Basic Trope: A wedding doesn't go as planned, but a party still happens.
- Straight: Alice and Bob are supposed to get married to each other, but end up breaking up on the wedding day because Alice cheated with Charles the best man. Alice ends up marrying Charles.
- Exaggerated:
- And since Bob ended up cheating with Dani, the maid of honor, he ends up marrying her too.
- Every engaged couple in town takes advantage of the cancelled wedding, so many couples get married on that day.
- Downplayed:
- No one marries, but the party still takes place.
- An older couple renews their vows.
- Justified: The couple (and/or their families) spent a lot of money on the wedding; it would be a real shame to just let all that go to waste just because things didn't quite go as planned.
- Inverted: Alice and Bob have got the divorce lawyer around, he's brought all the papers they need to sign and everything... and at the last minute, they decide they love each other after all. His assistant (who is also his wife) turns to him as they're leaving and says "Well, since it'd be a shame to waste all this preparation... I've been cheating on you and I want a divorce."
- Subverted: Bob asks Dani to marry him... and she turns him down in front of everyone. "Whoa, you just publicly jilted that poor woman and you're already hitting on me? What's wrong with you??"
- Double Subverted: Everyone involved in the Love Dodecahedron storms off in tears, leaving only Yorick, Zoe, and the stunned priest. Yorick taps Zoe on the shoulder, and asks her, "Will you marry me?"
- Parodied: The couple that ends up getting "married" turns out to be two children who are pretending to marry.
- Zig Zagged: After (and incorporating) the events of Double Subverted, Zoe says "No" to a flabberghasted Yorick, followed by "but I will engage in conjugal relations with you if you like." (She enjoys affectionately winding him up.) They do... or at least, they would, but for the priest reminding them that a new marriage license would have to be issued and banns read as the law requires. Nevertheless, he can start filling in the forms now if they like, and if they're hungry, there's plenty of food laid out for the reception buffet in the church hall which would just go to waste otherwise.
- Averted:
- Alice and Bob's wedding proceeds normally.
- The wedding is called off.
- No one marries (or almost marries) in the work; any Official Couples are married to begin with.
- Enforced: "Alice marrying Bob would change the plot too much, but we want this episode to have a happy ending, like all episodes of our show." "Let's make it so the wedding doesn't go to waste."
- Lampshaded: "Hey, Dani, will you marry me? I figured we shouldn't let our friends' expensive wedding ceremony go to waste." "Sure, Charles, why not?"
- Invoked:
- Emily pushes Alice and Bob into a shotgun wedding they both have doubts about. The hope is that they'll cancel at the last minute, so Emily and Fred can snap up a free wedding.
- The wedding planner keeps couples with a limited budget on speed-dial, so he can notify them of any last-minute cancellations in their area.
- Exploited: Alice and Bob regift their unwanted wedding gifts.
- Defied:
- Alice and Bob wish to avoid a scandal, and just get married to each other anyway.
- Alice's parents cancel the wedding, plain and simple.
- Discussed: "Just to let you know, we charge full price for last minute cancellations, even if you persuade your best friends to get married in your place. No, you're not the first people to think of that."
- Conversed: "They took advantage of Alice and Bob's cancelled wedding? What a pair of bottomfeeders!" "Good for them! It doesn't make sense to just let a wedding go to waste when it could go to another couple."
- Implied: Alice and Bob break up on their wedding day. In the next episode of the show, Charles and Dani are suddenly married. While they do not say much about their wedding, they do tell everyone that it was free.
- Deconstructed:
- Alice and Bob have a My God, What Have I Done? moment and start to regret marrying Charles and Dani instead of themselves. Meanwhile, the hasty marriage doesn't work out.
- The guests are shocked by this flippant attitude toward marriage, so they leave out of disgust.
- Reconstructed: Charles and Dani get a divorce. Three months later, George and Helen cancel their wedding. Alice and Bob take advantage of this and snap up a free wedding.
- Played For Laughs:
- Alice throws the bouquet to determine which of the several engaged Beta Couples gets to have the free wedding.
- Alice's mother (who did not approve of this marriage) does a happy dance in the aisle.
- Played For Drama: Some time after their free wedding, Charles and Dani are both revealed to be evil.
Back to Why Waste a Wedding?
