History Main / BrideAndSwitch

* Inverted in ''MuchAdoAboutNothing''. Claudio has been led to believe that Hero has died of grief over his accusations of sluttery, and to atone he has promised to marry her cousin sight unseen. But it turns out that it really is Hero.

** The retelling of this story in ''TheRedTent'' suggests that this was a deliberate Bride and Switch on the part of the two daughters.
*** Literature/TheTalmud, IIRC, says that Rachel suspected Laban might try this and arranged for her and Jacob to give each other subtle cues at the altar so he would know whom he was really marrying. However, right before the wedding Rachel realized that Leah would be humiliated if Jacob called the wedding off and revealed the signs to her.
*** At least one straight-to-video live-action series drew heavily from both sources in portraying the patriarchs; for this story, it had Leah imitating a certain tongue-clicking noise Rachel and Jacob had regularly used as a means of sounding each other out in the dark.

* 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!)

* TheFlash #165 (1966), "One Bridegroom Too Many": At his wedding to Iris West, Barry Allen is replaced at the altar by his EvilCounterpart, Professor Zoom, who uses future technology to disguise himself as Barry. Luckily, Barry is able to stop the wedding in time and defeat Zoom.

* Loki from ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' obtained his wife Sigyn by arranging the death of her fiancee at the hands of trolls and using his shapeshifting to take his place at the wedding. Odin temporariy banished Loki for his deception. Sigyn for duty's sake stayed married to Loki making her the goddess of fidelity. Surprisingly, Loki came to somewhat care for her and when one of his schemes put her in danger he freed Thor to save her.

* In ''{{Erstwhile}}'', [[http://www.erstwhiletales.com/maidmaleen-18/#.T296UNm6SuI the bride orders Maid Maleen to take her place.]]

* On ''The A-Team'', the team is hired to get the bride out of the shotgun wedding she's being forced into. To get the bride out, they put Murdock in her wedding dress. During the ceremony, when asked, "Do you take this man ...", he pulls back the veil and says, "I didn't go through all this just to see how I'd look in white!"

* One time on ''TheAndyGriffithShow'', [[FullNameBasis Ernest T. Bass]] tried to steal a bride away from her wedding but it turned out to be Barney Fife under the veil.

* ''{{Sub-Mariner}}'' #36 (1970s): 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.

* Loki from ''TheMightyThor'' obtained his wife Sigyn by arranging the death of her fiancee at the hands of trolls and using his shapeshifting to take his place at the wedding. Odin temporariy banished Loki for his deception. Sigyn for duty's sake stayed married to Loki making her the goddess of fidelity. Surprisingly, Loki came to somewhat care for her and when one of his schemes put her in danger he freed Thor to save her.

* 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 as Bridesmaid. The giants hand the "bride" Mjollnir, and Thor throws off his veil and kills them all.

* MarcusDidiusFalco pulls this to stop a forced marriage involving his LoveInterest Helena Justina. The villain says he can just get the marriage annulled, whereupon Marcus grins and points out that he won't live long enough to do so (as he's bleeding from a fatal wound and Marcus is preventing him from getting help).
* TheRedTent has a variation - Leah stands in for her sister Rachel on her wedding day because Rachel is young and afraid of the whole sex-and-babies obligation. The groom is well aware of the switch, but pretends not to be because he is equally attracted to Leah.

* PlayedForLaughs during a montage in the fourth ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' installment, in which the eponymous ogre dresses as a veiled bride at a man's wedding just to freak him out.
* ''TheSwanPrincess'' has Derek proclaim a vow of everlasting love to Odette, because those are the terms that will break Odette's [[BalefulPolymorph swan curse]]. However, the Odette that Derek proposes to is really Rothbart's minion in disguise, meaning that since Derek swore his love to another, the real Odette would die.

* The ''GeorgeOfTheJungle'' movie features this trope at the climax, with Lyle trying to forcibly marry Ursula when they enter a dark tunnel. Upon exiting the tunnel he learns that he actually married an amorous gorilla instead.

* At the end of ''ComingToAmerica'', Prince Akeem returns home to the Arranged Marriage he left in the first place to escape. When he lifts his bride-to-be's veil at the start of the ceremony, it's not his arranged bride, but Lisa, the love interest he'd left behind in New York.

* Happens in ''{{Spellbinder}}'', when [[DarkActionGirl Ashka]] is convinced (with some difficulty) to take the place of the princess whom the barbarian leader is forcing to marry him in order to legitimize his takeover of TheEmpire. Just as the bride is expected to say "I do", Ashka lifts the veil and tells the shocked barbarian that she'd rather marry his horse.

** This, incidentally, is supposed to be the origin of the whole "lifting the veil" tradition. (Presumably Leah's wasn't see-through.)

* In ''Series/LoisAndClark'', Clark Kent thinks that he has married Lois Lane the first time they try to marry, only that it turns out he married a frog-eating clone of Lois. The real Lois was kidnapped by Lex Luthor and then for a time lost her memory and made to believe she was in love with someone else.

* In ''Series/LoisAndClark'', Clark Kent thinks that he has married Lois Lane the first time they try to marry, only that it turns out he married a frog-eating clone of Lois.

* In the second season finale of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', the bride-to-be, Princess Cadence, is replaced by a shape-shifting imposter.

Compare BedTrick, which is the less G-Rated version of this trope.

* On ''SpaceStars'', in the ''TeenForce'' short "Trojan Teen Force", Uglor was about to marry Princess Keena, but it was actually Moleculad in disguise.

* In one episode of ''TheSimpsons'', “Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words,” Homer gets a job helping people break up. For one of his assignments, he disguises himself as the bride at a wedding and lets the groom down easy.

* In ''Book of a Thousand Days'' by ShannonHale, Lady Saren forces her maid, Dashti, to [[PlayingCyrano 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.]]