History Main / SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace

It's a DiscreditedTrope these days; the line is indeed said in RealLife weddings, but not as much as it used to be. The original purpose of the line was to see if anyone knew any ''legal'' reason that the couple couldn't be married (''e.g.'' one of them is [[OopsIForgotIWasMarried already married to someone else]], or the parties are [[SurpriseIncest related to each other]], or one of them is [[JailbaitTaboo underage]]). Modern wedding ceremonies tend to drop the line, mostly because of this trope -- it's an invitation for some StalkerWithACrush to crash someone's wedding, and a few {{Jerkass}}es have been known to crash strangers' weddings and, upon hearing the line, promptly call the bride a [[SlutShaming disease-ridden whore]]. And now that civil marriages have largely superseded religious marriages in most Western nations (at least on the legal end of things), the government can just refuse to issue a marriage license upon discovering that the marriage cannot legally take place. That said, the line is still required for certain religious wedding ceremonies, most notably in the Church of England.

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': It happens multiple times in the first (television) season finale, "June Bride". Miss Brooks is acting as proxy for French teacher Monsieur Leblanc's French bride. Unfortunately, some ExactEavesdropping by Walter Denton leads to him thinking that Miss Brooks is actually going to be the bride. Denton tells Miss Brooks' landlady Mrs. Davis, his girlfriend Harriet Conklin, her father the principal of the school, and Miss Brooks' actual LoveInterest Mr. Boynton. Miss Brooks manages to straighten out Mrs. Davis before the ceremony. But the wedding is then stopped by Mr. Conklin and his daughter Harriet. Mr. Conklin does not want to replace Miss Brooks next term, and Harriet is a ShipperOnDeck for Miss Brooks. They're corrected, the wedding goes on ahead. Then Walter Denton interrupts the wedding. He's made to sit down. Mr. Boynton finally arrives, [[AbsentMindedProfessor confused (he had a date with Miss Brooks to go square dancing)]], to interrupt the wedding. Finally, the proxy wedding is forestalled for good when the telegraph delivery boy arrives with the message that the actual bride has just married another man.

** In the TieInNovel ''Literature/MrMonkGoesToHawaii'', Natalie's close friend Candace is getting married in Hawaii, and she gets invited to be maid of honor. Unfortunately for Natalie, any hope she has of spending a quiet week is dashed when Monk [[BecomingTheMask takes Dioxynl]] to follow her on the flight to Kauai. When Candace's wedding happens the next day, Monk crashes the party and exposes Candace's groom-to-be as a bigamist. Candace storms away when she realizes that Monk's deductions are true, triggering a HumiliationConga for her fiancé; then a body is found nearby and Monk and Natalie are forced to stay in Hawaii on a BusmansHoliday.

** Subverted during Jessie and Brooks' wedding. When Tony, who is performing the ceremony, asks this question, Mrs. Chesterfield tries to raise her hand, only to be restrained by Bertram. Eventually, it becomes DoubleSubverted when it's time for Jessie to say her vow; she proclaims "I don't," rejecting the marriage herself.

* Turns up in the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "[[Recap/TorchwoodS2E9SomethingBorrowed Something Borrowed]]", with the twist that Jack, the interrupter, isn't a romantic rival, [[MistakenForCheating as most of the congregation assume]], but he's stopping Gwen and Rhys's wedding because [[spoiler:the bride has been implanted with an alien egg, causing her to look nine months pregnant, and the egg's mother is coming to rip it out of her]].

* In ''{{Series/Eureka}}'', Carter briefly objects at ''his own'' wedding. He wants to make sure that [[spoiler:Allison is really marrying him because she wants to, and not just because they're a minute away from drowning]].

* Done in a sketch for ''Comic Relief 2013'': As Simon Cowell is in the middle of marrying a mystery bride, his fellow ''male'' X-Factor judges begin to burst through the door, wearing wedding dresses, to declare their love. Their fight over who gets to marry Simon turns into the entire room declaring their love for him, until the priest has to silence them all to continue the ceremony. They finish the wedding with the intended bride, he lifts up the veil, and it's [[spoiler:Simon Cowell]].

* Etta James' "Stop the Wedding" opens with this.

* The Shirelles' "Foolish Little Girl" is about how a fickle young woman, who treated her ex-boyfriend like dirt, is pleading that she still in love with the groom in question, and her friends are telling her to keep her mouth shut, since she didn't want him before, and not wanting her to wreck a wedding between two people that love each other.

* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Though the actual wedding ceremonies use a different set of vows, when she is parading towards a ceremony to enter into a political marriage, [[spoiler:Daenarys]] thinks that if this were a story, [[spoiler:Daario Naharis]] would swoop in and grab her right ''now''. [[spoiler:[[DefiedTrope He doesn't]], [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and the marriage goes ahead exactly as planned]]]].

* In ''The Secret Countess'' by Eva Ibbotson, the [[TheButlerDidIt butler, Proom]], stages an elaborate charade in order to encourage a third party to step up and protest at a wedding, because the groom is too honorable to jilt his bride even though everyone, himself included, knows that [[spoiler:she's totally horrible and will make his life miserable]]. When the man finally shouts out "[[BigNo No!]] This wedding must not be!" we get this memorable line:

* In the seventh ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' novel, ''Like a Mighty Army'', this line is used at the wedding of [[spoiler:Hektor and Irys]]. Three paragraphs later, a suicide bomber blows up the wedding reception. [[spoiler:Bride and groom survive, 200 innocent bystanders don't]].

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': It happens multiple times in the first (television) season finale, "June Bride". Miss Brooks is acting as proxy for French teacher Monsieur Leblanc's French bride. Unfortunately, some ExactEavesdropping by Walter Denton leads to him thinking that Miss Brooks is actually going to be the bride. Denton tells Miss Brooks' landlady Mrs. Davis, his girlfriend Harriet Conklin, her father the principal of the school, and Miss Brooks' actual LoveInterest Mr. Boynton. Miss Brooks manages to straighten out Mrs. Davis before the ceremony. But the wedding is then stopped by Mr. Conklin and his daughter Harriet. Mr. Conklin does not want to replace Miss Brooks next term, and Harriet is a ShipperOnDeck for Miss Brooks. They're corrected, the wedding goes on ahead. Then Walter Denton interrupts the wedding. He's made to sit down. Mr. Boynton finally arrives, [[AbsentMindedProfessor confused (he had a date with Miss Brooks' to go square dancing)]], to interrupt the wedding. Finally, the proxy wedding is forestalled for good when the telegraph delivery boy arrives with the message that the actual bride has just married another man.

* In ''Anime/TheGodOfHighSchool'' [[RedOniBlueOni Jin and Daewi]] [[WeddingSmashers smash]] [[TheChick Mira]]'s wedding to a CorruptCorporateExecutive who only wants her for her [[HeirToTheDojo family's techniques]].

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': It happens multiple times in the first (television) season finale, "June Bride". Miss Brooks is acting as proxy for French teacher Monsieur Leblanc's French bride. Unfortunately, some ExactEavesdropping by Walter Denton leads to him thinking that Miss Brooks is actually going to be the bride. Denton tells Miss Brooks' landlady Mrs. Davis, his girlfriend Harriet Conklin, her father the principal of the school, and Miss Brooks' actual LoveInterest Mr. Boynton. Miss Brooks manages to straighten out Mrs. Davis before the ceremony. But the wedding is then stopped by Mr. Conklin and his daughter Harriet. Mr. Conklin does not want to replace Miss Brooks next term, and Harriet is a ShipperOnDeck for Miss Brooks. They're corrected, the wedding goes on ahead. Then Walter Denton interrupts the wedding. He's made to sit down. Mr. Boynton finally arrives, [[AbsentMindedProfessor confused]], to interrupt the movie. Finally, the proxy wedding is forestalled for good when the telegraph delivery boy arrives with the message that the actual bride has just married another man.

* In the Season 10 mid-season finale of ''Series/GreysAnatomy'', April is on the altar, marrying her EMT boyfriend Matthew. Everyone responds affirmatively to the minister's question, "Will you promise to love and support their marriage in all the days to come?". Everyone, that is, except [[spoiler:Jackson, who apologizes to his girlfriend Stephanie, and then stands up... [[CanNotSpitItOut only to stand there in silence, and then sit back down]]. The minister continues, only for [[spoiler:Jackson to stand up again, beginning a heartfelt pouring out of his feelings with, "I love you, April." Jackson ends his speech by asking if April loves him, too]]. Cue shots of many of their colleagues' faces, and April standing trying to make a decision. It took a good [[ToBeContinued ten months]] until this was resolved, and it turns out that [[spoiler:April and Jackson ''did'' run off together to Tahoe and secretly eloped]].

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has Yuna being forcibly hitched to [[BigBad Seymour]]. Cue [[BigDamnHeroes Tidus and the rest of the party]] [[GunshipRescue crashing in on an airship]] and cutting down the guards on their way to save Yuna. As it turns out, [[spoiler:Yuna manages to save herself (after the wedding is finished), and all Tidus and company manage to do is get themselves captured (though they soon escape as well)]].
* Apparently played straight in the final scene of ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'', where you not only interrupt the wedding, but you even get to choose what to yell out -- and yes, "[[TheGraduateHomageShot ELAINE]]!" is an option. Lots of fun. Alas, your heroism is all for naught, since Elaine has long since freed herself and the "bride" under the flowing veil is actually a pair of monkeys.
* In the {{Hentai}} {{RPG}} ''VideoGame/BraveSoul'', Hero Rudy has to bust into the wedding of {{Cloudcuckoolander}} RebelliousPrincess Karen to keep her from getting married to some prince she doesn't want to marry. He disguises himself by wearing [[ClarkKenting a pair of spectacles]]. Then the two of them run off and have sex (mandatory for the genre, after all). The twist is that he gets away with it because the prince didn't really want to marry Karen either -- he's actually gay and finds Rudy ''much'' more attractive.
* In ''VideoGame/RuneFactory 2'', when a girl with a maximum affection for you is being married to another guy, you can choose to congratulate them on their marriage, or be a {{Jerkass}} and run off the altar with her. Funny enough, the girl is apparently waiting for you to take her away, and calls you a coward if you don't, which really makes you wonder why they were marrying the other guy in the first place. Strangely enough, priest Gordon ''never'' says the line, and you get to choose to steal the bridge only after the vow. So, basically, you're destroying a freshly established marriage, rather than preventing one.
* In ''VideoGame/SakuraWars'', the cinematic that shows during a combo between [[TheOjou Sumire]] and [[DoggedNiceGuy Ohgami]] is him crashing her wedding in a scooter and her riding away with him into the sunset. Every time. The LetsPlay by Spirit Armor posits that each time the cinematic plays represents [[ButtMonkey Ohgami]] going back in time to crash ''his own'' wedding.

* The ''Series/LostGirl'' fic [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8794290/1/The-Rest-of-Your-Life The Rest of Your Life]] initially subverts this. Lauren comes to Bo in the dressing room to try and convince her not to marry Dyson, but is shut down. When the priest says the line, its [[spoiler:Bo herself who says she has a reason, namely she had just learned the extreme (and horrible) lengths Dyson went to to ensure Bo and Lauren didn't reconnect.]]

* ''WebComic/{{Swords}}'':

* Subverted in the wedding of Wrestling/{{Edge}} and Wrestling/{{Lita}} on ''Wrestling/{{WWERAW}}'', as the minister says the line, only for the recently-fired Matt Hardy's [[Leitmotif/ProWrestling entrance music]] to fill the arena. The whole ceremony stops for several seconds, only for Edge to bust a gut laughing at the joke he played on the {{Smart Mark}}s in the audience.

* ''Machinima/ArbyNTheChief'' does this twice, first played for laughs ("Wedding"), then for drama ("Collapse").

[[folder:Machinima]]
* Lampshaded and parodied in the ''Machinima/OxhornShortShorts'' video "Inventing Swear Words 4": During Mortuus and Lacy's wedding, the Orc Priest gives the line and practically begs the crowd to speak up. Someone does a little later, which upsets the Priest because they didn't do so earlier.
-->'''Orc Priest:''' And now, if there be any here who can show just cause why these two... people... should not be lovingly be joined together, speak now or forever hold you peace. ''(beat)'' Anyone? Really? No one? This is your big moment! [[OurOgresAreDifferent Thunk]], any objections? No? Sure? Okay, then. Ah- Thought I saw a hand in the back there. No? Just stretching? Sure? Last chance! All right.
[[/folder]]

* ''ComicBook/SensationalSheHulk'': In issue #21, She-Hulk whacks Abominatrix with a street lamp and sends her flying into a church where a couple are about to get married. In response to the priest asking why the couple should not get married, Abominatrix responds "He's drunk as a skunk, she's a bulimic little GoldDigger. Good enough reason?". To add insult to injury, the drunk groom thanks Abominatrix for saving him from making a mistake.

* In ''Series/{{Earth 2}}'', Yale has no patience for this when officiating the (re)marriage of Bess and Morgan:

* Parodied in the GrandFinale of ''Series/{{Miranda}}'': A message on Gary's answering machine leads Miranda to believe that he and romantic rival Jacinta are getting married. She frantically rushes to the venue to stop the wedding, arriving at just the right moment... only to find out Gary is merely the ''best man'', and Jacinta [[WhateverHappenedToTheMouse isn't even present]].

* In Creator/JeffreyArcher's ''Hidden in Plain Sight'', the villain tries disrupts the hero's wedding by claiming that the hero is having an affair with his estranged wife. Since said wife is an invited guest at the wedding and denies this, the vicar proceeds with the wedding.

* During John Byrne's run on ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'', Bruce Banner and Betty Ross get their wedding interrupted at this point by Betty's father, [[GeneralRipper General Ross]] -- who's armed with a gun. He then shoots Rick Jones, but Betty tells him the only way he could prevent her from marrying Bruce is to [[GoThroughMe kill her]] -- and he stands down. Rick, meanwhile, not only survives, but refuses to be taken to the hospital immediately:

* Taken UpToEleven and PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/WhileYouWereSleeping'', in which the main character, having been pretending to be the fiancé of a man in a coma in order to spare the feelings of his family, is now in the chapel about to be married to him, when she's in fact fallen in love with his brother. She doesn't even let the priest get past "Dearly beloved..." before she raises an objection. And then the brother, who is the best man, feels he must also object. And then the groom's ''real'' fiancée storms in and objects. And then ''her husband'' objects to her objection...

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'': Stopping Bowser from forcing Peach to marry him is the driving goal of the entire game, and Mario dramatically bursts into the chapel where the wedding is being held just as Bower's trying to put the ring on Peach (who, to her credit, is actively resisting his attempts to do so, despite being [[SilkHidingSteel daintily-built and dressed in a fancy gown]].)

* ''ComicBook/BackToTheFuture'': In "Biff to the Future", Doc Brown goes back to the day Biff Tannen's parents got married and plans to use that cue to prevent the marriage so Biff won't be born, only to learn it's too late as Biff already exists at this point and his parents only got married because his grandmother didn't want people to know he was conceived out of wedlock.