History Main / WartimeWedding

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In ''Anime/RomeoXJuliet'', [[spoiler: Cordelia and Benvolio]], two members of LaResistance, get married during their revolution, shortly before the final battle.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* Buttercup and Ace have one in {{Fanfic/Pipeline}}. Kevin the UnreliableNarrator muses that they're too young and desperate. Soon after, Buttercup gets pregnant, and they live happily for a bit. Eventually, Buttercup experiences DeathByChildbirth as a result of fusion poisoning, and everyone wishes that "young and desperate" was half of their problems as more and more people die in battle.
* Hovers between Type II and Type III for Jazz and Prowl in ''[[Fanfic/ThingsWeDontTellHumans Things We Don't Tell Humans]]''. While the war is still technically ongoing, with the death of Megatron the Cybertronians act as though it's starting to wind down. Interesting because of the chances of survival element: Jazz has already died once.
* Captain Thomas Lynley and his [[NumberTwo first officer]] Commander Barbara Havers in the FusionFic ''FanFic/AndAllTheStarsBurnedBright'' take advantage of [[spoiler:their ship needing serious repairs]] to get married in the middle of the Dominion War, because they don't know if they'll be coming home alive and dammit, they want to marry each other. It's a small ceremony on the beach with only their senior staff. They later have a more formal wedding in a chapel with the rest of their friends and family as well, but only [[spoiler:after they've won the war]].

* Asuma and Kurenai's wedding in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'' happened when it did partially because of the looming threat of Akatuski, and partially because [[ShotgunWedding Kurenai was several months pregnant]].

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'': Will and Elizabeth not only get married in the middle of a war, but also in the middle of a ''battle''. [[MarriedAtSea On a pirate ship.]] PlayedForLaughs when they realize they need a minister, and decide to enlist the help of ship captain Barbossa (who, apparently, can still perform marriages despite being the captain of a ''pirate'' ship) - but when they ask him, he rightly protests that [[CasualDangerDialogue he's a little busy at the moment]]. In spite of this, he still does so. All participants continue to fight throughout the "ceremony".
-->"Dearly beloved we be gathered here today to-NAIL YER GIZZARD TO THE MAST YA POXY CUR!"
* ''Film/ThisIsTheArmy'': The soldier and his girlfriend nearly don't get married for fear of leaving her a single mother, but in the end she convinces him to marry her anyway.
* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequels, Anakin and Padme secretly marry at the beginning of the Clone Wars.

* In ''Film/SandsOfIwoJima'', PFC Paul Conway, one of the Marines in Sgt. Stryker's (Creator/JohnWayne) squad, marries a girl he met at the USO shortly before the unit is deployed.
* In ''Film/FatherGoose'', Cary Grant's character marries Leslie Caron's after some truly inspired SlapSlapKiss while being strafed by the Japanese. The wedding night isn't any better.

* ''Film/IsParisBurning'': A Vichy France mayor is in the middle of conducting a wedding ceremony when a LaResistance Free French squad takes over the town hall, as the Resistance is rising up in Paris. After the Resistance leader takes the sash of office from the Vichy mayor, he finishes the wedding.
* ''Literature/TheBridgesOfMadisonCounty'': Francesca tells Robert she met Richard when he was one of the American soldiers who liberated Italy during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and they got married soon afterwards.
* ''Film/TheBestYearsOfOurLives'': Fred and Marie got married not long before he shipped out to fight in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII war]]. Turns out to have been a bad idea, because when Fred comes back, not only has he [[ShellShockedVeteran changed]], but it turns out the two of them didn't really know each other that well, leading to their marriage dissolving.
* ''Film/{{Frieda}}'' opens with Robert and Frieda being married by a Polish priest in a bombed out church between the Russian-German lines in Poland in 1945. The flashback to Alan and Judy's wedding in 1940 also counts, with both the groom and the best man dressed in RAF uniform.

* Jerin's [[ExoticExtendedMarriage grandmothers and grandfather]] marry shortly after the war in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice''. This is the reason why [[spoiler: the bridegroom's ancestry is not mentioned in the papers, and only few know that he was actually a prince of the realm]]
* Happens to [[spoiler:Finnick and Annie]] in the third book of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' trilogy, ''Literature/{{Mockingjay}}''. They get married during the middle of the war, and the rebels broadcast it as propaganda, to show that they're not worried and in high spirits.

* There's a villainous twist to this in ''Literature/PhoenixAndAshes''. Alison intends to bespell Reggie into a Wartime Wedding to one of her daughters, magically ensure that an heir is conceived, then [[UriahGambit get Reggie back to the front to be killed]], leaving Alison controlling the Fenyx estate and its wealth through her daughter.
* ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'' has quite a lot of engagements and weddings going on before, during, and after the war. It averts all three above.
** Ashley Wilkes and Melanie Hamilton are engaged during the very beginning of war. He ultimately survives the war, but refuses to be called a hero, depressed by the war horrors.
** Angry and humiliated with this (she had confessed to Ashley after hearing of the engagement plans), Scarlett married young Charles Hamilton a little later. He dies an unheroic death from measles a few weeks later, leaving Scarlett pregnant.
** Later on, Scarlett seduces her sister's fiancé Frank Kennedy for his money to be able to pay Tara's taxes. She gives birth to his daughter, and soon he's shot during a Ku Klux Klan raid.

* This is part of Lori's {{Backstory}} in the ''Literature/AuntDimity'' series: her parents married during WWII. It's also averted by [[spoiler: Dimity, who broke off her engagement to Bobby [=MacLaren=]]]. Curiously, both couple's actions were prompted by the same risk of death due to the war.
* In ''Literature/DeepLove'' Granny and her husband married during [=WW2=]. Their marriage lasted one night.
* In ''The Emperors Winding Sheet'' by Jill Paton Walsh the last Byzantine Emperor visits a wedding party held during while the city is under siege. When one of his courtiers asks if this is the proper time, TheEmperor says "Tomorrow may be too late".
* If you count the seven-year Tribulation period in the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' series as being a war, then the few weddings that took place during it of Tribulation Force members Rayford Steele and Amanda White, Buck Williams and Chloe Steele, and Ming Toy and Ree Woo would count. (Judd Thompson Jr. and Vicki Byrnes of the Young Tribulation Force would also count.) Rayford's marriage to Amanda lasts for about three months at the most, as Amanda died in a plane crash during the Wrath Of The Lamb earthquake, and Buck's marriage to Chloe lasts until a year before Jesus Christ's glorious appearing at the Battle of Armageddon, when she is captured and put to death by the Global Community. The only bright spot of Buck and Chloe's wedding is that they have produced a son, Kenny Bruce, during the years they were married.
* A B-plot in the Literature/GauntsGhosts novel ''Salvation's Reach'' involves the marriage of Captain Ban Daur and his girlfriend Elodie Dutana. At first, she thinks he is having second thoughts [[GreenEyedMonster because of a new arrival]], an officer from his homeworld of Verghast that [[NewOldFlame he knew once upon a time]]. When confronted, he explains that he never felt anything for the other officer, aside from reminisces about his old home, but he was hesitant to go through with it because "a Guardsman who gets married before a mission only does it for one reason" (to provide for his wife in case he dies by ensuring she gets his pension) and he didn't want her to think that he wasn't coming back. He realizes [[PoorCommunicationKills he could just]] ''explain'' that, and they are married on the troopship by Gaunt, with the entire regiment as witnesses. [[spoiler: During the mission to Salvation's Reach, Daur ''is'' seriously wounded, but recovers.]]

* Discussed and executed in ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}''. Notable because everyone is aware that love isn't ''exactly'' the reason for the union, and the resulting citizenship is an added perk.
* In Creator/PoulAnderson's ''Silent Victory'', when a Martian and two Earthlings, a man and a woman, are awaiting a final attack, the Martian genially informs the couple that with his office, he is authorized to perform wedding ceremonies. This reflects not only that the couple have fallen in love, but their friendship with the Martian.
* In Creator/JackCampbell's ''Literature/TheLostFleet'' series, when they face a LastStand, Captain Desjani leaves the bridge for a time. When she returns, she explains she was performing six weddings, probably breaking a lot of regulations in the process.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': A common occurrence, since {{Arranged Marriage}}s are used before and during wartime to secure alliances. In the backstory, [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage Ned and Cat]], as well as Jon and Lysa, got married before the men shipped out to fight for Robert. In the story proper, several characters get married after the War of the Five Kings begins, but they are generally treated as standard procedure at best and horrifyingly bloody at worst instead of {{Hope Spot}}s.
* In the third book of the ''Literature/RedRising'' trilogy, Sevro and Victra get married in between the Battle of Ilium and the final battle on Luna.
* ''Literature/KrisLongknife'':
** Tom and Penny get married in ''Defiant''. During the reception, word arrives that six battleships have just transited Wardhaven's jump point and are demanding the planet surrender. [[spoiler:Tom is killed in the ensuing battle [[HeroicSacrifice shoving Penny out of the way of their ship's bridge's ceiling as it's caved in by enemy fire]].]]
** Kris and Jack plan and execute their wedding [[AltarTheSpeed in the space of about four hours]] when she's ordered to take command of the war effort against the PlanetLooters, so that they can officially tie the knot before revised orders can arrive putting them in the same chain of command and making their relationship illegal.

* Happened a time or two in ''Series/{{Mash}}''. One time it was a couple of Koreans getting married, and Father Mulcahey narrated the wedding for the benefit of those watching who weren't familiar with Korean wedding rites. Most notable would be Margaret's wedding to Donald Penobscott in Season 5, which gets interrupted by incoming wounded, forcing her to attend to victims [[BloodSplatteredWeddingDress in her wedding gown]]. The marriage was always troubled because of the distance between the two, and ultimately ends when she finds out Donald cheated on her (which is ironic considering she was TheMistress in Frank's marriage).
* In Season 2 of ''Series/{{Pennyworth}}'', [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Thomas Wayne and Martha Kane]] marry while London is besieged by the Raven Union. Partly because they really love each other, and also because they want to legitimize their child [[spoiler:who's ''not a boy'', shockingly]].
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': "Balance of Terror" begins with Captain Kirk officiating at the wedding of two of his crew members, right before the ''Enterprise'' is ordered out to deal with a Romulan incursion into TheNeutralZone. [[spoiler:The groom is killed in the fight with the Romulan bird-of-prey.]]
** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
*** [[BetaCouple Rom and Leeta]] have a first type wedding, immediately before the outbreak of the Dominion War (as in, the invasion is ''on the way'').
*** Worf and Jadzia Dax, evacuating to different ships, get officially engaged at the end of the first battle of the war. And, though they initially planned to marry in an elaborate ceremony after the war is ended, after the costly battle to retake the station from the Dominion, [[BreatherEpisode they decide to do it right away]] while all they can be sure that all their loved ones can be there. [[spoiler:Unfortunately she's killed off at the end of the season.]]
* ''Series/DangerUXB'': The protagonist and his Love Interest get married despite him being a bomb disposal officer (he does survive the war, though in a psychologically damaged condition).

* ''Series/MagnificentCentury'': When Süleyman invades Hungary, one of the ''many'' victims is the new husband of a beautiful woman named Victoria. As [[MeaningfulRename Sadika]] goes the CrusadingWidow way, becoming the LadyInWaiting to Süleyman's sister to achieve revenge.
* In ''Series/HoratioHornblower's'' third series, most of Horatio's crew seem to believe his hasty wedding to Maria is because they don't want to miss the opportunity with war freshly renewed. Bush alludes to it himself, but he's also more acquainted with the matter--which is that Horatio is only doing it because he can't figure out how to turn her down. At least everyone else enjoys the festivities.

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', there's a war going on pretty much the entire show, so any wedding that happens is a wartime wedding (except maybe Dany and Drogo's, since they're not in Westeros). A notable example is Robb and Talisa getting married after he meets her working as a BattlefieldNurse, which unfortunately means he breaks his marriage alliance promise with the Freys. This directly leads to a second wedding, [[spoiler:at which both of them are murdered]].

* Eliza and Alexander's wedding in ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}''. They meet when Alexander attends a ball hosted by the Schuylers (presumably near where the Continental Army is encamped), and are married not long after, with Alexander's war buddies serving as his groomsmen and Hercules Mulligan as the flower boy.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', the final episode has Varrick asking Zhu Li in marriage as they are in the middle of a battle against the BigBad and their giant mech.

* One of the recruits that John Wayne trains in ''Film/TheSandsOfIwoJima'' marries a girl he met at the USO shortly before the unit is deployed.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'': Will and Elizabeth not only get married in the middle of a war, but also in the middle of a ''battle''. [[MarriedAtSea On a pirate ship.]] PlayedForLaughs when they realize they need a minister, and decide to enlist the help of ship captain Barbossa (who, apparently, can still perform marriages despite being the captain of a ''pirate'' ship) - but when they ask him, he rightly protests that [[CasualDangerDialog he's a little busy at the moment]]. In spite of this, he still does so. All participants continue to fight throughout the "ceremony".

* ''Film/InLoveAndWar'' (1958) centers on three Marines in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, first on leave, then in battle. One, Nico, uses his leave to propose to and marry his pregnant girlfriend. It isn't a ShotgunWedding; they're genuinely in love and no one is making him. Perhaps predictably, [[spoiler: he's the one of the three who doesn't survive]].

* ''Series/MagnificentCentury'': When Süleyman invades Hungary, one of the ''many'' victims is the new husband of a beautiful woman named Victoria. As [[MeaningfulRename Sadika]] goes the CrusadingWidower way, becoming the LadyInWaiting to Süleyman's sister to achieve revenge.

* The he German drama ''Film/TheMarriageOfMariaBraun'' opens with the eponymous heroine getting married during a bombing raid, no less. After the marriage, her husband leaves for the Eastern Front the day after and they don't see each others for years.

The Wartime Wedding is a great way to put a HopeSpot in a war story in order to lighten the mood. Among other things, a marriage symbolizes love and unity and can remind the characters that things such as happiness still exist. At the same time, the usual joy of the wedding day is undercut by the tragedy of war.

* Weddings right prior to war breaking out or right in the beginning of it: These marriages are usually rushed and can represent calm before the storm. It can be particularly ominous {{Foreshadowing}}. Often ends in the fresh husband going off to war. [[RedShirt These bridegrooms seem to have a fairly low chance of survival]], and if they do come back, [[ShellShockedVeteran they're not the fresh-faced soldiers who got married anymore]].

* Happens to [[spoiler: Finnick and Annie]] in the third book of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' trilogy, ''Mockingjay.'' They get married during the middle of the war, and the rebels broadcast it as propaganda, to show that they're not worried and in high spirits.

* Discussed and executed in Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}. Notable because everyone is aware that love isn't ''exactly'' the reason for the union, and the resulting citizenship is an added perk.

* In Creator/JackCampbell's Literature/TheLostFleet series, when they face a LastStand, Captain Desjani leaves the bridge for a time. When she returns, she explains she was performing six weddings, probably breaking a lot of regulations in the process.

* UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel married Lucia Maria Mollin ​in 1916, in the middle of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, while he had been figthing since 1914.

* UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel married his wife Lucia Maria Mollin ​in 1916, in the middle of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, while he had been figthing since 1914.

* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1942}}'': Diana and ComicBook/SteveTrevor get married after learning that despite winning the battle the war is far from over. It acts as a sort of BittersweetEnding for the Earth-One continuity and there is indeed talk of children.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'': Will and Elizabeth not only get married in the middle of a war, but also in the middle of a ''battle''. [[MarriedAtSea On a pirate ship.]] PlayedForLaughs when they realize they need a minister, and decide to enlist the help of ship captain Barbossa (who, apparently, can still perform marriages despite being the captain of a ''pirate'' ship) - but when they ask him, he rightly protests that [[CasualDangerDialog he's a little busy at the moment]].

* Happened a time or two in ''Series/{{Mash}}''. One time it was a couple of Koreans getting married, and Father Mulcahey narrated the wedding for the benefit of those watching who weren't familiar with Korean wedding rites. Most notable would be Margaret's wedding to Donald Penobscott in Season 5, which gets interrupted by incoming wounded, forcing her to attend to victims [[BloodSpatteredWeddingDress in her wedding gown]]. The marriage was always troubled because of the distance between the two, and ultimately ends when she finds out Donald cheated on her (which is ironic considering she was TheMistress in Frank's marriage).

* Happened a time or two in ''Series/{{Mash}}''. One time it was a couple of Koreans getting married, and Father Mulcahey narrated the wedding for the benefit of those watching who weren't familiar with Korean wedding rites.

* A staple in the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games of all continuities and specially important in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral'' [[spoiler: (as it secures the appearance of the second generation characters who lead the second part's plot)]], ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' [[spoiler: (because as soon as the first generation female characters plus Chrom and/or the Avatar of either gender marry, this unlocks the appearance of the [[KidFromTheFuture Kids From The]] BadFuture.)]] and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' [[spoiler: because when the Avatar of either gender, Azura and the non-Avatarsexual first generation guys marry, their children who have been raised in other dimensions also show up.)]]

The Wartime Wedding is a great way to put a HopeSpot in a war story in order to lighten the mood. Among other things, a marriage symbolizes love and unity and can remind the characters that things such as happiness still exist. At the same time, the usual joy of the WeddingDay is undercut by the tragedy of war.

* Weddings right after war: When the wartime sweethearts have HookedUpAfterwards, they're very likely to get married to show that, somehow, the characters are moving on with their lives. This type of wartime wedding generally symbolizes the beginning of recovery, especially if [[BabiesMakeEverythingBetter there's talk of children]]. Oftentimes used as a BittersweetEnding.

* If you count the seven-year Tribulation period as being a war, then the few weddings that took place during it of Tribulation Force members Rayford Steele and Amanda White, Buck Williams and Chloe Steele, and Ming Toy and Ree Woo would count in the Literature/LeftBehind series. (Judd Thompson Jr. and Vicki Byrnes of the Young Tribulation Force would also count.) Rayford's marriage to Amanda lasts for about three months at the most, as Amanda died in a plane crash during the Wrath Of The Lamb earthquake, and Buck's marriage to Chloe lasts until a year before Jesus Christ's glorious appearing at the Battle of Armageddon, when she is captured and put to death by the Global Community. The only bright spot of Buck and Chloe's wedding is that they have produced a son, Kenny Bruce, during the years they were married.

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequels, Anakin and Padme secretly marry at the beginning of the clone wars.

** [[spoiler:Matthew and Lavinia]] planned to marry once he came home from the war, but after he comes back crippled he decides that [[InsecureLoveInterest he isn't good enough for her anymore.]] Ultimately, [[spoiler: he renews the engagement at her insistence when he is found to be miraculously healed, but she dies of the Spanish flu just days before the wedding, in what's implied to be a DeathByDespair since she has just learned his heart now belongs to Mary.]]