Markup View

Author: herbides

May 26th 2013 at 4:18:00 PM

Movies
* "Fools Rush In" (1997) - the couple Isabel & Alex have a one night stand in Las Vegas which results in pregnancy. They decide to get married, move in together and then actually get to know each other.
* "Fiddler on the Roof" (1971) - There are several marriages in this movie but the one that would fit this trope is the marriage of the parents, Tevye & Golde. Their marriage was arranged and they have been together for years, having already raised all their children to adulthood, but it isn't until one of their daughters wants to marry for love that they start thinking about romance with one another. Their duet 'Do You Love Me?' pretty much describes this trope. 
* "Raise the Red Lantern" (1991, Chinese) could be an example of how this sort of trope does not necessarily result in a happy ending. Songlian marries Chen as his fourth wife. Although she is initially indifferent to him, she soon becomes embroiled in the competition between the wives to seduce him and gain his undivided attention. 
* In "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954) A mountain man named Adam convinces a townswoman named Milly to marry him, promising an idealistic life in the woods. But when he gets her home she discovers that he failed to mention his six rowdy adult brothers who would also be living under the same roof. Despite her initial anger, she starts to fall in love with him, but their romance is derailed when he decides that since kidnapping one woman worked so well, they might as well head into town and grab themselves six more. Snowed in over winter, all of the girls warm to their captors and when spring arrives and their menfolk come to rescue them, they all manage to finagle shot-gun weddings instead.

Anime & Manga
* In "Ranma 1/2" the title character is betrothed to Akane while they are both teenagers, however subsequent romance is constantly derailed by, Akane's hatred of men, the frequent appearance of other fiancees as well as Ranma's curse that causes him to change into a woman whenever he is splashed with water.
* In "Onegai Tichaa" or "Please Teacher" high school student Kei Kusanagi marries the alien who is posing as his home room teacher in order to protect her secret identity. They move in together and quickly fall in love with each other.  
* In the "Aa megami-sama" or "Oh My Goddess!" franchise (Manga, light novels, 3 different anime, movie and video games) The main character, Keiichi Morisato encounters a goddess who will grant one wish to him. He wishes that she stay with him forever. As far as the universe is concerned from that point on, the two are effectively married. They couldn't leave one another if they tried. In the process of finding a place to live and domestic life they fall in love with one another. (I'm not sure if they ever actually have a wedding.) 
* In "Futari no ecchi" or "They're both perverted" (Manga only, "H") follows the story of a couple, Yura and Makoto Onota who are married though the traditional Japanese miai matchmaking process. After they are married, they have to learn how to be a couple first in terms of sex, then in terms of living together and then eventually love. But because they were both lack experience with the opposite sex when they got married and both too shy to ask friends and family about relationship issues, they encounter many challenges.

TV Miniseries
* In "Sarah, Plain and Tall" the title character is a mail order bride who for a widower named Caleb who has two young children. I think the wedding actually doesn't happen until later in the story, but their courtship happens after they are already living as man and wife.

Books
* In the novel, "Promised Land" by Connie Willis & Cynthia Felice, the main character, Delanna, returns to her home planet to inherit a large track of land, but finds out that according to the planet's backward property laws, she has been legally married to her neighbor, and before she can divorce him, she must live together with him for 1 year. Rom-com ensues.