Movies tell the stories of big, game-changing moments in peoples’ lives, and few life events are as significant as the wedding.
As the saying goes, life tends to imitate art. After scouring film history, compiling an exhaustive list of every bouquet toss and conga line on film, then whittling that list down to the 100 best movie weddings (and ranking them), we agree. These pretend weddings have obviously provided inspiration for a lot of real people.
So grab a three-tiered cake with a nice, thick buttercream frosting—or whatever you like to eat at the movies—and find out where your favorite films landed on our list of the 100 best movie weddings.
Table of Contents
Best Movie Weddings: 100-61
Best Movie Weddings: 60-21
Best Movie Weddings: 20-1
Best Movie Weddings: 100-61
100) Forgetting Sarah Marshall
We’re treated to two barely-there weddings in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and they’re basically the only two ways you feel at a wedding if you’re not super close to the bride and groom.
Way 1: You are in high spirits because like the happy couple, you see nothing but possibility in your romantic future. Maybe you just started a relationship, and infatuation intoxicates your brain. You’re overjoyed for these two people you barely know because hey! that could be (probably will be) you someday soon.
Way 2: Why are you getting married when there is no hope and everything is shit? I HATE YOU.
99) American Wedding
Gorgeous venue? Check. Tasteful-yet-passionate kiss? Check. Van Morrison as a first dance song? Check. Maybe you have to be a ’90s kid to fully appreciate just how great a father Jim’s dad is, but when he reassures Michelle’s parents that their daughter hasn’t been leading a highly satisfying sexual life with his son, I get choked up. I need to call my dad.
98) The Wedding Planner
A fact we can all attest to: love is not the easiest thing to find. Mary, played by Jennifer Lopez, dedicates her life to helping others tie the knot—but what happens when she has to choose between her profession, and finally finding love for herself? With two pairs of brides and grooms—none of which believe they’re right for each other—both weddings are ultimately cancelled and true love wins out. Watch for a little flower inspo and justification that not everything always goes as planned.
97) Monster-in-Law
The good parts about this movie: two queens by the names of Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez. The bad parts: literally everything else. The wedding day scene where Fonda shows up for her son’s big day in a wedding dress (creepy), and then gets in a slap fight with his bride-to-be Lopez is… more than a little uncomfortable to watch. And we didn’t even get to the part where Grandma bursts in and calls J Lo an “exotic Latina.” We’ll say it again: uncomfortable.
96) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Props to Mia Thermopolis for taking the stereotypical royal wedding dream that every girl’s apparently supposed to have, and turning it into a real “hell yeah!” feminist moment. Also, props to her grandma, Queen Clarisse, for flipping the script and proposing to her bodyguard. Imagine that: An unmarried woman ruling a country independently. A lady proposing to a man. A royal marrying a commoner. As painfully cheesy as this movie is, it sure has some great messages!
95) On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
It’s good to know that in this terrible, violent world, a secret agent and all of his coworkers who also work for intelligence agencies can come together to celebrate love. Sure, the bride dies, but how was that going to work anyway? Check out the flowers at this wedding, they are to die for.
94) 27 Dresses
Jane’s always a bridesmaid and never a bride—27 times to be exact. She’s also a total pushover. So when she finally finds her voice—and with it, a husband—by the end of this rom com, she makes a major power move and asks all 27 ladies she’s been a bridesmaid for to be in her wedding party. Oh, yeah—Jane also makes them wear the hideous bridesmaid dresses she had to wear in their weddings. That must of have been a real challenge for the wedding photographer…
93) The Young Victoria
What can we say? We love a good woman-proposes-to-man moment—especially when it involves elaborate Victorian costumes.
92) A Night at the Roxbury
I’d like to think I could show up at a wedding I object to and just play Haddaway’s “What Is Love,” and whoever I’m there for would know. Because if I care enough about you to stop your wedding, you would have certainly seen A Night at the Roxbury enough times to get it.
91) The Wolf of Wall Street
The list of things a groom must do before a wedding is long. But if you’re Jordan Belfort, and you built a multi-million dollar enterprise/adult playground, an item atop your honey-do list is to get a cocktail of penicillin shots, so as to not re-gift some of the party favors from the bachelor party. Buying your wife a yacht for a wedding gift further solidifies any don’t ask, don’t tell agreements you may have about pre-wedding activities.
90) Sense and Sensibility
The rolling hills of the English countryside. A grazing flock of sheep. Children wearing bonnets. Kate Winslet. Hugh Grant. Mother effing Emma Thompson! This is British period piece realness at its finest.
89) Bend It Like Beckham
What’s a girl to do when her sister’s wedding falls on the same day as the championship match for her soccer team? If she’s Jess Bhamra in Bend It Like Beckham, she changes out of her wedding gear and into her uniform, leaves the wedding, slays the game, gets offered a soccer scholarship in the U.S., then heads back to the reception and gets down to some sweet, sweet bhangra music. Sure, at one point her teammate’s mother shows up at the wedding to falsely accuse Jess of being in a lesbian relationship with her daughter—but whatevs. This chick is killing it at life!
88) Star Wars: Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones
All the intricate details—the invitations, the seating arrangements, the groomsmen’s tuxes, the bridesmaids’ dresses… the wedding planning struggle is real. You will inevitably end up fantasizing about a simpler time—a long time ago… far away. So if you’re dealing with intense work stuff (or Jedi training, keeping the force in balance), keep it simple, like Anakin Skywalker did: get hitched overlooking the coast with and few droids. I mean really, does it get any better than that?
87) Tombstone
It’s kind of bullshit to ambush a wedding, but I guess that’s your first tip that Curly Bill is a bad guy. There’s just enough time to notice some of the finer elements of this wedding. You have to appreciate the crooning waltz of the mariachis, and can you imagine how difficult (not to mention expensive) it had to be, in 1879, to find 6 grey groomsmen jackets to match the groom’s tux? Shame they spent so much time and money on something they definitely only wore once…
86) Sweet Home Alabama
A lawyer interrupting your wedding ceremony to tell you that you’re still married to your first husband? Deciding not to sign the divorce papers, then leaving the guy you’re supposed to be getting married to literally halfway through your wedding ceremony, publicly humiliating him in front of all of his friends and family… and he’s kinda okay with it? Heading to the beach during a thunderstorm, while still wearing your wedding dress, to tell husband #1—who you thought you were divorced from but aren’t—that hey, you actually would like to stay married, because you kissed him when you were ten years old and played by Dakota Fanning? “Sweet Home Alabama” as a first dance song? Huh? Reese Witherspoon is cool, though.
85) Live and Let Die
First off, who gets married this deep in the Everglades? It is a land of prehistoric terrors: man-eating snakes, enormous mosquitos, and giant reptiles. Oh, you got to see Bond in action, and a boat ruined your wedding cake? You did not get dragged into a swamp by a monster, and you did get married, so maybe chalk this one up as a win.
84) The Proposal
Ah, a good ol’ “sham marriage, but they fall in love in the end” tale. Margaret is a horrible boss who, faced with the threat of getting deported back to her Canadian homeland, blackmails her assistant, Andrew, into marrying her. Minus the frigid temps, Canada doesn’t seem like such a bad place to be forced to move—they’ve got nice people, good healthcare, and Montreal—but we guess that’s beside the point. Anyway, hijinks—and threats from an immigration agent who’s onto Margaret’s plan—ensue. Margaret ends up coming clean at her wedding and is asked to leave the country—but not before her and Andrew find real love first. Love has no borders, people!
83) Cinderella
This is the ultimate in fairytale weddings: a rags-to-riches story complete with a handsome prince, humongous castle, big white dress, and a pair of kickass yet wildly impractical shoes (that are also apparently a few sizes too big?). And while Cinderella’s tale hasn’t exactly withstood the test of time—come on, Cindy, you don’t need a man to save you!—it’s also probably single-handedly responsible for the creation and popularity of 20+ seasons of The Bachelor. So what we’re saying is: While we don’t agree with your message, we thank you, Cinderella, for bringing Chris Harrison into our lives.
82) Twilight: Breaking Dawn
The wedding scene in Twilight: Breaking Dawn is arguably one of the most picturesque. Taking place in a forest, the creators wanted to keep the theme synonymous with the nature surrounding the cast. And while you might not be able to find a vampire lover, you may be able to coerce 20 friends into helping you hand-string wisteria from a tree.
81) Serendipity
Boy meets girl. Boy and girl write their phone numbers on random objects and release them into the world with the belief that if they find each other’s numbers, they are soulmates and meant to be together. And because this is a cheesy rom com, they do eventually find each other’s numbers, years later, and end up leaving their fiancés to track each other down. So, there technically isn’t a wedding scene in this movie—just a scene of John Cusack calling his off like, an hour before (rude). But fate and frozen hot chocolate play central roles throughout, which makes us like this movie enough for us to include it on this list.
80) Meet the Fockers
It’s important to have a solid relationship with your in-laws, and in a perfect world, both families come together seamlessly. But it’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is to wear breathable fabrics in light colors if you’re getting married in Florida.
79) My Best Friend’s Wedding
Most twins are a little creepy. Not all, just the overwhelming majority. So if you’re a twin and you’re reading this, maybe you’re not creepy? However, the adult twin women walking down the aisle in My Best Friend’s Wedding are exceedingly creepy, especially with some kind of monk singing behind them. I am forced to shut all my curtains and turn on all the lights in my apartment. Once we’re past the twins thing, you have to admit: this is the church you want to get married in if you’re the church-wedding kind of couple.
78) The Little Mermaid
The wedding scene in The Little Mermaid has gone so far as to inspire actual wedding themes: cute seashells, a photoshoot by the beach, and cascading red hair that would make any gal’s 6-year-old self cry out in envy. But when we think of the iconic wedding scene, we’re reminded more of when Scuttle rallies the troops to defeat the evil sea witch. The only kind of wedding crashing we approve of.
77) Mamma Mia!
Young bride-to-be Sophie wants her father to walk her down the aisle. Problem is, she doesn’t know who he is. So she invites three men from her mom’s wild and promiscuous past to her wedding, convinced that once she meets them she’ll “just know” which one is her long-lost Pops. Guess what—she doesn’t. Which results in one very awkward wedding ceremony where Sophie confesses her plan, one potential baby daddy comes out as gay, one gets with Soph’s mom’s BFF, and Pierce Brosnan tells Meryl Streep that he’s always been in love with her (who hasn’t?). In the end, the three dudes agree to split daddy duties, Sophie ends up calling off her wedding, and Meryl and Pierce get hitched instead. Oh, and did I mention the entire movie is set to ABBA songs? Yeah, it’s a weird one.
76) Muriel’s Wedding
The titular event in Muriel’s Wedding is a darkly comic cringe fest for the audience—we know she’s doing it for all the wrong reasons, and that it will end quickly in divorce. Even so, you’ve never seen a happier bride (and not just in contrast to the groom, wedding party, and guests, who seem absolutely put upon), and it’s a necessary low point on her path to redemption.
75) The Hangover
Everybody wants to look their best for their weddings. People withstand grueling exercise, dieting, waxing, hours at hair salons, and teeth whitening to achieve that perfect look. That moment when you first look upon your intended should make all the pains of preparation worth it—but what if your partner is deeply sunburned and a blotchy five shades darker than thier normal complexion?
74) The Best Man
All of their bow ties are kind of tiny, and the best man earned a shiner at the bachelor party (not ideal for wedding photos but hey, that’s why God created Photoshop). But you’d have to be born with a heart made of witch-cursed granite to not be moved by these lengthy, sniffly vows—exactly what you want out of the wedding movies genre.
73) Bride Wars
BFFs forever—but only until both their weddings are booked on the same date at the same venue. Refusing to share the spotlight, both girls set out to sabotage the other’s wedding. The scariest part of fighting with your best friend? They have an arsenal of embarrassing information, including Spring Break footage of you dancing with no shirt on.
72) The 40-Year-Old Virgin
You can’t have a wedding without a budget. Unless you happen to have an embarrassing amount of rare, collectible toys, in which case money is not going to be a problem. Steve Carell makes some nice tux choices—white dinner jacket FTW. And I think everybody metaphorically sings Hair (with choreography!) after consummating their marriage.
71) Melancholia
This ranks high for weddings we’d want to attend as a guest but not as a family member: lavish estate, white tie dress code, dramatic airing of grievances by divorced parents during the reception toasts—including this corker from the mother of the bride: “Enjoy it while it lasts. I myself hate marriages.” A fitting sentiment for a wedding that takes place on the eve of the apocalypse.
70) Sex and the City 2
In the long, long drama that is Sex and the City, there are more than a few wedding scenes. They range from traditional, to low-key, to elegant. Our favorite? Stanford and Anthony’s, which is described by Miranda as “what it looks like when you stare directly into the sun.”
69) Spy Kids
Nothing says “romance” like jumping off a cliff with heart-shaped parachutes while being attacked from every angle.
68) Soul Food
Family: Even when you hate each other, you love each other. That means when your husband gets caught grinding up on another woman at your wedding reception, you and your sisters stop your constant bickering for for a minute, and band together to take down the two losers—only to find that your mother has swooped in and taken care of business first. We’ll say it again: Family.
67) Blow
For the single and ready to mingle, wedding receptions are an excellent place to find new love. Or, you know, if you’re budding drug lord George Jung, wedding receptions are are an excellent place to steal a Colombian cartel officer’s megababe fiancée.
66) Atonement
This is one movie wedding that’s hard to watch. First Lola breaks up her cousin Cecilia and her lover Robbie by sitting silent while her cousin Briony falsely accuses Robbie of assaulting Lola. Robbie goes to prison, then Lola goes and marries the guy who actually did it. Seriously: WTF, Lola?
65) The Birdcage
Another typical rom com—the daughter of a conservative, Republican senator and the son of two gay men who own a drag club fall in love. You know, just your standard fare. The actual wedding scene of The Birdcage is short and part of the ending credits, but a testament to love regardless. It depicts people with vastly different ideals coming together to celebrate that love comes from all backgrounds, and that it’s never a good idea to hide who you are. “What a pain in the ass you are. And it’s true: you’re not young, you’re not new, and you do make people laugh. And me? I’m still with you because you make me laugh.”
64) Old School
A true friend will tell you the truth, but timing is everything. Like, for example, any time other than during the wedding processional would be great.
63) Dances with Wolves
Good movie. Nice wedding scene. But what stands out to us most: all the teased and feathered ’80s hair happening on the Western frontier circa 1863. How First Lieutenant John J. Dunbar and his bride Stands With A Fist got their hands on some Aquanet—we’ll never know.
62) Shrek
Shrek lived his life alone, believing that no one would love an ogre. But true love is skin deep, even when that skin has layers like an onion and is green. Wedding crashers are also generally frowned upon, but not if you’re Shrek saving Princess Fiona from nasty Lord Farquaad. Shrek whisks her away to the swamp and they celebrate their nuptials in front of all of their fairytale friends. Who wouldn’t want to ride off into the sunset in Cinderella’s carriage?
61) Honeymoon in Vegas
Vegas is kind of like this mythical place where things you couldn’t even dream up happen. For example, losing a bet and having your fiance whisked away—only to end up skydiving 3,000 feet to get married in a jumpsuit and showgirl outfit in front of a group of Elvis impersonators.