History Main / BrideAndSwitch

* There was a LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek called ''What Matters Most''. At the end of the movie, there is a wedding. The viewers are led to believe that the boy is going to marry TheLibby, per his father's wishes. However, when the bride arrives at the altar, she is revealed to be his HighSchoolSweetheart with whom he has a child with and they marry. At the end, his best friend narrates in a voice-over that TheLibby and her GirlPosse along with the hero's mother arranged the whole thing.

The wedding rarely if ever goes through, with the real bride (or groom, in gender-flipped examples) [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace bursting in at the last moment]]. Very occasionally, the groom may fall in love with the "fake" bride and marry her for real. Legal trickery may establish that the false bride can be treated as the true bride's proxy, and so he really did marry the true bride. In many FairyTales, the false bride is executed for her attack on the true bride -- sometimes substantiately after the wedding took place -- as a complication in the heroine's RagsToRoyalty rise.

* In NorseMythology, the giant Thrymr steals Mjollnir in order to demand Freya as his bride; after Freya refuses, Heimdall, for a change, comes up with the cunning plan to dress Thor in women's clothing and a veil. It works, albeit with some fast talking from Loki as Bridesmaid. The giants hand the "bride" Mjollnir, and Thor throws off his veil and kills them all.

* One of the '''many''' {{Thirty Xanatos Pileup}}s in ''AlloAllo'' had Rene due to marry the leader of the Communist resistance, who was replaced by his waitress Yvette, who was then replaced by his wife Edith (although Rene at that point was playing his own twin brother). The vicar had also been secretly replaced by Officer Crabtree, so we aren't sure exactly whether ''anyone'' had managed to get married.

* On ''AdventureTime,'' Finn and Jake keep the Ice King from [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe forcing a princess to marry him]] by switching her with Jake's butt just before [[strike:the kiss]] the beard-touching makes it official. Unsurprisingly, the marriage doesn't last long.

* In the 1934 version of ''BabesInToyland'', Little Bo Peep agrees to marry Barnaby so that he'll settle the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe house. However, he's tricked into marrying Stanley Dum, who had dressed up as the bride and hidden his face with the veil.

The wedding rarely if ever goes through, with the real bride (or groom, in gender-flipped examples) [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace bursting in at the last moment]]. Very occasionally, the groom may fall in love with the "fake" bride and marry her for real. Legal trickery may establish that the false bride can be treated as the true bride's proxy, and so he really did marry the true bride. In many FairyTales, the false bride is executed for her attack on the true bride -- sometimes substantiately after the wedding took place.

The wedding rarely if ever goes through, with the real bride (or groom, in gender-flipped examples) [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace bursting in at the last moment]]. Very occasionally, the groom may fall in love with the "fake" bride and marry her for real. Legal trickery may establish that the false bride can be treated as the true bride's proxy, and so he really did marry the true bride.

The wedding rarely if ever goes through, with the real bride (or groom, in gender-flipped examples) [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace bursting in at the last moment]]. Very occasionally, the groom may fall in love with the "fake" bride and marry her for real.

* In NorseMythology, the giant Thrymr steals Mjollnir in order to demand Freya as his bride; after Freya refuses, Loki comes up with the cunning plan to dress Thor in women's clothing and a veil. It works, albeit with some fast talking from Loki. The giants hand the "bride" Mjollnir, and Thor throws off his veil and kills them all.

** The retelling of this story in TheRedTent suggests that this was a deliberate Bride and Switch on the part of the two daughters.

* In ''Book of a Thousand Days'' by ShannonHale, Lady Saren forces her maid, [[TheCyrano Dashti]], to act as her when interacting with her fiancé, Khan Tegus. This goes so far as to go through the betrothal ceremony, and Saren plans to have her go through the marriage ceremony as well. [[spoiler:She does, but as herself, and not Saren.]]

* PlayedForLaughs during a montage in the fourth ''{{Shrek}}'' installment, in which the eponymous ogre dresses as a veiled bride at a man's wedding.

* Done in [[MultipleEndings three of the four prologues]] of ''{{Aveyond}}: The Lost Orb]], where Lydia magically disguises herself as the girl Edward intends to marry. Unfortunately for him and his real bride, Mel reveals the deception too late, and the marriage is considered legally binding.

* In TheBible, where Leah and her father, Laban, conspired to pull off a bait and switch against her cousin Jacob, who had spent seven years laboring without pay for the right to marry her younger sister, Rachel. The morning after his wedding night, Jacob was shocked to find that it was Leah in his bed, and not Rachel. Laban agreed to let him marry Rachel, too, but only after working for seven more years.

* ''The Ugly Duckling'' by A.A. Milne (not to be confused with the fairy tale by HansChristianAndersen) has a double version of this. The beautiful lady in waiting is recruited to woo the visiting prince, but the intended bride, the plain princess will be married in heavy veils. Meanwhile, the prince plots the same thing with his dashing footman and a suit of ceremonial armor. [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage Fortunately]], the prince and princess meet on their own and fall in love, [[PairTheSpares as do the lady in waiting and the footman]].

* In NorseMythology, the giant Thrymr steals Mjollnir in order to demand Freya as his bride; after Freya refuses, Loki comes up with the cunning plan to dress Thor in women's clothing and a veil. It works, albeit with some fast talking from Loki. The giants hand the "bride" Mjollnir, and Thor throws off his veil and kills them all.

A young couple is all ready for the [[WeddingDay big day.]] Only the bride isn't who the groom thinks she is. Maybe its an ArrangedMarriage, and someone else is impersonating the bride he's never seen. Maybe a [[VoluntaryShapeshifting shapeshifting alien]] has taken her place. Or maybe she's simply using a wedding veil as a convenient disguise.

[[AC: Comics]]
* Sub-Mariner #36 (1970's): Llyra tricks the Sub-Mariner into marrying her instead of Dorma, who's been kidnapped. It turns out that Atlantean marriage laws let you use a substitute at your wedding--he is considered to have married Dorma anyway. The official had put Dorma's name down on the wedding document, which is what made Llyra just a stand in.
* In ''FantasticFour'' #300 Johnny Storm marries Alicia Masters, but a later {{retcon}} made the Alicia he married really a Skrull shapeshifter.

[[AC: Literature]]
* ''Book of A Thousand Days'' by ShannonHale, in which Lady Saren forces her maid,[[TheCyrano Dashti]], to act as her when interacting with her fiance, Khan Tegus. This goes so far as to go through the betrothal ceremony, and Saren plans to have her go through the marriage ceremony as well. [[spoiler: She does, but as herself, and not Saren.]]

[[AC: Live Action Television]]
* One of the '''many''' {{Thirty Xanatos Pileup}}s in ''AlloAllo'' had Rene due to marry the leader of the communist resistance, who was replaced by his waitress Yvette, who was then replaced by his wife Edith (although Rene at that point was playing his own twin brother). The vicar had also been secretly replaced by Officer Crabtree, so we aren't sure exactly if ''anyone'' had managed to get married.
* One time on ''TheAndyGriffithShow'' [[FullNameBasis Earnest T. Bass]] tried to steal a bride away from her wedding but it turned out to be Barney under the veil.
->Ernest T: I'm a little mean, but I make up for it by bein' real healthy. Say you'll be mine. Say you'll be my beloved!
->Barney: ''lifts up veil'' I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man on earth!
* In ''PowerRangersRPM'' the good guys do this, the bride to be [[spoiler:Summer, the Yellow Ranger]] is replaced by [[spoiler:Dr. K]] after the bride realises that not only does she really not want to go through with her ArrangedMarriage but that she needs a diversion because the enemy has attacked the wedding.

* In TheBible, where Leah and her father, Laban, conspired to pull off a bait and switch against her cousin Jacob, who had spent seven years laboring without pay for the right to marry her younger sister, Rachel. The morning after his wedding night, Jacob was shocked to find that it was Leah in his bed, and not Rachel. Laban agreed to let him marry Rachel, too, but only after working for another seven years

[[AC: Theater]]
* ''The Ugly Duckling'' by A.A. Milne (not to be confused with the fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson) has a double version of this. The beautiful lady in waiting is recruited to woo the visiting prince, but the intended bride, the plain princess will be married in heavy veils. Meanwhile, the prince plots the same thing with his dashing footman and a suit of ceremonial armor. [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage Fortunately]], the prince and princess meet on their own and fall in love, [[PairTheSpares as do the lady in waiting and the footman.]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]
* PlayedForLaughs during a montage in the fourth {{Shrek}} installment, in which the eponymous ogre dresses as a veiled bride at a man's wedding.
* In the 1934 version of BabesinToyland, Little Bo Peep agrees to marry Barnaby so that he'll settle the mortgage on Mother Peep's shoe house. However, he's tricked into marrying Stanley Dum, who had dressed up as the bride and hidden his face with the veil.
* An episode of DudleyDoright had him pull this trick on Snidely Whiplash, who was trying to marry Nell, by replacing Nell with his HORSE. (It worked!)