Kill Bill: Vol 1 (2003)
The Couple: The Bride and Tommy Plympton
The Problem: All seemed to be going well for The Bride on her happy day. Until her wedding ceremony was unceremoniously crashed by her former co-workers – the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, sent by their boss Bill to kill The Bride for betraying him. She ends up with a bullet in her head.
Resolved? Happily, The Bride’s a tough old bird and survives being shot. With her fiancé dead, she sets out to avenge his death by killing Bill and his assassins. (She succeeds.)
The Princess Bride (1987)
The Couple: Buttercup and Prince Humperdinck
The Problem: Though she’s not really that fussed about Humperdinck, Buttercup agrees to marry him in the absence of her presumed-dead lover. But before she can go through with the ceremony, Buttercup’s kidnapped by three outlaws and held hostage. D’oh!
Resolved? Buttercup discovers her true love, Westley, is very much still alive and the two ride off into the sunset together. After a big, massive battle for her hand, of course.
Bride Of Frankenstein (1935)
The Couple: The Monster and The Bride
The Problem: Desperate for his own partner after numerous rejections from the fairer sex, Frankenstein’s Monster persuades Dr Pretorious to create him a mate with whom he can share his life. But, “Uh-oh”, when The Bride is finally brought to life, she’s horrified by The Monster.
Resolved? In a round-about way, as The Bride pulls a lever that will destroy the entire lab – and seals the mismatched couple’s doom.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
The Couple: Fotoula ‘Toula’ Portokalos and Ian Miller
The Problem: Toula is a 30-year-old Greek woman who is in love with a non-Greek man. Which completely opposes her family’s wishes that she “marry a Greek, make Greek babies, and feed everyone” until the day she dies. When they learn that Toula plans on marrying a non-Greek, the family attempt to derail the ceremony in every way they can.
Resolved? Eventually the marriage takes place free from problems, and Toula’s family learn to relax their traditional leanings.
The Lion In Winter (1968)
The Couple: Richard and Alais
The Problem: It’s all a political ruse, rather than a loving union. Richard’s unaware that King Philip II of France has demanded that King Henry arrange the marriage. Alais is Philip’s half-sister, and he’s threatened to take back her dowry if the wedding doesn’t go ahead.
Resolved? It all comes crashing down when a deal to release Eleanor from her tower is revealed at the wedding. Richard refuses to marry, while he and his brothers are sentenced to death by their father.
The Little Mermaid (1989)
The Couple: Prince Eric and Sea Witch Ursula
The Problem: Ursula’s a voice-stealing hag, of course! Desperate to earn mermaid Ariel as a bargaining chip to be used against King Triton, she casts a spell over Prince Eric to make him fall in love with her. Together, they arrange a hasty wedding ceremony aboard a ship out at sea.
Resolved? No, Prince Eric tragically dies after slipping on some sea weed. Kidding! This is Disney, after all. Eric saves the day and marries Ariel with her father’s blessing.
It Had To Be You (1947)
The Couple: Victoria Stafford and George McKesson
The Problem: Victoria just can’t seem to make it up the aisle. She’s tried four times now, but she never seems to get past the first few pews.
Resolved? Victoria’s cold feet are thawed out by fireman George, who finally cures his runaway bride of her marriage phobia. Clearly the four previous suitors just weren’t hot enough for her.
Rachel Getting Married (2008)
The Couple: Rachel and Sidney
The Problem: Rachel’s destructive sister Kym, who’s currently in rehab and has a lot of pent-up issues regarding her entire family – not least the girls’ absentee mother, who makes Barbara Hershey in Black Swan look like a model of fine parenting.
Resolved? Despite coming to blows (literally), Rachel and Kym make up and Kym fulfils her duty as maid of honour. This despite mum making an appearance and putting everybody on edge...
The Wedding Singer (1998)
The Couple: Julia Sullivan and Glenn Gulia
The Problem: Waitress Julia is sure that she’s found the man of her dreams when she meets wedding singer Robbie Hart. But she’s stuck in a relationship with cheating schmuck Glenn. When Robbie sees Julia trying on a wedding dress, he assumes she’s getting ready to wed Glenn, and bails, brokenhearted.
Resolved? With a little help from Billy Idol, an unexpectedly enthusiastic cupid. Boarding a flight that Julia and Glenn are taking, Robbie sings out his feelings for Julia and the two reconcile.
Three Men And A Little Lady (1990)
The Couple: Sylvia Bennington and Edward
The Problem: Sylvia’s getting married for all the wrong reasons. Namely for the sake of her five year old daughter, who’s been brought up by three fathers and needs a little normality. Which is why Sylvia's getting hitched to slimy Ed, unaware that he intends to send young Mary off to boarding school the very next year.
Resolved? Sylvia’s knight in shining armour arrives in the form of Michael, who finally admits his feelings for her and races to the church to stop her marrying Ed.
Shrek (2001)
The Couple: Princess Fiona and Lord Farquaad
The Problem: Fiona doesn’t love short-arse Farquaad, for a start. Despite having strange, confusing feelings for ogre Shrek, she’s being roped into the ceremony anyway. Happily, Shrek crashes the wedding just in time take Fiona for himself.
Resolved? Not for Farquaad, who’s eaten by the dragon who was previously charged with guarding Fiona. For Shrek and his ogre princess, though, it’s happily ever after.
Bride Wars (2009)
The Couples: Emma and Fletcher, and Liv and Daniel
The Problem: Oops, best friends Emma and Liv both want the same venue for their wedding – problem is, they’re getting married on the exact same day! Doik! Instead of gracefully changing their plans, the pair wage all-out war on each other, resorting to dirty, underhand tactics like hair dye and tanning disasters.
Resolved? Not before a full-on bridal smackdown in the aisle. After the fisticuffs are over, Emma realises she doesn’t want to marry Fletcher after all and calls off the wedding. Liv's happy to continue her nuptials, though.
The Godfather (1972)
The Couple: Connie and Carlo Rizzi
The Problem: Not so much the wedding itself (though Connie’s union with a Northern Italian displeases her father) as what takes place during the wedding reception. Don Corleone receives favour requests as the celebration takes place outside, and hears of singer Johnny Fontane’s desire to be cast in a movie that’ll revive his career.
When Corleone’s attempts to convince a producer to cast Fontane go unheeded, the producer ends up with his prize horse’s head in his bed.
Resolved? Fontane lands his role. As for the marriage, Carlo turns out to be a cheating rotter who repeatedly abuses Connie. Eventually Carlo’s killed...
Runaway Bride (1999)
The Couple: Maggie Carpenter and Homer ‘Ike’ Eisenhower Graham
The Problem: Trying to get Maggie up the aisle is like trying to convince Cheryl Cole to stop fake-tanning her entire body every day. Maggie’s deathly afraid of marriage, and has left four poor fellas waiting for her at the altar. Which doesn’t look good for Ike, who’s just asked her to marry him.
Resolved? Just about, after a glitch. Maggie flubs her first attempt at wedding Ike, but finally they tie the knot on a hillside, thereby eradicating the need for an aisle. Aaahhhh.
The Graduate (1967)
The Couple: Elaine and Carl
The Problem: Elaine has been dating Benjamin, but when it’s revealed that Benjamin’s been diddling her mother behind everybody’s back, she decides to marry Carl instead.
Resolved? Kinda. Benjamin, realising that he needs Elaine in his life, crashes her wedding. She runs off with him, instead, leaving her man at the altar. We get the feeling they won't have a 'happily ever after' though...
My Best Friends Wedding (1997)
The Couple: Kimberly Wallace and Michael O’Neil
The Problem: Michael’s best friend Julianne. Together, the two friends made a pact in college that they’d get hitched if they were both single at 28. Trouble is, four days before Julianne’s 28th birthday, Michael’s marrying a 20-year-old rich bitch.
Resolved? Julianne comes to the conclusion that Kimberly and Michael really do belong together, resigning herself to her fate as a singleton. Tough going.
In And Out (1997)
The Couple: Howard Brackett and Emily Montgomery
The Problem: Howard and Emily are happily engaged. But then one of Howard’s ex-students accepts an award at the Oscars and spectacularly outs Howard as gay to the entire world. In response, Howard maintains he is in fact straight, but the revelation sends a riptide through his small town. And Howard begins to wonder if he really is gay.
Resolved? The only thing that’s really resolved is Howard’s sexual orientation when, at the wedding, he says “I’m gay” instead of “I do”.
Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994)
The Couple: Charles and Henrietta
The Problem: Desperate not to be the last of his friends to remain unmarried, and devastated that the gorgeous Carrie has wed somebody else, Charles decides to trade rings with Henrietta. But during the ceremony, Carrie bursts in and reveals that she’s no longer with her hubbie, throwing the whole ceremony into chaos.
Resolved? In the end, Charles marries nobody, remaining happily unmarried to Carrie for the rest of his days.
Father Of The Bride (1991)
The Couple: Annie Banks and Bryan MacKenzie
The Problem: Mainly jealous daddy George, who thinks it’s madness that his little girl is getting married after just three months. The fact that he’s footing the bill adds insult to injury ($250 a head!), and George decides to make it as difficult as possible for the kids to get hitched.
Resolved? When Annie and Bryan have a fight, it’s George who talks them both back down, ensuring their happy day goes ahead. Bless.
Muriels Wedding (1994)
The Couple: Muriel and David
The Problem: Well, they’re not in love. Muriel meets David after answering an ad, and discovers that he needs to marry fast so that he can stay in the country. Otherwise he’d be shipped back to his native South Africa. Which is good enough for Muriel, who fancies the speedos off him.
Resolved? After they're married, Muriel and David both eventually admit that they don’t love each other, and decide to separate. Which is sort of a resolution.
