History Main / WhyWasteAWedding

* In the cartoon special ''[[{{ComicStrip/Peanuts}} Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown]]'', Snoopy is all set to get married to a dog named Genevieve when Lucy soon arrives with news that [[RunawayBride the bride-to-be has just run off with a golden retriever]]. Snoopy is heartbroken at first, but soon lightens up at the prospect of remaining a bachelor, and enjoys the wedding cake with Woodstock.

** May be implied in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'': the rulers of Argonia and Trodain had [[ArrangedMarriage made a pact]] for their heirs to marry and unite the kingdoms. Unfortunately, while Princess Medea [[ProperLady turned out well]], Prince Charmles... [[PrinceCharmless wasn't a good match]]. This leads to Medea pulling a RunawayBride during [[MultipleEndings both endings]]; in the better one, however, Argonia has learned that the hero [[spoiler:is the son of his long-lost brother and]] is utterly devoted to Medea, and reveals this to those gathered for the wedding ceremony. Instead of fleeing the chapel, the happy couple end up walking out together, arm-in-arm.

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': Rodrigo Briscoletti set up an EngagementChallenge for his daughter Nera -- one that TheHero ''has'' to complete, as one of the dowry items is the Zenithian Shield. However, Nera picks up on the fact that your ChildhoodFriend Bianca has feelings of her own for the protagonist, and offers them the chance to select somebody else to marry. Whether you opt to marry Bianca, Nera, or even Nera's older sister Debora, her father is more than happy to let you use the venue he'd been preparing.

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[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* In the [[ContinuitySnarl Post-Zero Hour]] ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy's marriage gets called off when[[spoiler: it's discovered he's currently ''[[DudeShesLikeInAComa comatose]]'', and she's been subconsciously manipulating his body telepathically for... a while.]]. While pretty much everyone else is busy dealing with ''that'', Ultra Boy and Apparition take advantage of the minister being present to get married instead.
* In ''ComicBook/XMenGold'', [[spoiler:the wedding between ComicBook/KittyPryde and Colossus gets called off when Kitty ends up getting major cold feet. However, Gambit ends up deciding to finally admit his feelings to Rogue and asks her to marry him. She agrees and, with everything set up, decide to take over the wedding themselves.]]

[[folder:Fairy Tale]]

[[folder:Fanfic]]
* The ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12920320/1/Runaway-Mermaid Runaway Mermaid]]" has a variation of this; after reuniting with Ash before her wedding to Rudy, Misty realises that she still loves Ash on the day of the wedding itself and manages to catch Ash as he's about to leave Trovita on the boat. As a result, Ash suggests that he and Misty get married right now as they're both dressed for the occasion and captains can legally perform marriages, even if they don't take over Misty's original ceremony but just have one of their own

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'', Maria and Joaquin's wedding is [[spoiler:interrupted by the bandits. After the FinalBattle, it resumes with Manolo as the groom instead.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'', this trope happens to Victoria while Victor's trapped in the Land of the Dead with Emily. [[spoiler: Upon learning Barkis is unmarried, the Everglots promptly decide to substitute him in for the groom (unaware, of course, that he plans to kill Victoria in hopes of stealing money they don't have.)]] Mayhew, upon relaying the news to Victor, even jokes that they "didn't want to waste the cake." And a second time [[spoiler:at the very end, when Emily is freed of her curse and lets Victor marry Victoria, in this case the wedding initially was to be Victor and Emily's.]]

* At the very end of ''Film/InAndOut'', [[spoiler: after Howard and Emily's wedding is called off, the venue is still used for a wedding and reception anyway - by Howard's parents, who renew their wedding vows.]]
* ''Film/KuchKuchHotaHai'': This trope was relatively common in pre-90s Bollywood films; usually the rationale was that the local astrologer had gone to a lot of trouble to find the most auspicious possible date, and postponing the wedding could be even more disastrous than playing eeny-meeny-miney-moe in search of a replacement [[AlwaysMale groom]]. Still, very few of those film had happen the way this film does, [[spoiler: with the groom himself going to pick the male lead from the assists and literally pushing him towards the bride before a speech tac could be summed into "just get married and spare us the pinning"]]

* In ''Film/MadeasFamilyReunion'', near the end,[[spoiler: Lisa decides to cancel her wedding to Carlos after he abused her. The wedding planner laments that her lavish Paris-themed wedding will not be used. Lisa's sister Vanessa's boyfriend decides to propose to her right then. She accepts and they get married.]]
* ''Film/MammaMia'': When Sophie and Skye decide to delay their wedding to travel the world, [[spoiler: Sam reveals that he's always loved Donna and is now divorced; he proposes to Donna, using the trope name.]]
* ''Film/NannyMcPhee'' at the climax of the film as [[spoiler: Cedric and the children ultimately wreck the wedding to the wretched Mrs. Quickly...but Cedric still needs a wife to meet his former aunt-in-law's deadline to continue her much needed financial support. However, he and Evangeline decide to marry on the spot, thus satisfying the requirement set for Cedric (Adelaide incorrectly jumps to the conclusion that he going marry one of his own daughters to keep getting her money, so Lily also has to quickly explain to Adelaide that Evangeline wasn't ''actually'' Cedric's daughter. Forcing Evangeline to admit she is in fact his scullery maid).]]

* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' starts with Princess Vespa ditching her wedding to Prince Valium. Unfortunately, since he's the ''only'' prince in that part of the galaxy, she still has to marry him, so at the end of the film they try to marry a second time. [[spoiler: At which point Lone Starr bursts into the chapel, revealing his newly discovered heritage as a prince. Thus Vespa and Lone Starr get married instead. Valium, being a complete narcoleptic, doesn't even notice.]]

* In ''[[Literature/MegLangslowMysteries Murder With Peacocks]]'', after [[spoiler: Meg Langslow's mother Margaret's [[GuessWhoImMarrying groom]] is [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace exposed as the murderer during the wedding]]]], the bride marries [[spoiler: her original husband, Meg's father]]. Luckily a spare judge was in attendance to speed things up a bit!
** At another wedding in the book ([[WeddingsForEveryone there are three]]!), this is inverted -- after all that work arranging the wedding, the bride goes through with it, before [[spoiler: disappearing with a groomsman in a convertible blaring the Beach Boys' "I Get Around".]]
* In ''Literature/OnceUponAMarigold'', [[spoiler:the princess' ArrangedMarriage gets called off once the evil queen is gone, but the princess' true love has just conveniently shown up and she marries him instead.]]
* Miss Flitworth's backstory in ''Literature/ReaperMan'': When her bridegroom disappeared just before the wedding, she thought "what life expects me to do now is [[Literature/GreatExpectations moon around the place in the wedding dress for years and go completely doolally]]", but instead she buckled down and got on with things, including having the reception anyway because it's a crime to waste good food. [[spoiler: They're reunited in the end.]]

* Possibly played straight in ''Literature/TheWestingGame''. [[spoiler:While it's uncertain how early Angela decides against marrying Doctor Deere, everyone still holds a wedding for Crow and Otis Amber instead]].

* When Kate does a runner from her wedding to Lord ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'', Lord Melchett claims that it is traditional in these circumstances for the groom to marry the bridesmaid. The bridesmaid is ''Baldrick'', who unlike Edmund seems quite happy with this.
* Played with in ''Series/{{Bones}}'' where Angela and Hodgins had to leave the altar because [[spoiler: they found out that Angela was already married]], thus leaving Brennan (the maid of Honour) and Booth (the best man) still standing at the altar. They look at each other and Booth even asks something along the lines of "What now?" Sadly, nothing happens, but it certainly amps up their UnresolvedSexualTension and ShipTease.

* On ''Series/{{ER}}'' in the first season finale, when Carol Hathaway's doctor fiance pulls out of the wedding at the last minute, her family goes through with the reception. As Carol put it, "What's a little humiliation when there's free food and drink?"

* In ''Series/GreysAnatomy'', Meredith and Derek seem finally ready to tie the knot, but [[spoiler: opt out so the cancerous and dying Izzy can marry Alex before she becomes too weak to walk down the aisle.]]

* In ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'''s "Shelter Island," Stella's sister cancels her wedding, so she and Ted offer to take it instead, though Stella ends up [[RunawayBride leaving Ted at the altar.]]

* ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': Subverted in the episode "June Bride". When the French Teacher's "proxy wedding" gets cancelled, Mr. Boynton tells everyone that he has no intention of wasting the opportunity or the minister. Naturally, everybody, especially Miss Brooks, believes that he's finally going to propose. Instead, Mr. Boynton sees this as the perfectly opportunity for a square dance as he's ObliviousToLove.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] on ''Series/ShakeItUp'' when after Jeremy and Georgia broke up at the alter, [=CeCe=] and Rocky tried to make this an opportunity for [=CeCe=]'s parents back together after they kissed the night before the wedding. However, the parents refuse.

* In ''Theatre/MammaMia'' this is said word for word when [[spoiler:Sophie decides she doesn't want to get married to Sky quite yet, and Sam decides that this would now be a good time to propose and get married to Donna instead.]]
* In ''Theatre/{{Zemsta}}'' the wedding cake has letters M and H (Maciej - Cześnik, and Hanna - Podstolina) on it. But after all the hijinks, it's [[spoiler: Waclaw and Klara]] who end up married.
* ''Theatre/LaFilleMalGardee'': The widow Simone wants her daughter Lisette to marry the much younger son of a rich widower. However, Lisette already has a boyfriend. At the rehearsal dinner he hides in her room, but the two of them get caught by the guests together with Lisette in her underwear (she was changing for the dinner). A humiliated Simone calls the wedding off, to the delight of the young people. The show ends with Simone chatting up the prospective groom's father.

* May be implied in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'': the rulers of Argonia and Trodain had [[ArrangedMarriage made a pact]] for their heirs to marry and unite the kingdoms. Unfortunately, while Princess Medea [[ProperLady turned out well]], Prince Charmles... [[PrinceCharmless wasn't a good match]]. This leads to Medea pulling a RunawayBride during [[MultipleEndings both endings]]; in the better one, however, Argonia has learned that the hero [[spoiler: is the son of his long-lost brother and]] is utterly devoted to Medea, and reveals this to those gathered for the wedding ceremony. Instead of fleeing the chapel, the happy couple end up walking out together, arm-in-arm.
* The "Crime at the Wedding" case of ''VideoGame/HiddenCity'' opens with the upcoming wedding of the very wealthy Abner Old and the much younger Mirel Dunn. However, someone is threatening the groom's life, and the wedding is briefly suspended. Among the main suspects is Rory, Mirel's former beau. Later, it is revealed that Mirel had been forced to marry Mr. Old because her father practically sold her to the businessman to pay his debts. After [[HeelRealization seeing the error of his ways]] and realizing that Mirel loves Rory and not him, Mr. Old gives the wedding preparations he's set up to let [[IWanMyBelovedToBeHappy Mirel marry Rory]].

* Kind of inversion in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'': Harry Osborne interrupts the very happy wedding of Peter and MJ, and tries to force MJ to marry him. Liz shows up as a LastMinuteHookup, confessing that she's always loved Harry. This ends up neutralizing him as a threat, because it makes him harder to manipulate by his evil father (who's currently trapped in another dimension, [[spoiler: along with the ''real'' MJ]], [[ItMakesSenseInContext but that's a whole other story]]).

* The ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12920320/1/Runaway-Mermaid Runaway Mermaid]]" has a variation of this; after reuniting with Ash before her wedding to Rudy, Misty realises that she still loves Ash on the day of the wedding itself and manages to catch Ash as he's about to leave Trovita on the boat. As a result, Ash suggests that he and Misty get married right now as they're both dressed for the occasion and captains can legally perform marriages, even if they don't take over Misty's original ceremony but just have one of their own

* ''Film/NannyMcPhee'' at the climax of the film as [[spoiler: Cedric and the children ultimately wreck the wedding to the wretched Mrs. Quickly...but Cedric still needs a wife to meet his former aunt-in-law's deadline to continue her much needed financial support. However, he and Evangeline decide to marry on the spot, thus satisfying the requirement set for Cedric (Adelaide incorrectly jumps to the conclusion that he going marry one of his own daughters to keep getting her money, so Lily also has to quickly explain to Adelaide that Evangeline wasn't ''actually'' cedric's daughter. Forcing Evangeline to admit she is in fact his scullery maid).]]

->''"I'm sick of this. I don't care who it is, but I'm gonna marry somebody today."''

* ''Film/KuchKuchHotaHai'': This was relatively common in pre-90s Bollywood films; usually the rationale was that the local astrologer had gone to a lot of trouble to find the most auspicious possible date, and postponing the wedding could be even more disastrous than playing eeny-meeny-miney-moe in search of a replacement [[AlwaysMale groom]].

* ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries 2: Royal Engagement'' ends with [[spoiler: Mia deciding she'll become Queen without having a husband and gets the marriage law abolished while respectfully letting her groom off the hook. Instead, her grandmother Clarisse and her bodyguard Joe get married. "I know it is rather sudden, but we were all dressed!"]]

* Implied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}},'' since the final two scenes skip from Fiona and Farquaad's ruined wedding to her and Shrek leaving on their honeymoon. They even have the same cake, many of the same guests, with the fairy tale creatures included, and even the same minister who performed Fiona and Farquaad's wedding marries Shrek and Fiona.

#everyone just has a big party (yes, even that "happy couple")

* In ''[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/aulnoy/1892/princessbelleetoile.html Princess Belle-Etoile]]'', the king had resolved to marry again, but his own children appeared at the wedding feast and told how he had been deceived about his first wife. He takes her back, and rather than waste the feast, marries his daughter off to her [[KissingCousins cousin]].

* The "Crime at the Wedding" case of ''VideoGame/HiddenCity'' opens with the upcoming wedding of the very wealthy Abner Old and the much younger Mirel Dunn, but the wedding itself is suspended because someone is threatening the groom's life, and among the suspects is Rory, Mirel's former beau. Later, it is revealed that Mirel had been forced to marry Mr. Old because her father practically sold her to the businessman to pay his debts. After [[HeelRealization seeing the error of his ways]] and realizing that Mirel loves Rory and not him, Mr. Old gives the wedding preparations he's set up to let the couple marry.

* ''Film/KuchKuchHotaHai'': This was relatively common in pre-90s Bollywood films; usually the rationale was that the local astrologer had gone to a lot of trouble to find the most auspicious possible date, and postponing the wedding [[UpToEleven could be even more disastrous]] than playing eeny-meeny-miney-moe in search of a replacement [[AlwaysMale groom]].