Brides and bridesmaids are or should be close friends. There is so much preparation, organization, and arrangement to do for a wedding that lots of trust is placed on both sides. It’s good for the friendship of all concerned to take time out to enjoy each other’s company, and what could be more in tune with the topic on everyone’s mind than watching a wedding-based comedy? Here are 15 of the best wedding movies to watch this weekend:
15. The Wedding Planner (2001)
Jennifer Lopez stars as Mary Fiore, a wedding planner who is able to organize everyone else’s big day. Her own romantic life is a little less organized. After a handsome doctor rescues her from an accident, she begins to fall for him, only to discover that he is the groom at the wedding she has been hired to plan.
Matthew McConaughey portrays the doctor, and the awkward encounters give you plenty of reasons to laugh. Anyone who has spent weeks arranging wedding plans will enjoy watching the person with the clipboard lose her composure for once.
14. 27 Dresses (2008)
Jane has served as a bridesmaid 27 times. The evidence is hanging in her closet. Portrayed by Katherine Heigl, she is so accustomed to helping others get married that she hardly leaves any space for a life of her own. Then her sister becomes engaged to the boss that Jane secretly loves.
James Marsden plays the wedding reporter who develops an interest in her story. The parade of dresses is plenty of fun, but Jane’s tendency to agree to every request is what makes this such an enjoyable watch with your bridesmaids. You might catch yourself telling a friend that she truly doesn’t need to do everything.
13. The Proposal (2009)
Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds are a genuinely funny duo in this story about a boss who drags her assistant into a fake engagement so she won’t be sent back to Canada. When they travel to Alaska to meet his family, the lie grows into a far bigger problem.
Bullock’s uptight demeanor contrasts amusingly with the family’s warmth, and Betty White draws plenty of laughs as his grandmother. If you like watching wedding plans spiral completely out of control, this one has plenty to offer.
12. The Five-Year Engagement (2012)
For Tom and Violet, getting engaged is the simple part. Settling on a date they can actually keep takes considerably more effort. Jason Segel and Emily Blunt portray a couple whose wedding keeps getting postponed as life gets in the way.
This film devotes more attention to the strain of waiting than most wedding comedies. You can understand why they love each other, even when they grow frustrated with the choices they’ve made. Chris Pratt and Alison Brie also add some welcome silliness to the family scenes.
11. The Wedding Singer (1998)
Getting jilted at the altar is already painful enough. It only gets worse when you have to return to work and sing at other people’s weddings. This is where we encounter Robbie, played by Adam Sandler, whose heartbreak begins to seep into his performances.
Drew Barrymore plays Julia, a waitress who enlists his help in planning her wedding. She draws out a softer side of Sandler, and the scenes they share make it easy to hope Julia will see what’s wrong with the groom she has chosen.
The movie takes place in 1985, so expect plenty of big hair and music to sing along with. For a group that wants a love story as much as a laugh, it’s a lovely pick.
10. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Toula is in love with Ian. Her family would rather she chose a nice Greek boy. Nia Vardalos and John Corbett play the couple attempting to marry while the Portokalos family weighs in on practically everything.
The humor stems from little matters triggering very large reactions. Even the fact that Ian is a vegetarian turns into something to worry about. Vardalos lends Toula enough warmth and good sense that you can take pleasure in her relatives’ fuss while still wishing they would give her some room. Watch it with anyone who has had to point out that a wedding can be a family affair without every decision being put to a family vote.
9. Wedding Crashers (2005)
Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn star as two friends who show up at strangers’ weddings for the food, the drinks, and the chance to meet women. Their routine falls apart when Wilson’s character, John, develops feelings for a bridesmaid played by Rachel McAdams.
Vaughn handles most of the fast talking as they struggle to keep their lies straight, and Isla Fisher is a lot of fun as Gloria. The humor is far cruder than in most of the romances featured here, so keep this one for friends who enjoy their wedding comedy loud and raunchy.
8. I Love You, Man (2009)
The groom also needs friends of his own. Paul Rudd stars as Peter, who becomes engaged and then discovers he lacks any close male friend to serve as his best man. His efforts to make one are agonizingly awkward, even down to how hard he tries to seem casual.
Jason Segel plays Sydney, the new friend who before long occupies quite a lot of Peter’s time. Rashida Jones plays Peter’s fiancée, whose position in his life begins to feel less certain. In a movie centered on finding a best man, it has plenty to say about making space for friends once you’re part of a couple.
7. Plus One (2019)
If your calendar is packed with other people’s weddings, Ben and Alice will seem familiar. Jack Quaid and Maya Erskine portray longtime friends who decide to be each other’s plus-ones through a summer full of ceremonies and receptions.
Alice is direct, Ben is particular, and neither is short on opinions about the weddings they keep having to attend. Their banter has the kind of ease you can only get away with after years of friendship. Erskine is particularly funny when Alice has grown tired of being polite. You can probably predict where their arrangement will lead, but the real pleasure is in spending time with them.
6. Palm Springs (2020)
A single, drawn-out wedding day can really wear on your patience. In Palm Springs, the day simply never comes to an end. Andy Samberg stars as Nyles, a wedding guest who is trapped reliving the same day again and again. Once Sarah, the maid of honor played by Cristin Milioti, is pulled into the same time loop, the two of them have plenty of time to get to know each other, perhaps a little too well.
The movie has a lot of fun with all the things you might get up to if tomorrow never arrived. Milioti also gives Sarah a restless energy that keeps the story going even when Nyles is content to give up. It’s a solid choice if your group is after a wedding comedy built on a stranger premise rather than a missing ring or a groom who shows up late.
5. Father of the Bride (1991)
Who thinks about the parents of the wedding couple, either on the big day or during the run-up and preparations? With the comic flair of Steve Martin, this movie, which also stars Diane Keaton as the mother of the bride, puts the focus on the father as he struggles to come to terms with losing his daughter to her new husband.
Brides and bridesmaids will enjoy watching this together, not just for the good fun of sharing a laugh, but also for the reminder that the big day affects everyone involved in different ways.
4. Mamma Mia (2008)
A firm favorite with everyone who’s seen it, Mamma Mia, starring Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, and Colin Firth, tells the story of a bride’s quest to find her father so he can walk her down the aisle. She secretly invites three men from her single mother’s past, invoking all kinds of chaos and memories, some good, some not so good.
This is a lovely, romantic, and very funny musical film to watch.
3. Bride Wars (2009)
Getting married at the same time as your friend may seem like a good idea, but as this film shows, rivalry can crop up amongst the best of friends. Starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway as the two friends competing to throw the best wedding, Bride Wars is a funny film for real-life brides and bridesmaids to watch together.
At least it’ll show you what not to do if you want to avoid some of the fights that ensue between the two brides in the film.
2. My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
Starring Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney, My Best Friend’s Wedding is an unlikely comedy. Julia Roberts wins the day as the woman whose college boyfriend gets engaged to someone else. She sets out to sabotage their wedding by fair means or foul, getting into various hilarious situations in her quest to win back the man she realizes she still loves.
It’s a great movie to watch, sharing the gamut of emotions from lost love and jealousy to rivalry and general misunderstandings.
1. Bridesmaids (2011)
Of all the wedding-related movies for brides and their wedding parties to enjoy in the days leading up to the wedding, perhaps this one is the best. Not only is it very funny, but it is all about the relationships between the main women in the wedding party, how the wedding affects all their lives, and some of the challenges they face as they get ready for the big day.
Starring Kirsten Wiig as Annie, who plays the role of Maid of Honor to Maya Rudolph’s Lillian (the bride), the film shows how much taking on the role of Maid of Honor can turn a life upside down.
Apart from having a good laugh and strengthening the bonds of friendship, best wedding movies such as these also stand as gentle cautionary tales, as they deal with emotions many people feel on the occasion of a wedding.