Everyone loves movies about weddings. That’s why Hollywood, the Brits, and the French keep cranking them out. In particular, the rom-com wedding toast has become something of an art form unto itself. There are some really good ones.
Two movies made seventeen years apart provide contrasting views on how to give a wedding toast if you’re secretly in love with the groom.
“My Best Friend’s Wedding”
In the 1997 film, “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, Julia Roberts is in love with her best friend, played by Dermot Mulroney who is marrying Cameron Diaz.
After trying her hardest to break up the pair, Ms. Roberts finally sees the light and realizes the Mulroney and Diaz characters are in fact made for each other. Here’s her rom-com wedding toast:
“I had the strangest dream. I dreamt that some psychopath was trying to break the two of you up. Luckily, I woke up and I see that world is just as it should be. For my best friend has won the best woman. I didn’t get you a gift. However, this one’s on loan until you two find your song.”
Nice, especially because the song, “The Way You Look Tonight,” was the special song she shared with Mulroney.
“Love Rosie”
By contrast, the 2014 British film, “Love, Rosie,” takes an entirely different turn. Rosie and Alex, like the Roberts and Mulroney characters, have been lifelong best friends. And Alex is about to marry another women, at which point Rosie gets up and makes the following rom-com wedding toast:
“Choosing the person you want to share your life with is one of the most important decisions any of us makes … ever. Because, when it’s wrong, it turns your life to gray. Sometimes you don’t even notice until you wake up one morning and don’t realize he hasn’t come back. We both know about that, Alex.
Your friendship has brought glorious technicolor into my life. It’s been there even in the darkest of times and I am the luckiest person alive with that gift.
I hope I didn’t take it for granted. I think maybe I did. Because sometimes you don’t see that the best thing that ever happened to you is sitting there right under your nose. But that’s fine, too. It really is. Because I’ve realized that no matter where you are, or what you’re doing … or who you’re with, I will always, honestly, truly, completely, love you …[LONG pause] … like a sister loves a brother … and a friend loves a friend …
So, thanks everybody. Join me in a toast to the bride and groom.”
Actress Lily Collins, in the role of Rosie, conveys the heartbreak she feels at losing her best friend, whom she realizes she loves, to another woman. Her long pause after publicly expressing her love for Alex contradicts the disclaimer that follows, that she loves him like a ‘brother.’
Nope. She loves him like a lover, like the man she would like to marry.
Rom-com wedding toasts are great fun. The only thing more fun? Wedding entertainment provided by Columbus Pro DJs. We’ll pack the dance floor at your Columbus wedding. And our decor lighting will bring “glorious technicolor” to your event. Check us out!
