History Main / WeddingDeadline

-->--''{{Series/Friends}}''

* In Creator/TeresaEdgerton's second Literature/{{Celydonn}} trilogy, if a marriage is not consummated and the couple are not living together, it can be broken by a year's separation. Since [[TheWisePrince Tryffin]] and Gwenlliant are living apart at the beginning of ''Literature/TheGrailAndTheRing'' while she is receiving magical training, and have had InnocentCohabitation until then, they must get back together by midsummer or they will no longer be married. [[spoiler:They don't, but since they both agree that they still want to be married, they just have another ceremony as soon as possible.]]

* In ''WebComics/SchlockMercenary'' Ennesby is scared of a karmic debt from a perfect wedding of the Doctor and the Reverend and conspires with Schlock to spoil it in several ways, including this. Too bad Petey, who's officiating the wedding, uses a modified version of the rite, without any of the relevant lines (and is also aware of Ennesby's plans), denying him any opportunity.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "A Bicyclops Built For Two", Leela gets to "I d--" before Fry barges in, and shows that Alkazar is a shape-changing green cockroach, who has weddings to four other female freaks scheduled for the same day. It makes a lot more sense when Alkazar explains that he rented the tux which shifts to different sizes with him and is presumably expensive.

* ''Literature/CareerOfEvil'' ends with Robin saying "I do" at her wedding to Matthew, but as she says it she's beaming at Strike, who has just blundered in late. What she doesn't know, but will presumably soon find out, is that [[spoiler:Strike offered her her job back in a voicemail message, but a jealous Matthew deleted the voicemail without telling her]]. We are left in suspense about whether she'll still want to be married to Matthew once she realises, or whether the marriage is binding.

* A storyline in ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' revolved around an arranged date between the policewoman Sato and the goodhearted-but-snobbish superintendent Shiratori. (Such dates are called ''omiai'' and tend to always end up in marriage; and while one party ''can'' refuse to go through with the wedding, up until not long ago it was VERY uncommon.) Another policewoman, Yumi, tried to get Sato out of it by sending her "help", whom Sato correctly guesses to be the shy Takagi, who also loves her and is the one Sato seems to favor in the LoveTriangle. The brash Sato makes a deal with Shiratori that if Takagi doesn't show up before sunset, she will marry him. Unfortunately, Takagi is involved in a robbery case, with three witnesses all giving contradicting details on the culprit. Luckily, Conan gives Takagi some tips that helps him solve the case... but the culprit escapes, forcing him to give chase... a few minutes before sundown. [[spoiler:In the end, he never actually makes it to the restaurant that Sato and Shiratori are at; [[ShipperOnDeck Conan]] uses a decoy to trick both of them into thinking that Takagi DID show up, then lures Sato to where Takagi actually is.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': Starfire uses the same, "I do... ''not!''" line during an ArrangedMarriage (and a phony one, at that) after Robin does his ''Film/TheGraduate'' [[TheGraduateHomageShot parody]].

* Possibly in ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves''. The Sheriff forces Marion through the ceremony, even answering the vows for her. The Bishop performing the ritual quickly rattles off the pronouncement (while the Sheriff is trying to force himself on Marion). When he gets to "man and wife", Marion turns to the Bishop and yells, "''How could you?!''"

* On ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' [[AnIcePerson the Ice King]]'s wedding involves a weird Ice Kingdom ritual where he's lowered down to his bride by a rope, the marriage being official as soon as his beard touches her. In the end he winds up marrying [[spoiler:Jake]] [[AccidentalMarriage by mistake]], which is promptly annulled.
* ''Literature/CaptainVorpatrilsAlliance'' plays it straight in Ivan and Tej's CitizenshipMarriage, with a note that Barrayaran law, being highly [[IGaveMyWord oath-oriented]], has [[JustifiedTrope a couple marry themselves before witnesses and it's automatically official]]. Yes, even if the bare bones ceremony is performed before the groom's distant cousin and bride's half-sister while Immigration is forcing their way through a barricaded apartment door a room away

** And while the bride was a total stranger, the speech did give her pause to take a long, hard look at the marriage and got her to decide ''against'' it at the last moment.
* Subverted to great effect in the Franchise/SherlockHolmes story "The Solitary Cyclist," in which the detective and Dr. Watson, accompanied by [[TheAtoner one repentant villain]], barge in on the other, who is forcing marriage on the virtuous heroine who'd refused them both. "[[YouAreTooLate You're too late!]] She's my wife!" "[[PreMortemOneLiner No... she's your widow!]]" ''Bang''...which doesn't actually kill the bridegroom. Once they get everybody sorted out, Holmes notes that the whole thing is void anyway, since the clergyman accomplice had been unfrocked and wasn't allowed to officiate the wedding; and that, "in any case, a forced marriage is no marriage, but it is a very serious felony, as you will discover before you have finished."
* At Mark's wedding in ''Series/PeepShow'', [[spoiler:Mark explains to Sophie that even if she had said "I Don't", they'd already filled in the paperwork and were therefore technically already married]].
* A storyline in ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' revolved around an arranged date between the policewoman Sato and the goodhearted-but-snobbish superintendent Shiratori. (Such dates are called ''omiai'', tend to always end up in marriage, and while one part ''can'' refuse to go through the wedding, up until few ago it was VERY uncommon) Another policewoman, Yumi, tried to get Sato out of it by sending her "help", who Sato correctly guesses to be the shy Takagi, who also loves her and is the one Sato seems to favor in the LoveTriangle. The brash Sato makes a deal with Shiratori that if Takagi doesn't show up before sunset, she will marry him. Unfortunately, Takagi is involved in a robbery case, with three witnesses all giving contradicting details on the culprit. Luckily, Conan gives Takagi some tips that helps him solve the case... but the culprit escapes, forcing him to give chase... a few minutes before sundown. [[spoiler:In the end, he never actually makes it to the restaurant that Sato and Shiratori are at; [[ShipperOnDeck Conan]] uses a decoy to trick both of them into thinking that Takagi DID show up, then lures Sato to where Takagi actually is.]]

* Something similar happens in ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'': Victor has an AccidentalMarriage to the undead Emily, only for it to be declared void. It turns out that, to have a real marriage, Victor would have to kill himself during the ceremony. He's actually willing to go through with it, since his [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage true love, Victoria]], has been forced to marry someone else, [[spoiler:but Emily winds up [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy stopping him]] at the last minute]]. Similarly, Victoria is actually married to the evil Lord Barkis, but [[spoiler:he accidentally drinks Victor's poison]] a few hours into their marriage.

* ''Literature/CareerOfEvil'' ends with Robin saying "I do" at her wedding to Matthew, but as she says it she's beaming at Strike, who has just blundered in late. What she doesn't know, but will presumably soon find out, is that [[spoiler:Strike offered her her job back in a voicemail message, but a jealous Matthew deleted the voicemail without telling her]]. We are left in suspense about whether she'll still want to be married to Matthew once she realises, or whether the marriage is binding.
----

'''Phoebe:''' It's too late, you missed your chance! I'm sorry, I know this must be really hard -- it's ''over.''\\

->''[sounds of fighting outside the chapel]''\\
'''The Impressive Clergyman:''' So tweasure your wuv...\\
'''Prince Humperdinck:''' Skip to the end.\\
'''Clergyman:''' Have you the wing?\\
'''Buttercup:''' Here comes my Westley now.\\
''[cut away for a bit to Wesley, Inigo and Fezzik battling through Humperdink's guards]''\\
''[...]''\\
'''Clergyman:''' ...and do you, Pwincess Buwwercup...\\
'''Humperdinck:''' Man and wife! ''Say man and wife!!''
-->-- ''Film/ThePrincessBride''

* In the first book of ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'', Violet manages to invalidate her marriage to Count Olaf (who was blackmailing her by threatening her infant sister) by not signing the marriage certificate correctly [[spoiler: - specifically, by signing it with her left hand, not her right]]. She neglects to inform him of this loophole until after he has had her sister released (one wonders why she didn't simply get Sunny released and then get the marriage annulled on grounds of being forced).
** Pretty much all the adults in these books are either evil, [[AdultsAreUseless spineless wimps, or utterly clueless]], remember? Also, while it's a bad excuse, it was clear the adults were looking for ANY excuse whatsoever to annul it... but the 'forced' part must not have been on the books.
*** Also bear in mind that she is fourteen at the time; while she was capable of working out a linguistic loophole, she probably did not have extensive knowledge of marital laws. (Klaus maybe, but not her.)

* Subverted to great effect in the Franchise/SherlockHolmes story "The Solitary Cyclist," in which the detective and Dr. Watson, accompanied by [[TheAtoner one repentant villain]], barge in on the other, who is forcing marriage on the virtuous heroine who'd refused them both. "[[YouAreTooLate You're too late!]] She's my wife!" "[[PreMortemOneLiner No... she's your widow!]]" ''Bang''. Once they get everybody sorted out, Holmes notes that the whole thing is void anyway, since the clergyman accomplice had been unfrocked; and that, "in any case, a forced marriage is no marriage, but it is a very serious felony, as you will discover before you have finished."

In short, the WeddingDeadline is something that viewers seem quite [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief willing to suspend disbelief]] over.

This should be a DiscreditedTrope, but it's not, probably because it's incredibly useful to writers of romantic stories. A wedding imposes a deadline for the consummation of a relationship. A deadline during the wedding allows the protagonist to make an exciting race against the clock to win back his or her beloved at the last possible second. Furthermore, a wedding ceremony makes it easy to put all the main characters in one place for the story's riveting conclusion.

* ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures''. In "The Wedding Of Sarah Jane Smith", quite a lot will happen if Sarah Jane says "I do." [[spoiler:The words would force her to bend to the Trickster's will.]]

*** Also bear in mind that she is fourteen at the time; while she was capable of working out a linguistic loophole, she probably did not have extensive knowledge of marital laws.

* In the ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' story "Something Borrowed," Jenny Greeteeth, a sidhe, tries to marry Billy Borden by taking the appearance of Georgia, whom she kidnapped and put in a coma. Since only true love could break the spell and true love doesn't work if you're married to someone else, this is particularly sadistic. Harry has to stop the ceremony, but it's not the words that are important to sidhe magic, it's the kiss. Fortunately, it's one of those problems that can be solved by setting the building on fire.

->''[sounds of fighting outside the chapel]''
->'''The Impressive Clergyman:''' [[ElmerFuddSyndrome So tweasure your wuv...]]
->'''Prince Humperdinck:''' SkipToTheEnd.
->'''Clergyman:''' Have you the wing?
->'''Buttercup:''' Here comes my Westley now.
->''[cut away for a bit to Wesley, Inigo and Fezzik battling through Humperdink's guards]''
->''[...]''
->'''Clergyman:''' ...and do you, Pwincess Buwwercup...
->'''Humperdinck:''' Man and wife! ''Say man and wife!!''

* ''Literature/CaptainVorpatrilsAlliance'' plays it straight in Ivan and Tej's CitizenshipMarriage, with a note that Barrayaran law, being highly [[IGaveMyWord oath-oriented]], has [[JustifiedTrope a couple marry themselves before witnesses and it's automatically official]].

->''[cut away for a bit to Wesley, Inigo and Feznik battling through Humperdink's guards]''

* In ''Literature/KrisLongknife Defender'', the deadline for Kris and Jack is to get married before their superiors can cut them their new orders, which they (Correctly) suspect will place them in the same chain of command - regulations for their Navy prohibit relationships between people in the same chain of command, but not placing couples who are already married into the same chain of command.

* In the movie ''Film/TheWeddingSinger'', the marriage is broken up on the couple's flight to Las Vegas.
** Though it's played fairly straight in the musical of the film, as Julia and Glen's wedding in Las Vegas is ended when Robbie crashes it.

* A piece by ''Website/TheOnion'' parodies this at the end, in: "[[http://www.theonion.com/articles/im-sure-that-outofcontrol-waterskier-will-avoid-ou,11403/ I'm Sure That Out-Of-Control Water-Skier Will Avoid Our Outdoor Wedding]]", who is imminently going to ruin the wedding, [[spoiler:The protagonist was "forced to leave my first love, a working-class Irish bootblack named Patrick, to marry a rich man who pleased my father but whom I could never truly love, [...] Patrick, who just so happens to be that same directionless water-skier.]] Yes, nothing can go wrong now."
* ''VideoGame/{{Aveyond}}: The Lost Orb'' has a complicated variation. Edward and [[MultipleEndings his bride]] exchange vows, the priest pronounces them husband and wife... ''then'' Mel runs

* In the ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' story "Something Borrowed" Jenny Greeteeth, a sidhe tries to marry Billy Borden, taking the appearance of Georgia,who she kidnapped and put in a coma. Since only true love could break the spell and true love doesn't work if you're married to someone else, this is particularly sadistic. Harry has to stop the ceremony, but it's not the words that are important to sidhe magic, it's the kiss. Fortunately it's one of those problems that can be solved by setting the building on fire.

** Averted in the book. Humperdinck really ''does'' marry Buttercup. Westley steals her away anyway. (His reasoning goes along the lines of "if you didn't mean it, it doesn't count".)

->''(sounds of fighting outside the chapel)''
->'''The Impressive Clergyman''': [[ElmerFuddSyndrome So tweasure your wuv...]]
->'''Prince Humperdinck''': SkipToTheEnd.
->'''Clergyman''': Have you the wing?
->'''Buttercup''': Here comes my Westley now.
->'' (cut away for a bit to Wesley, Inigo and Feznik battling through Humperdink's guards)''
->''(...)''
->'''Clergyman''': ...and do you,Pwincess Buwwercup...
->'''Humperdinck''': Man and wife! ''Say man and wife!!''

* Spoofed in ''The Lonely Guy'', where Steve Martin's character makes it to the church just in the nick of time, pours out his heart to the gal of his dreams and begs her not to marry. Turns out he was in the wrong church, and he misses the deadline altogether. D'oh!

* A piece by ''Website/TheOnion'' parodies this: "[[http://www.theonion.com/articles/im-sure-that-outofcontrol-waterskier-will-avoid-ou,11403/ I'm Sure That Out-Of-Control Water-Skier Will Avoid Our Outdoor Wedding]]".

Once upon a time, this was true. Historical works can therefore use it with full force for various historical eras and fantasy worlds based on them. (But make sure that it's one that uses this ceremony.) Even in those days it could often be dissolved, with some difficulty, as long as the marriage was not actually consummated.