History Film / AWedding1978

* ConvulsiveSeizures: Muffin's brother Hughie needs to take pills for his epilepsy. Unlike most examples of the trope, though, the one time he has an attack, he shakes a bit and snot comes from his nose, but he doesn't fall to the ground or anything.

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The film covers less than a day, despite LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters having character arcs and the movie running at over two hours.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Between the wedding party members and the various employees of the Sloans, there are over four dozen characters with speaking rules.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: It's implied that Briggs and Tracy are only invited to the wedding and the reception due to being the bride and groom's respective exes and Briggs being Dino's roommate. They miss the wedding itself and arrive late with excuses that may or may not be true. When [[spoiler:Briggs dies after stealing Dino's car and it's speculated that Tracy was with him, most of their peers are unconcerned and resume partying. Granted, they ''did'' just think that Muffin and Dino died and are overcome with relief to find them alive, but Luigi is the only one to show any concern over telling their families what happened.]]
* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Zigzagged. [[spoiler:When it turns out that Buffy is pregnant, most of her family wants her to have an abortion. However, Dr. Meecham says that she's too far along in the pregnancy for an abortion to be safe. Additionally, the need for an abortion becomes less urgent when it turns out that Dino the groom probably isn't the baby's father after all. Buffy's AmbiguousDisorder makes it unclear what she thinks of the whole thing.]]

* MilitarySchool: Muffin met Dino while he was attending the military school next to her house. Her mother is disconcerted to find out that Dino was at the school because he got kicked out of his old school. Several members of the wedding party are cadets from the school.

* WhiteGalOnBlackGuyDrama: One of Dino's aunts is in love with her mother's African-American butler. As soon as her mother (who forbade their relationship) dies, she wants to marry him, but he displays concern about the backlash from Southern society.

* AdultFear: [[spoiler:Muffin's parents and twin brother are horrified when they see the car that she and Dino apparently left the wedding reception in get into a fiery crash. Fortunately, the car was stolen and the two of them are fine.]]

Creator/DennisChristopher and Paul Dooley appear in the film as the bride's father and brother, a year before playing a different father and son in ''Film/BreakingAway.'' Also in the large EnsembleCast are Creator/CarolBurnett (as the bride's mother), Creator/PamDawber (as the groom's equestrian ex-girlfriend), and Creator/GeraldineChaplin (as the wedding planner), among others.

''A Wedding'' is a 1978 American comedy-drama film directed by Creator/RobertAltman, about a high-society wedding between the daughter of a NouveauRiche family from the DeepSouth and a young man from an OldMoney family in suburban UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}.

''A Wedding'' is a 1978 American comedy-drama film directed by Creator/RobertAltman, about a high-society wedding between the daughter of a NouveauRiche family from the DeepSouth and a young man from an OldMoney family (albeit one with possible {{Mafia}} connections) in suburban UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}.

* TheMafia, Luigi, the father of the groom, is rumored to be a mobster, which is part of why almost no guests attend the reception. Actually, Luigi is a former busboy who met his wife while waiting on her. His wealthy mother-in-law allowed them to get married, but forbids him from seeing any of his Italian relatives or from telling people about his real former occupation, with his secrecy making people assume he's a gangster.

Creator/DennisChristopher and Paul Dooley appear in the film as the bride's father and brother, a year before playing a different father and son in ''Film/BreakingAway.'' Also in the cast are Creator/CarolBurnett (as the bride's mother), Creator/PamDawber (as the groom's equestrian ex-girlfriend), and Creator/GeraldineChaplin (as the wedding planner), among others.

[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_wedding_1978_film.jpeg]]

''A Wedding'' is a 1978 comedy film directed by Creator/RobertAltman, about a high-society wedding between the daughter of a NouveauRiche family from the DeepSouth and a young man from an OldMoney family (albeit with possible {{Mafia}} connections) in suburban UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}.

''A Wedding'' is a 1978 comedy film directed by Creator/RobertAltman, about a high-society wedding between the daughter of a NouveauRiche family from the DeepSouth and a young man from an OldMoney family (albeit with possible {{Mafia}} connections) in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}.

* WhiteGalOnBlackGuyDrama: One of Dino's aunts is in love with her mother's African-American butler. As soon as her mother (who forbade their relationship) dies, she wants to marry him, but he displays concern about the backlash from Southern society.

''A Wedding'' is a 1978 comedy film directed by Creator/RobertAltman, about a high-society wedding in the DeepSouth.

While the wedding itself goes off without a hitch, all kinds of drama and hijinks occur at the reception. For example, the bride's sister (Creator/MiaFarrow) announces that she's pregnant, while the groom's grandmother (Creator/LillianGish) abruptly dies--which her doctor tries to cover up to avoid spoiling the festivities.

While wedding itself goes off fine, all kinds of drama and hijinks occur at the reception. Most notably, the bride's sister (Creator/MiaFarrow) announces that she's pregnant, and the groom's grandmother (Creator/LillianGish) abruptly dies--something her doctor tries to cover up to avoid spoiling the festivities.

Creator/DennisChristopher and Paul Dooley appear in the film as the bride's father and brother, a year before playing a different father and son in ''Film/BreakingAway.'' Creator/CarolBurnett (as the bride's mother) and Creator/PamDawber (as the groom's equestrian ex-girlfriend) also appear in the movie.

''A Wedding'' is a Creator/RobertAltman movie about a high-society wedding in the DeepSouth. The wedding itself goes off fine, but all kinds of drama and hijinks occur at the reception. Most notably, the bride's sister (Creator/MiaFarrow) announces that she's pregnant, and the groom's grandmother (Creator/LillianGish) abruptly dies (something her doctor tries to cover up to avoid spoiling the festivities). The film got a ScreenToStageAdaptation in the form of a comic opera. Creator/DennisChristopher and Paul Dooley appear in the film as the bride's father and brother a year before playing a different father and son in ''Film/BreakingAway.'' Creator/CarolBurnett (the bride's mother) and Creator/PamDawber (the groom's equestrian ex-girlfriend) also appear in the movie.

* BouquetToss: When Muffin tosses the bouquet, her new husband's ex-girlfriend Tracy catches it. Tracy angrily tosses it away, and it ends up in the hands of the wedding photographer.

* HateSink: Muffin's father Snooks is implied to lust after his younger daughter Buffy, but then [[spoiler:considers her DefiledForever after she sleeps with several boys from the MilitarySchool.]] He is also extremely rude to his wife and shows some SkewedPriorities by bringing up how much he paid for the wedding when [[spoiler:everyone thinks Muffin and Dino are dead]].

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler:At the end of the movie, Briggs steals Dino's car and dies when it crashes into an oil tanker. It is speculated that Tracy left and died with him due to her own absence, but it's also possible that she is fine and left separately or is merely somewhere else in the large mansion.]]

* ConvulsiveSeizures: Muffin's brother needs to take pills for his epilepsy. Unlike most examples of the trope, though, the one time he has an attack, he shakes a bit and snot comes from his nose, but he doesn't fall to the ground or anything.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Zigzagged. [[spoiler:When it turns out that Buffy is pregnant, most of her family wants her to have an abortion. However, Dr. Meecham says that she's too far along in the pregnancy for an abortion to be safe. Additionally, the need for an abortion becomes less urgent when it turns out that Dino the groom probably isn't the baby's father after all. Buffy's AmbiguousDisorder makes it unclear what she thinks of the whole thing]]
* HateSink: Muffin's father Snooks is implied to lust after his younger daughter Buffy, but then [[spoiler:considers her DefiledForever after she sleeps with several boys from the MilitarySchool.]] He is also extremely rude to his wife and shows some SkewedPriorities by bringing up how much he paid for the wedding when [[spoiler:eveyrone thinks Muffin and Dino are dead]].
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Between the wedding party members and the various employees of the Sloans, there are over two dozen characters with speaking rules.