Hollywood loves lovers and happy, wacky wedding stories

Tis the season for happily ever afters. And for every happy couple tying the knot this summer, there's a wedding movie to match -- or, more accurately, to provide comedic contrast.

Even "The Hangover Part II" ends with a romantic ceremony at a palatial Thai beach resort. But not before the groom endures an entire movie's worth of R-rated Bangkok misadventures -- with the same buddies who shared the first wedding-eve "Hangover" in Las Vegas.

And the "Bridesmaids" of the summer's other wedding-themed hit endure a raucous range of prenuptial complications, from a jealous attendant trying to undercut the maid of honor's authority to a particularly nasty case of food poisoning -- which, inevitably, strikes en masse while the title characters are trying on dresses at a swanky bridal salon.

Yes, cinematic weddings can be comedically complicated, all right. In this summer's "Something Borrowed," the handsome future groom finds himself drawn to the quiet law-school classmate who introduced him to her best friend: his life-of-the-party fiancee. Or consider the uptown versus downtown conflict at the heart of "Jumping the Broom," in which the bride's old-money family and the groom's blue-collar relatives, who have never met, converge on Martha's Vineyard for the big event.

The fact that this summer's movie lineup includes a trio of wedding movies -- it's a quartet, if you count the "Hangover" sequel -- testifies to the theme's perennial appeal.

When Marisa Rodriguez thinks of wedding movies, she automatically thinks of happy endings.

"Even if there's some drama, you're always happy at the end of the movie," says the 31-year-old Las Vegan, who just completed her first year of law school -- and will be a bride herself next month.

Among Rodriguez's wedding-movie favorites: 1999's "Runaway Bride" (at the time, she identified with Julia Roberts' independent, altar-averse title character) and the big fat 2002 hit "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," in which the bride must deal with her large ethnic family's demands before she can walk down the aisle.

Such prenuptial pressures -- inevitably exaggerated for comic effect -- account for part of wedding movies' overall appeal, whether it's this summer's battling "Bridesmaids" or 2005's "Monster-in-Law," which pitted a feisty bride (Jennifer Lopez) against the witchy title character (Jane Fonda).

"I really enjoyed that one," in part because "you're praying that does not happen to you," says newlywed Tyler Coonts , 26, an account coordinator at a local marketing firm who married last month.

And unlike some guys who refuse to experience the chick-flick pleasures of wedding movies, Tyler's "a good sport," notes wife Lisa Coonts, 25. "I'm lucky -- I get to drag him" along -- unlike one of her friends, who sees wedding movies with her female friends because her husband won't go to them.

Rodriguez's fiance, dance studio owner Sergei Shapoval , 31, loves movies -- including wedding movies.

"I do like pretty much anything," he says. Besides, "it's nice to see a happy ending or laugh about what happens at the wedding."

One of his favorites: 1994's "Four Weddings and a Funeral," in part because of the wide range of comedic characters in attendance, providing an ideal opportunity to "laugh at different people."

In "Bridesmaids," Lisa Coonts identified with the "drama between the bride and the maid of honor" -- in her case, her twin sister, Izabell , who's "single and, like the girl in the movie, she's focusing on getting her own life together." It may be cliche, she adds, but it does happen.

And 1991's "Father of the Bride" -- especially Martin Short's eccentric wedding planner Franck Eggelhoffer -- reminds Las Vegas wife and mother Kari Wiesner Stockham, 41, of her own wedding planner's obsession over "the RSVP count," she recalls.

Dawn Heaney , 36 -- who runs the Las Vegas bridal salon Couture Bride with fellow New York transplant Annette Cirillo-Bergen , 56 -- may be surrounded by wedding gowns all day, but she still loves watching wedding movies.

"They're selling fantasy," Heaney says. "Every little girl wants to be a princess." And, when she's wearing a wedding gown, she can be.

Naturally, both Cirillo-Bergen and Heaney consider 2008's "Sex and the City" movie -- in which heroine Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) models multiple wedding gowns for a fashion magazine layout -- "the ultimate wedding try-on fantasy," Heaney notes.

Other favorites: 2008's "27 Dresses," about a lovelorn always-a-bridesmaid, 2009's friends-turned-rivals romp "Bride Wars," this summer's "Bridesmaids" -- and, of course, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which Heaney calls "the perfect Cinderella story," with a heroine who "transforms from an ugly duckling to a swan."

Yet even such raunchy romps as 2005's "Wedding Crashers" and "The Hangover" ultimately shine a rose-colored spotlight on romance.

"You always hope for a happy ending, but that's not really how it is," acknowledges Wiesner Stockham, who celebrated her 10th anniversary on Cinco de Mayo. "The wedding is the easy part. Marriage is the challenge!"

Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.