

A Druze bride in the Golan Heights marries a successful Syrian actor; once she crosses the border to join him, she can never come back.

A wedding day as a lifelong goodbye, played out in the no-man's-land between two countries.

American Wedding

Comedy · US · Directed by Jesse Dylan · Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott

The third American Pie film: Jim proposes to Michelle and the gang travels to Chicago for the wedding, with Stifler causing chaos.

Crude, sweet and very of its moment: a bachelor-party comedy with a real wedding at the end.

Love Actually

Romantic Comedy · UK · Directed by Richard Curtis · Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley

Juliet and Peter's wedding, organized by the best man, includes a surprise: musicians planted among the guests strike up the Beatles' “All You Need Is Love.”

The Beatles wedding surprise launched a thousand flash-mob ceremonies.

Bend It Like Beckham

Comedy · UK · Directed by Gurinder Chadha · Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

A British Sikh teenager secretly plays soccer, and her sister's wedding falls on the day of the biggest match of her life.

The wedding-versus-final sequence is a joyful piece of cross-cutting.

My Big Fat Greek WeddingEditor’s pick

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Joel Zwick · Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan

A Greek-American woman in Chicago falls for a non-Greek high school English teacher, and her family takes over the wedding.

Nia Vardalos's own script became one of the most profitable independent films ever made, and every family recognizes itself.

Sweet Home Alabama

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Andy Tennant · Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey

A New York designer engaged to the mayor's son returns to Alabama to finalize the divorce from her high school husband before her wedding.

Witherspoon's charm and a Southern wedding with a surprise at the altar.

Monsoon WeddingEditor’s pick

Drama · India · Directed by Mira Nair · Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah

A Punjabi family in Delhi prepares an arranged marriage as relatives arrive from around the world, secrets surface and the monsoon breaks over the wedding.

The truest film about a big family wedding, and a Golden Lion winner at Venice.

Shrek

Animated · US · Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson · Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz

An ogre delivers Princess Fiona to Lord Farquaad for a wedding in Duloc, then rides a dragon back to stop it.

The “speak now” moment for the whole family, with a mid-ceremony dragon.

The Wedding Planner

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Adam Shankman · Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey

San Francisco's most organized wedding planner falls for the man who rescues her from a runaway dumpster, who turns out to be her latest client's fiance.

A glossy fantasy of the planner's job, headset and all.

Meet the Parents

Comedy · US · Directed by Jay Roach · Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo

A male nurse meets his girlfriend's parents over the weekend of her sister's wedding, and destroys nearly everything he touches.

The ultimate future-in-laws disaster weekend, with a catastrophe at the pool and a cat named Jinx.

East Is East

Comedy · UK · Directed by Damien O'Donnell · Om Puri, Linda Bassett

In 1971 Salford, a Pakistani father arranges marriages for his British-born sons; the film begins with one of them fleeing his own wedding.

A comic, clear-eyed story of generations colliding over the wedding question.

The Best ManEditor’s pick

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Malcolm D. Lee · Taye Diggs, Nia Long, Morris Chestnut

A Chicago novelist travels to New York to be best man at his college friend's wedding, just as advance copies of his debut novel, based on their circle of friends, start circulating.

A smart, stylish ensemble film about friendship and the wedding weekend.

Runaway Bride

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Garry Marshall · Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Joan Cusack

A New York columnist writes about a Maryland woman who has left several grooms at the altar, then travels to her town as she prepares to try again.

The Pretty Woman reunion, set in a small Maryland town, and a lighthearted study of why someone keeps running.

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

Drama · India · Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali · Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Ajay Devgn

A young woman in love with a visiting singer is married off to another man, who then resolves to reunite her with her true love.

Bhansali's lavish wedding songs, including “Nimbooda,” are an inspiration for mehndi and sangeet parties.

The Wood

Comedy · US · Directed by Rick Famuyiwa · Omar Epps, Taye Diggs, Richard T. Jones

On his wedding day in Inglewood, a groom goes missing, and his two best friends track him down while remembering their teenage years.

A funny, affectionate coming-of-age story framed by the hours before a wedding.

Black Cat, White Cat

Comedy · FR Yugoslavia · Directed by Emir Kusturica · Bajram Severdžan, Srđan Todorović, Branka Katić

A Romani smuggler's son is forced into an arranged marriage by the Danube to settle his father's debt, and the bride and groom both have other ideas.

An anarchic, brass-band wedding comedy unlike anything else on this list.

The Wedding SingerEditor’s pick

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Frank Coraci · Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Christine Taylor

A New Jersey wedding singer is left at the altar and falls for a waitress who is planning her own wedding to the wrong man.

The best film about working weddings, with a 1985 soundtrack that still fills dance floors.

Fools Rush In

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Andy Tennant · Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek, Jon Tenney

A New York architect and a Mexican-American photographer marry in a Las Vegas chapel after a single night, then try to make the marriage work, with a second wedding at the Grand Canyon.

A likable argument for a do-over wedding with the families present.

My Best Friend's WeddingEditor’s pick

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by P. J. Hogan · Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz

A food critic learns her best friend is marrying in Chicago in four days and sets out to sabotage it.

A romantic comedy that refuses its heroine the easy ending, with Rupert Everett stealing the film.

The Birdcage

Comedy · US · Directed by Mike Nichols · Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman

A South Beach drag-club owner and his partner try to pass as a conventional family when their son's fiancee brings her conservative senator father to dinner.

Nathan Lane and Robin Williams make the in-laws dinner the funniest in film.

A remake of La Cage aux Folles (1978).

Dilwale Dulhania Le JayengeEditor’s pick

Musical · India · Directed by Aditya Chopra · Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol

A London-born woman betrothed since childhood to a man in Punjab falls in love on a European trip; her suitor follows her to the wedding preparations to win her father's blessing.

Among the longest-running films in Indian cinema history, and the reason every Punjabi wedding in the movies looks the way it does.

Four Weddings and a FuneralEditor’s pick

Romantic Comedy · UK · Directed by Mike Newell · Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Kristin Scott Thomas

A circle of London friends go to wedding after wedding, where a perpetual best man keeps running into the same American woman.

Richard Curtis's screenplay is a field guide to English weddings, and the definitive wedding-guest movie.

Muriel's WeddingEditor’s pick

Comedy · Australia · Directed by P. J. Hogan · Toni Collette, Rachel Griffiths, Bill Hunter

An ABBA-obsessed misfit from Porpoise Spit who dreams of nothing but a wedding finally gets one, in Sydney, for all the wrong reasons.

Toni Collette's breakthrough is the sharpest film about loving the idea of a wedding more than the person.

Only You

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Norman Jewison · Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr., Bonnie Hunt

Ten days before her wedding, a Pittsburgh teacher chases a man she believes is her destiny across Italy.

A sunny travelogue about cold feet, from Venice to Positano.

Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!Editor’s pick

Musical · India · Directed by Sooraj Barjatya · Madhuri Dixit, Salman Khan

Two families are joined by one wedding and planned for another; the film is almost entirely made of wedding songs, rituals and games.

The film that turned the Indian wedding into a blockbuster, and still the source of countless sangeet dance routines.

Addams Family Values

Comedy · US · Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld · Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd

Uncle Fester marries the family's new nanny, a serial killer of husbands, in a ceremony the Addamses find almost too cheerful.

The funniest villainous bride on film, played with glee by Joan Cusack.

The Wedding BanquetEditor’s pick

Comedy · Taiwan · Directed by Ang Lee · Winston Chao, May Chin, Mitchell Lichtenstein

A gay Taiwanese man in Manhattan stages a green-card marriage to satisfy his parents, who arrive and insist on a proper banquet.

The banquet sequence, with its raucous games and a riotous bridal-suite invasion, is a comic landmark.

Like Water for Chocolate

Drama · Mexico · Directed by Alfonso Arau · Lumi Cavazos, Marco Leonardi, Regina Torné

Forbidden by family tradition to marry, Tita must cook for the wedding of the man she loves to her older sister, and her feelings pass magically into the food.

Magical realism in the kitchen: the wedding feast is one of the most famous in Latin American film.

Honeymoon in Vegas

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Andrew Bergman · Nicolas Cage, Sarah Jessica Parker, James Caan

A man who promised his dying mother he would never marry finally takes his girlfriend to Las Vegas to wed, and loses her for a weekend in a poker game.

The skydiving Elvis impersonators justify the ticket.

Father of the BrideEditor’s pick

Comedy · US · Directed by Charles Shyer · Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Kimberly Williams

George Banks tells how his daughter's engagement led to a wedding planner named Franck, a $250-a-head reception and a snowstorm the night before the wedding at home.

The wedding comedy many couples grew up on, and the reason the wedding planner became a movie character.

A remake of Father of the Bride (1950).

Betsy's Wedding

Comedy · US · Directed by Alan Alda · Alan Alda, Molly Ringwald, Madeline Kahn

A Long Island contractor insists on throwing his daughter a lavish wedding to keep up with the groom's rich family, whatever it costs, and the day is drenched by a downpour.

A gentle ensemble comedy about pride, money and rain on the big day.

The Little Mermaid

Animated · US · Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements · Jodi Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll

Prince Eric is about to marry a stranger named Vanessa aboard a wedding barge, not knowing she is the sea witch in disguise.

The wedding-barge ceremony and its unraveling is Disney's funniest wedding scene.

True Love

Comedy · US · Directed by Nancy Savoca · Annabella Sciorra, Ron Eldard

A Bronx Italian-American couple count down to their wedding, and the preparations reveal how differently bride and groom picture married life.

A funny, unvarnished portrait of a neighborhood wedding, catering hall and all.

Steel MagnoliasEditor’s pick

Drama · US · Directed by Herbert Ross · Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton

Shelby's Louisiana wedding, with its pink-on-pink color scheme and an armadillo groom's cake, is the joyful opening to a story of friendship and loss.

The wedding-day salon scene is the best on-screen portrait of the women who get a bride ready.

When Harry Met Sally...

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Rob Reiner · Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher

Harry and Sally's best friends marry, and at the reception the two have their worst fight.

Worth watching for the reception argument alone, and for the couples' interviews that frame the film.

Coming to America

Comedy · US · Directed by John Landis · Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Shari Headley

An African prince escapes an arranged marriage to find a bride in Queens, and the film ends with a royal wedding in Zamunda.

The final wedding, with its lavish costumes and a surprise under the veil, is pure pleasure.

Mystic Pizza

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Donald Petrie · Julia Roberts, Annabeth Gish, Lili Taylor

Three waitresses in a Connecticut fishing town; the film opens as one of them faints at the altar of her own wedding.

Early Julia Roberts, and a warm story about getting cold feet and warming up again.

Red Sorghum

Drama · China · Directed by Zhang Yimou · Gong Li, Jiang Wen, Teng Rujun

A young woman carried in a wedding sedan chair to marry an old distillery owner is waylaid in a sorghum field, and her life takes a different path.

The opening bridal procession, all red silk and dust, is one of the most striking wedding images in world cinema.

Moonstruck

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Norman Jewison · Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis

A Brooklyn widow agrees to a sensible second marriage, then falls for her fiance's volatile younger brother while the wedding plans proceed.

The best film about Italian-American family life, love and the wrong fiance, with an Oscar-winning Cher.

The Princess BrideEditor’s pick

Family · US · Directed by Rob Reiner · Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin

Buttercup is to marry the odious Prince Humperdinck, whose rushed ceremony is presided over by Peter Cook's Impressive Clergyman and his famous “mawwiage.”

The most quoted wedding scene of all, in a fairy tale that works for every generation.

Spaceballs

Comedy · US · Directed by Mel Brooks · Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, John Candy

Princess Vespa flees her arranged wedding to the narcoleptic Prince Valium in the first act and, naturally, is back at an altar by the last.

Mel Brooks's Star Wars parody turns the runaway bride into a space opera gag.

Wedding in Galilee

Drama · Belgium/France · Directed by Michel Khleifi · Mohamad Ali El Akili, Bushra Karaman, Makram Khoury

A Palestinian village head asks the Israeli military governor to lift a curfew for his son's wedding, and the price is that the officers attend.

The first feature made in Palestine by a Palestinian director, and a wedding charged with politics.

Prizzi's Honor

Comedy · US · Directed by John Huston · Jack Nicholson, Kathleen Turner

A Mafia hit man spots a mysterious woman at a family wedding and falls for her, only to learn she is in the same line of work.

The wedding opening is a sly echo of The Godfather, and the comedy is black and deadpan.

The Muppets Take Manhattan

Family · US · Directed by Frank Oz · Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz

Kermit and Miss Piggy's Broadway show ends with what is meant to be a staged wedding, until Piggy swaps the actor playing the minister for a real one.

The Muppet wedding, attended by what seems like every Muppet ever made, is a delight for all ages.

Sixteen Candles

Comedy · US · Directed by John Hughes · Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Schoeffling

Sam Baker's family forgets her sixteenth birthday in the rush of her older sister's wedding, which takes place the next day.

The wedding is a comic set piece, though parts of the film are very much of 1984.

Arthur

Comedy · US · Directed by Steve Gordon · Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, John Gielgud

A drunken, lovable New York millionaire will inherit the family fortune only if he marries a suitable heiress, and then he falls for a working-class woman from Queens.

Gielgud's butler steals every scene, and the film is a gleeful case against marrying for money.

Blood Wedding

Musical · Spain · Directed by Carlos Saura · Antonio Gades, Cristina Hoyos, Juan Antonio Jiménez

A flamenco company rehearses its dance version of Lorca's tragedy, in which a bride flees her wedding with a former lover, in a single bare studio.

A thrilling hour of flamenco, and the cleanest telling of Lorca's great wedding tragedy.

The Marriage of Maria Braun

Drama · West Germany · Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder · Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Löwitsch, Ivan Desny

Maria marries her soldier during an Allied bombing raid in 1943, and spends the postwar years building a fortune while she waits for the marriage to begin.

Its opening wedding, filmed amid collapsing walls, is one of the boldest in cinema.

A Wedding

Comedy · US · Directed by Robert Altman · Carol Burnett, Mia Farrow, Desi Arnaz Jr., Paul Dooley

Two very different families collide at a lavish wedding where almost every guest has a secret.

Altman's overlapping ensemble style was made for a wedding reception, and the result is a sly social comedy.

The Deer HunterEditor’s pick

Drama · US · Directed by Michael Cimino · Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep

Before three friends from a Pennsylvania steel town ship out to Vietnam, one of them marries in a Russian Orthodox church and the whole town dances at the reception.

The long wedding sequence, with “Can't Take My Eyes Off You” at the reception, is the community the rest of the film shows being lost.

La Cage aux Folles

Comedy · France · Directed by Édouard Molinaro · Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Serrault

The owner of a Saint-Tropez drag club and his partner must play it straight when their son brings home his fiancee and her ultraconservative parents.

The farce that became a Broadway musical and The Birdcage, and still the most affectionate of the three.

The Heartbreak Kid

Comedy · US · Directed by Elaine May · Charles Grodin, Cybill Shepherd, Jeannie Berlin

On his Miami Beach honeymoon, a new husband falls for a golden college student and sets about undoing his marriage of five days.

Elaine May's wince-inducing comedy is a warning about marrying in a hurry.

The GodfatherEditor’s pick

Drama · US · Directed by Francis Ford Coppola · Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan

Connie Corleone's garden wedding opens the film: while the band plays outside, her father receives petitioners in his study, since no Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day.

The greatest opening sequence in American film is a wedding, and it introduces every character in under half an hour.

The Wedding

Drama · Poland · Directed by Andrzej Wajda · Daniel Olbrychski, Ewa Ziętek, Andrzej Łapicki

A Kraków poet marries a peasant girl, and the all-night wedding party in her village becomes a feverish vision of Polish history and national longing.

Wajda's adaptation of Wyspiański's play turns a village wedding into a nation's dream.

The Ceremony

Drama · Japan · Directed by Nagisa Ōshima · Kenzo Kawarasaki, Atsuko Kaku, Nobuko Otowa

The postwar history of a powerful Japanese family is told through its weddings and funerals, including a wedding the bride does not attend.

A cold, brilliant film about ceremony as the thing that holds a family together and keeps it frozen.

Fiddler on the RoofEditor’s pick

Musical · US · Directed by Norman Jewison · Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey

Tevye's eldest daughter defies the matchmaker to marry the poor tailor she loves; their wedding, with its bottle dance and “Sunrise, Sunset,” is the film's joyful center.

The wedding sequence is essential viewing for anyone planning a traditional Jewish ceremony, and for every parent of the bride.

Plaza Suite

Comedy · US · Directed by Arthur Hiller · Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris, Lee Grant

In the third of three stories set in the same Plaza Hotel suite, a bride locks herself in the bathroom while her parents try every tactic to get her downstairs to her wedding.

Neil Simon's bathroom-door standoff is the funniest depiction of wedding-day nerves on film.

Lovers and Other Strangers

Comedy · US · Directed by Cy Howard · Bonnie Bedelia, Michael Brandon, Gig Young

A couple who have secretly lived together finally announce their engagement, and the run-up to the wedding exposes every marriage in both families.

An ensemble comedy about the marriages sitting at the reception tables, with Bea Arthur and Anne Jackson in top form.

The Wedding Party

Comedy · US · Directed by Brian De Palma, Wilford Leach and Cynthia Munroe · Jill Clayburgh, Robert De Niro, Charles Pfluger

A nervous groom spends the days before his wedding on his fiancee's family estate on Shelter Island, fending off relatives and his own doubts.

A scrappy curiosity: early De Palma, with a very young Robert De Niro and Jill Clayburgh.

The Bride Wore Black

Thriller · France · Directed by François Truffaut · Jeanne Moreau, Michel Bouquet, Charles Denner

A woman whose husband was shot on the church steps on their wedding day tracks down, one by one, the men responsible.

Truffaut's Hitchcock homage, and the ancestor of every revenge-bride story that followed.

The Sound of Music

Musical · US · Directed by Robert Wise · Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer

The governess who once couldn't stay put in the abbey returns to it as a bride, walking a very long aisle to marry Captain von Trapp as the nuns sing.

The long walk down the abbey aisle, with the nuns singing, is one of the most beloved movie weddings.

Marriage Italian Style

Comedy · Italy · Directed by Vittorio De Sica · Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni

After years as a wealthy man's mistress, Filumena fakes a deathbed to trick him into marrying her, and the real fight over the marriage begins once she recovers.

Loren at her most formidable, and a comedy about what a wedding secures for the people who need it most.

Seduced and Abandoned

Comedy · Italy · Directed by Pietro Germi · Stefania Sandrelli, Saro Urzì

In a Sicilian town, a father whose daughter has been seduced by her sister's fiance schemes to force a wedding and preserve the family's honor.

A savage satire of the shotgun wedding and the codes of honor behind it.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Musical · France · Directed by Jacques Demy · Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo

A young woman whose sweetheart has gone to war in Algeria marries another man in a grand church wedding, and the film follows what that choice costs them both.

Every word is sung, every color is saturated, and the wedding is one of cinema's most bittersweet.

An Autumn Afternoon

Drama · Japan · Directed by Yasujirō Ozu · Chishū Ryū, Shima Iwashita

A widower realizes he has kept his daughter at home too long and arranges her marriage; we see her dressed in her wedding kimono, never the ceremony, and then her father drinking with friends afterward.

Ozu's final film returns to the daughter's wedding one last time, quieter and sadder than ever.

The Catered Affair

Drama · US · Directed by Richard Brooks · Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Debbie Reynolds

A Bronx cab driver's wife insists on giving their daughter the big catered wedding she never had, using the savings meant for his taxi medallion.

Gore Vidal's screenplay, from Paddy Chayefsky's television play, is the most honest film about the wedding budget ever made.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Musical · US · Directed by Howard Hawks · Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell

Two showgirls sail to France, one to marry a millionaire's son over his father's objections, and the film closes on a double wedding.

Monroe and Russell side by side in white is the definitive image of friendship at the altar.

The Member of the Wedding

Drama · US · Directed by Fred Zinnemann · Julie Harris, Ethel Waters, Brandon deWilde

In a small Southern town, a lonely twelve-year-old pins all her hopes on her older brother's wedding, and feels rejected when the couple leave on their honeymoon without her.

Carson McCullers's great study of feeling left out of someone else's happiness, with Ethel Waters in magnificent form.

The Quiet Man

Drama · US · Directed by John Ford · John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald

An American boxer returns to his family's Irish village and marries a fiery local woman, but her brother withholds her dowry, and the marriage cannot settle until it is paid.

Technicolor Ireland, a village-wide courtship, and a vivid, if very old-fashioned, argument about what a bride brings with her.

Late SpringEditor’s pick

Drama · Japan · Directed by Yasujirō Ozu · Setsuko Hara, Chishū Ryū

A widowed professor persuades his devoted daughter to accept an arranged marriage; the wedding itself is seen only in the moment she leaves home in full bridal dress.

The most tender film ever made about the parent left behind, and a masterclass in what a wedding costs a family.

June Bride

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Bretaigne Windust · Bette Davis, Robert Montgomery, Fay Bainter

The editor of a women's magazine and her ex-lover, now her writer, descend on an Indiana family to stage the perfect June wedding for a feature story, and the real family refuses to cooperate.

A wry look at how wedding media shapes the wedding itself, made decades before anyone had heard of an Instagram feed.

The Palm Beach Story

Romantic Comedy · US · Directed by Preston Sturges · Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor

It opens with a frantic, mystifying dash to the altar and ends with a double wedding that ties up more loose ends than seems legally possible.

Sturges at full speed: a screwball comedy that treats marriage as both a racket and a romance.