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The Wedding Planner is a 2001 romantic comedy film directed by Adam Shankman, written by Michael Ellis and Pamela Falk, and starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey.

Plot[link]

After planning and coordinating another successful wedding ceremony, Los Alamitos wedding planner Mary (Jennifer Lopez) is re-introduced to childhood acquaintance Massimo (Justin Chambers) by her father (Alex Rocco) who wants the two of them to marry. Mary, however, is not impressed and instead remains focused on her ambition to become a partner at the wedding company she works for. As a way to persuade her boss to accept her as a partner, Mary pursues and is hired by catering heiress, Fran Donolly (Bridgette Wilson) to plan her society wedding to long term boyfriend ‘Eddie’. While on the phone reporting her success Mary’s shoe heel gets stuck in a manhole cover. While she attempts to free herself a taxi collides with a rubbish dumpster and it comes hurtling towards her. A man standing nearby rushes in and pulls her away just before the dumpster crashes. Mary manages to thank the man before fainting.

She later wakes up in hospital and the man who saved her is revealed to be the local pediatrician, Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey). When Mary’s friend and colleague Penny (Judy Greer) arrives she persuades Steve to attend an outdoor movie screening with them at the park, only to make up an excuse to leave the pair alone. At the movie Mary and Steve dance but just before they are about to kiss a heavy downpour begins and they run for cover.

A few days later Mary and Fran are at another of Mary’s weddings and Fran teases her for her dreamy look before Mary tells her about her movie date. Later on Mary is attending a dance lesson with another of her clients. Fran is also attending and introduces Mary to her fiancé ‘Eddie’ who turns out to be Steve. When Fran leaves the pair to dance together Mary angrily rebukes him for leading her on and going behind Fran’s back.

Mary is left wondering whether she should continue to plan Fran and Steve’s wedding, while Steve is left wondering whether his chemistry with Mary is a sign that he shouldn’t be marrying Fran. Penny persuades Mary that her career is more important than whatever attraction she might have felt for Steve and Steve’s colleague persuades him that the connection he had with Mary was just the result of pre-wedding nerves.

When they arrive at a potential wedding venue in Napa Valley, Massimo appears and, to Mary's confusion and horror, introduces himself as her fiancé. Later when the four of them, along with Fran’s parents, are riding on horseback through the estate, Mrs Donolly’s singing frightens Mary’s horse and it rushes off with a terrified Mary clinging on. Steve instantly gallops after Mary and rescues her from the out of control horse. When the pair are alone he bitterly rebukes her for condemning his actions when she was also engaged.

At home, Mary’s father excitedly talks about her upcoming wedding, only for her to reveal that she and Massimo are not engaged before scolding her father for trying to arrange her marriage. Her father then reveals that his wedding with her mother, which Mary had always seen as the perfect marriage, was actually arranged and only became a loving relationship months later, leaving Mary feeling very confused. Mary, Fran and Steve visit another potential wedding venue. Differences in opinion between the couple begin to emerge but Steve agrees with whatever makes Fran happy. Fran reveals she is going on a week-long business trip, leaving Mary and Steve to continue with the wedding preparations. The pair apologise for their angry words. While looking for flowers they run into Keith and Wendy. Mary reveals that Keith was her fiancé, Wendy was his high-school girlfriend and during their rehearsal dinner she found them making out. That night a drunk Mary laments over Keith being married and expecting a baby while she is still alone and miserable. Steve comforts her and insists that Keith was a fool to pick Wendy over her. He then leaves but quickly returns and confesses that he has feelings for Mary. She sadly replies that she respects Fran too much to let anything happen between them and sends Steve away.

Fran returns early from her trip and comes to speak with Mary. Mary fears that Steve has revealed his feelings for her but instead Fran reveals she doesn’t know if she is in love with Steve anymore. Ignoring her heart, Mary persuades Fran to go ahead with the wedding. At a birthday party they are both attending, Massimo offers Mary a heartfelt proposal and after a little hesitation she finally agrees to marry him. The two couples prepare for their weddings. When the day arrives Mary leaves Penny to coordinate the Donolly wedding before she goes to the town hall to marry Massimo. Before the wedding starts, Steve takes Fran for a walk and asks her if they’re doing the right thing. Fran eventually admits that she doesn’t want to get married. The pair part as friends and Fran leaves to go on their honeymoon alone. Penny reveals Mary’s plans to Steve and he rushes off to stop her. At the town hall, Massimo and Mary prepare to marry but her father stops the ceremony, realising that the wedding is what he wants for her and not what she wants. Mary, who has given up on true love, insists that life isn’t a fairytale and marrying Massimo is the right thing to do. Steve arrives to find Mary’s father and Massimo outside. Massimo reveals that he couldn’t go ahead with the wedding knowing that Mary was not in love with him and actually in love with Steve. Steve reveals his feelings to Mary’s father, who tells him to go and get her. Steve and Massimo ride off on Massimo’s scooter to the park where another outdoor movie is starting. Steve finds Mary, asks her to dance and the pair finally kiss.

Cast[link]

• Jennifer Lopez as Maria 'Mary' Fiore
• Matthew McConaughey as Dr. Steven James 'Steve/Eddie' Edison
• Bridgette Wilson as Francine 'Fran' Donolly
• Justin Chambers as Massimo
• Judy Greer as Penny
• Alex Rocco as Salvatore Fiore
• Lou Myers as Burt Weinberg
• Charles Kimbrough as Mr. Donolly
• Joanna Gleason as Mrs. Donolly
• Dan Finnerty as Best Man
• Kathy Najimy as Geri

Production[link]

Casting[link]

The original actors set to play Mary and Steve were Jennifer Love Hewitt and Brendan Fraser, respectively. They were replaced with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. Both couples eventually dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, leaving Lopez and McConaughey to be the eventual stars.

Locations[link]

Many of the scenes were shot in Golden Gate Park, specifically at the Music Concourse (between the old De Young Museum and the old California Academy of Sciences), the Japanese Tea Garden and The Huntington Library and Gardens.

Reception[link]

The film was released on January 26, 2001, debuting at number 1 at the box office with $13,510,293 on the Super Bowl weekend. It grossed $60,400,856 domestically and earned a worldwide tally of $94,728,529.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Wedding Planner at the Internet Movie Database
• The Wedding Planner at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Wedding Planner at Box Office Mojo

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A wedding planner^[1] is a professional who assists with the design, planning and management of a client's wedding.

Weddings are significant events in people's lives and as such, couples are often willing to spend considerable sums of money to ensure their wedding is organized as perfectly as possible.^[2]

Professional wedding planners exist throughout the world, most notably in the USA, UK and Western Europe^[3][4]. There are various wedding planning courses available to those who wish to pursue the career.

Planners generally charge either a percentage (10-15%) of total the wedding cost, (which can range between $20,000 to $2 million in relatively affluent communities in USA) or a flat fee^[5]. In USA the fees typically range between $1500 to $5000^[6] depending on the services provided. In the UK, fees range from £1,500 to around £7-10,000, depending on the planner's experience.

Wedding planners are often used by couples who work long hours and have little spare time available for sourcing and managing wedding venues and wedding suppliers.

Planners are also popular with couples planning a destination wedding, where the documentation and paperwork can be complicated. Any country where a wedding is held requires different procedures depending on the nationality of each the bride and the groom. For instance, US citizens marrying in Italy require a Nulla Osta (affidavit sworn in front of the US consulate in Italy), plus an Atto Notorio (sworn in front of the Italian consulate in the US or at a court in Italy), and legalization of off of the above. Some countries instead, have agreements and the couple can get their No Impediment forms from their local registrar and have it translated by the consulate in the country of the wedding. A local Wedding Planner takes care and guides through all the different procedures for each different case.

Services[link]

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The services of a wedding planner can include:

• Interviewing the couple and the parents to identify their needs.
• Budget preparation^[7]
• Planning detailed checklist (from about a year in advance to a few days after the wedding)^[8]
• Attendee list preparation
• Identification of event venues (hotels, wedding manor etc.)
• Identifying and hiring of wedding professionals and service providers (caterers, photographers, videographers, beautician, florists, bakers etc.), and preparation and execution of contracts.^[9]
• Procurement of customized decorations such as a journey map
• Coordination of deliveries/services on the wedding day.
• Have a back-up plan in the event of a disaster.^[10][11]
• Assist and prepare legal documentation and translations - especially for destination weddings

Self help[link]

Resources can be found in various books and publications and on websites that can allow a couple or a family to do the planning on their own. Many planners also run their own blogs to help provide inspiration and creativity.

In popular culture[link]

The 2001 comedy The Wedding Planner, with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, was on the busy life of a wedding planner who falls in love with one of her clients. There are also many shows that have branched from wedding planning, such as TLC's 'Say Yes to the Dress'. This is a reality show that follows brides as they shop at the prestigious Kleinfelds for their perfect wedding dress. Another show is 'My Fair Wedding' with celebrity party planner David Tutera.

More recently, Bollywood Film Band Baaja Baraat is about Marriage planners falling in love. Ranveer Singh made his debut with this film and won Best Debutant at several awards. The film had a successful run at the theaters.

In the book series, Sweet L.A. Life, the Winslow Twins' mother is a wedding planner.

The 2011 Hong Kong television drama Only You tells the stories of a fictional wedding services agency and their clients.

In Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner, Sarah and Chuck are scammed by their wedding planner.

See also[link]

• Event planning

References[link]

The Wedding may refer to:

Theatre[link]

• The Wedding (1629 play), a Caroline era stage play by James Shirley
• The Wedding (Chekhov), a play by Anton Chekhov
• The Wedding (1901 play) (Wesele), a Polish play by Stanisław Wyspiański

Film[link]

• The Wedding (1972 film) (Wesele), directed by Andrzej Wajda
• The Wedding (2000 film), directed by Pavel Lungin
• The Wedding (2004 film) (Wesele), directed by Wojtek Smarzowski