Before I became a wedding photographer, I had been to exactly two weddings. Keep in mind, I didn’t become a wedding photographer until I was in my 30s. I know many people who spent their 20s having their springs, summers, & falls filled with invitations to weddings and all of their attendant fun things (bridal showers, bachelor/bachelorette getaways, etc.). I was always amazed. I thought, “who are all these people they know getting married?”

I think my friends just aren’t the marrying kind? Or perhaps they’re following the demographic trends and are getting married a bit later in life. And some of my current circle of friends I met well after they were already married.

The point I’m trying to make is that by the time I decided I wanted to dive into wedding photography - I realized I didn’t know much about weddings and that my only familiarity WITH weddings came from my first and true love in life: the movies.

I had only really seen weddings as they are depicted in movies. And they’re not real. Well, mostly.

You can find a lot of blog posts about the best wedding movies. I know, I googled it for this blog post. BUT this blog post is all about the movies that influenced me before I ever became a professional wedding photographer, not the best wedding movies made. The Venn Diagram of those two things is something I thought of including in this blog post. I’m not sure that those two circles even connect.

Criteria for making it into this blog post:

I watched the movie before the age of 32 (2014), so the release date had to be before that year (or in it…). I started photographing weddings in 2014, so that’s why that’s there.
There has to be a wedding in the movie - and it has to be an important scene. BUT the whole movie does NOT have to be about the wedding.

That’s it. Those are my only criteria. I’ve split it up into what I’ll call the Early Years, the Comedy Years, and the Dark But Amazing Films That Happened to Have Weddings in Them. This last category plays around a bit with my personal time/space continuum, but all in the name of organization.

The Early Years:

Let’s start with a movie that has a wedding in it which, I think we can all agree is the most beautiful wedding processional anyone has ever produced on film: The Sound of Music.

Her elegant yet simple, yet unbearably chic 1950s dress.
That voluminous cloud of a veil.
The cathedral with the mile-long aisle she had to walk down in front of hundreds of fancy wealthy Austrians who knew she was the former governess.

And my own personal adolescent sexual awakening: Christopher Plumber as Captain Von Trapp waiting for her at the altar.

It’s not that I thought that my wedding would be like this. I would never set my sights so high. It was too perfect, just like, the ultimate in romantic schlock. And I loved (and still do) every minute of it.

https://youtu.be/DIc6U0wbLJs

Maria from the Sound of Music walking down the aisle to become Maria Von Trapp

Following this up in my childhood memory is Steel Magnolias. I’ve mentioned it once in our blog about Lindsay and John’s backyard wedding. Because the movie does the UNTHINKABLE. It OPENS with a wedding! Usually, weddings are the big closer - the showstopper at the end that wraps up the romantic narrative and we’re assured our love interests are united together forever. But Steel Magnolias opens with the most over-the-top Louisiana wedding you’ve ever seen. And it takes place in the 80s so all the dresses are comically frilly and huge. So is the hair. Dolly Parton is in it. Take my word on it, it’s a golden treat of a movie. Here’s the wedding scene so you can check out that circa 1989 wedding decor that I presumed was a must-have at every wedding. TBH my aunt’s wedding around this time looked pretty much like this.

https://youtu.be/qiyh1KX8goM

Before Hugh Grant became… well, exactly the same character in every movie since this role, he was Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral. He plays this man who is hopeless with women until he finally finds the perfect woman, who is of course already paired up and preparing for her own wedding. Throughout the whole film they keep getting invited to weddings (4) and there’s a scene where he is unintentionally seated with a whole table of his ex-girlfriends. Apart from the fat-phobic comment in the scene, it’s basically perfect. I always thought that weddings were THE coolest and I was desperate to go to one, because the friend group in this film always made it seem so fun, like such a big amazing event every time. https://youtu.be/NvpWsK7Kn-c

The Comedy Years

So, I think this might be specific to my age but I feel like the early to mid- 2000s were prime wedding comedy/romantic comedy film time. I was a huge fan of The Wedding Planner. Mostly because I admired Jennifer Lopez’s ability to plan these giant events. I liked watching her organize things. Really, I love the opening scene. That’s my favourite. Such a smooth operator. And I really, really loved her built in utility pockets in her work blazer. The best.

Against my better judgement, I enjoyed 27 Dresses, although if I were asked to be a bridesmaid at 27 different weddings, I would wear that as a huge badge of honour. Like, who has 27 close friends? And that opening scene where she goes back and forth between two weddings? That’s… well, that’s insanity. That movie also led me to believe there were more choreographed dances at weddings than there really are. I did photograph one once and it was maybe the only time I’ve ever cried at a wedding. Here’s a 7 year old photo from my first year photographing weddings (hooboy I’ve come a long way).

Landing in the category of movies I hate to love, but do, is Bride Wars with Ann Hathway and Kate Hudson. Those two women are nightmares. Nobody needs to make their wedding into such a production that they destroy their friendship. HOWEVER: this might be the greatest wedding scene ever made. Trust me. Go with it.

Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway in Bride Wars

Topping this section off with Bridesmaids, The Hangover, and Wedding Crashers. Maybe not what weddings are actually like, and I knew it when I saw them, but what I sort of desperately hoped they were like? Only the fun and partying, not the wanton destruction of property, lives, and relationships.

Dark But Amazing Films That Happened to Have Weddings in Them

Weddings can be dramatic, right? I mean, they should basically just be joyous, but in the world of film, the throwing together of family and friends is the perfect recipe for intense emotions and a great time to rehash old irritations, right past wrongs, etc. Rachel Getting Married with Ann Hathaway (showing up twice in this blog, I must be a fan!) is as good as a dark, yet artful and beautiful, family drama can get. It is not for the faint of heart. This is decidedly not a feel good movie (except for the actual end, maybe?) - but in the end, this beautiful study of a woman struggling with substance abuse and her own demons unleashed on her sister’s wedding - is a story worth watching.

Murial’s Wedding is a film that I watched when I was a child and loved. I remember it being funny and lighthearted. Lots of Abba songs and Australian accents, and youthful hijinks. The fun, big city adventures of small-town girls. . But then I watched it as an adult. Yikes. While still an amazing film its serious undercurrent and devastating loss went COMPLETELY over my head as a kid. This movie will make you laugh, but it will absolutely make you cry as well. Murial’s Wedding made me realize how important relationships are - and that while weddings are important moments, they should never trump the relationships we have with each other.

If you’re still here, thank you for reading all the way to the end - this one got a little out of hand length-wise. I’m just a movie-lover turned wedding photographer turned blogger :).

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