I attended a wedding over the weekend, my first in many years, and it was a delight. The outdoor ceremony was lovely, enhanced by the incredibly perfect late October weather, and the reception was great fun.
During the festivities, I kept thinking about movie weddings because that's how my weirdo movie mind works. While everyone else was moved to tears, gushing over the bride, and sharing love, I was humming "Push It To The Limit" from the ridiculously garish wedding between Tony Montana and Elvira Peacock in "Scarface."
Because I love lists, I decided to compile one consisting of my favorite movie wedding scenes. There are no set rules or order; these are just scenes that I really love and/or find funny, charming, or weird.
Top 10 Movie Wedding Scenes
OK, I guess I should clarify: Everything after this entry is in random order because this is easily my favorite wedding sequence in movie history. Director Michael Cimino's 1978 masterpiece about the psychological and physical effects of the Vietnam War on a group of friends is widely praised as one of the best films of the 1970s.
It is also considered by many to be incredibly self-indulgent, racially and culturally insensitive, and just way too damn long. Those charges, which I disagree with, never feel more accurate than in the 51-minute wedding sequence that anchors the first third of the film.
Cimino shot this wedding sequence over an unheard-of six days (when he was already over budget), during which time he allowed his actors, particularly Robert DeNiro, to drink real booze, not sleep, and improvise as much dialogue as they wanted.
The result is certainly self-indulgent, but it is also loaded with incredible detail (after watching the sequence, you feel like you've genuinely experienced an accurate Russian wedding), raw emotion, and enough character development to fill at least five films.
The wedding scene is the heart and soul of the film. It's an extended deep dive into these people's particular world; as a result, you become intimately attached to these characters. By the time you reach the film's last forty minutes, which are devastating, enduring that wedding sequence has paid off in spades.
2) SCARFACE
As suggested in the intro, I adore this wedding scene. Like "The Deer Hunter," this movie is massively self-indulgent and way too long. Unlike "The Deer Hunter," it is also wildly over-the-top, unbelievably violent, and acted and directed with the subtly of a sledgehammer. I wouldn't want it any other way.
Brian DePalma's masterwork is a glorious exercise in excess in every possible way. The wedding (after the intermission of this three-hour film) is part of a fantastically gaudy montage sequence that exemplifies everything this crazy-ass movie is about, including the main character showing off his new pet tiger, which he probably loves more than his new wife. "Scarface" rules.
3) THE GRADUATE
The service is interrupted by the bride's lovesick ex-boyfriend, who recently slept with her mother, as he bangs on the windows of the church balcony.
He then beats up several guests and attacks parishioners with a giant (symbolic) cross, which he then uses to bar the doors of the church as he and the bride run off to jump on a bus and start their new life. Maybe.
Yeah, it's pretty great.
I know it's hard to believe, but Super-spy James Bond actually got married in one of the 007 films. Of course, it's a Bond film that most fans dismiss because it eschews most of the beloved trappings of the series; it stars George Lazenby (who only played Bond once) and ends with the confirmed bachelor tying the knot.
But, it's not that simple, because it definitely does not end happily ever after, because his bride (played by the one-and-only Diana Rigg) is murdered just minutes after the ceremony. Yep, shot right in the forehead. Dead. The film ends with Bond cradling his dead wife in his arms.
In Ian Fleming's novels, Bond is a broken man after his wife's death and begins drinking heavily, resulting in being taken out of service. He returns for one last chance in "You Only Live Twice," in which he suffers a head injury, leaving him with amnesia, so the death of his wife is no longer an issue.
In the subsequent movies, Bond returns to his antics of battling the bad guys and sleeping with women worldwide. But, boy, that wedding was pretty great.
5) FURIOUS 7
In the seventh entry of the "Fast and the Furious" saga, it was revealed that our hero Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his lady friend Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) were secretly married in the past.
"We have eternity in this moment."
"You will never be alone again. I vow, wherever you go, I go. You ride, I ride. You fight, I fight. And if you ever die on me, Dominic Toretto, I'm gonna die with you."
"I love you, Letty. I will always love you."
Dominic wore white jeans and a Goddamn tank-top. Awesome.
Andrew Bergman's brilliant and hilarious farce about a private eye (a great Nicolas Cage) trying to stop the wedding of the love-of-his-life (a pre-"Sex and the City" Sarah Jessica Parker) to a slick mobster (the incomparable James Caan) is filled with classic moments and wonderful scenes including an appearance by the "Flying Elvises," a group of skydiving Elvis impersonators.
This very entertaining and thoroughly delightful movie ends with a really lovely/tacky wedding in which the main characters are married in a small Las Vegas chapel surrounded by Flying Elvises. Cage is wearing a fabulous Elvis jumpsuit, and Parker is wearing a stolen showgirl outfit.
As classic a movie wedding as you will ever find, the opening sequence of Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" is a masterclass in screenwriting and character introduction. Like "The Deer Hunter," it takes its sweet time establishing setting, time, and dynamics, setting the table for everything that follows.
You learn almost everything you need to know about Don Vito, Michael, Sonny, Kay, Connie, Tom Hagan, and everyone else who enters this world of mobsters and deals.
Goldenboy Michael tells Kay about his family, Sonny breaks an FBI agent's camera, Tom runs the office meetings, and Don Corleone just wants to celebrate his daughter's wedding and pet his cat. However, he ends up making massive deals, slapping his godson around, and demanding loyalty.
It is all done with incredible style and efficiency by a cast and a filmmaker firing on all cylinders, as they would continue to do in this film and the next, and a little bit in the third.
8) A WEDDING
Robert Altman's weird, daring, and uncomfortable farce features about 50 characters gathered together in the affluent Chicago suburb of Lake Forest for a wedding celebration that causes conflict, reveals secrets, and ultimately destroys many relationships.
I remember seeing this film when I was a kid (about 13) and being floored by how experimental and strange it was. The cast includes Mia Farrow, Pat McCormick, Desi Arnaz Jr., Lillian Gish, Paul Dooley, Dennis Christopher, and Carol Burnett. It was advertised as a flat-out comedy, but it's anything but that.
When it's over, you will feel like you've been put through the wringer (just like many real weddings you may have attended). You're exhausted from the wild shifts in tone that Altman takes throughout the whole running time. It is madness, and it is Altman at his most challenging.
It's also strange and wonderful to discover that many young Chicago actors are sprinkled throughout this movie. Steppenwolf was just becoming hot at the time of the filming of "A Wedding," so people like John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, Jeff Perry, Joan Allen, Terry Kinney, and Gary Sinise, along with George Wendt, Dennis Franz, and Ann Ryerson, show up. It's so worth a look.
The most recent example of an awesome wedding scene is the outstanding 10-minute finale of Tim Burton's hilarious sequel to his 1988 classic, "Beetlejuice." It's my favorite scene in either of the two movies, and it's one of the best sequences Burton has ever directed.
Choreographed and staged like a musical number and set to "MacArthur Park," the ridiculous epic hit song by Richard Harris (yeah, that Richard Harris), this absolutely hilarious wedding ceremony tops the "Day-O" scene from the original film and goes even farther on the crazy-meter.
The entire cast is completely dedicated to the madness and commits beautifully (Jenna Ortega is particularly wonderful here) to it all. The sequence gets increasingly crazier as the song goes on, and by the time Willem Dafoe storms into the church with cops and a SWAT team, it's gone completely and gloriously off the deep end.
I'm a big fan of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" in general, but this final scene is extraordinary in every way. From the riotous choice of song to the gross-out antics to the hammy jokes, it all works brilliantly and is one of the best scenes of any movie from 2024.
10) READY OR NOT
This film is not about what happens during a wedding; it's actually about what happens after a wedding, when a very "The Most Dangerous Game"-like hunt begins, and the new bride must participate.
Samara Weaving shines in this dark and funny take on the idea that your in-laws might be the worst people on the planet because, in this case, they are. Hunting each other for sport becomes the metaphor for marrying into a weird family, and the action is executed with grand style.
If you've ever been to or been part of a wedding in which two families have NO business blending, you will get a huge kick out of this pitch-black comedy. The image of a blood-soaked Weaving smoking a cigarette, wearing a bridal gown, and carrying a gun should be enough for you to want to see this film.
If not, a killer soundtrack, terrific direction, and an outstanding supporting cast should do it. If only weddings could be this much fun.
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