Skip to content

Top Navigation

EW.com EW.com
    • All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Winter TV
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
    • All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
    • All Music
    • Music Reviews
    • All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • The Bachelor
    • The Last of Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • You
    • The Masked Singer
    • Yellowstone
    • Saturday Night Live
    • Outer Banks
    • All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
    • All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
    • All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
    • All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe

Explore EW.com

EW.com EW.com
  • Explore

    Explore

    • The Fast and the Furious cast: Where are they now?

      The Fast and the Furious cast: Where are they now?

      Catch up with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and the rest of your favorite stars from the film that kicked off the hit franchise. Read More
    • How Grant Gustin runs The Flash — and the Arrowverse — across the finish line 

      How Grant Gustin runs The Flash — and the Arrowverse — across the finish line 

      The actor explains why he decided to end the CW’s last remaining Arrowverse show after nine seasons, and teases what to expect from next week’s epic series finale. Read More
    • Michelle Yeoh on the significance of American Born Chinese and her 'respectful' goddess action scenes

      Michelle Yeoh on the significance of American Born Chinese and her 'respectful' goddess action scenes

      The Academy Award winner previews the Disney+ action comedy series rooted in Chinese mythology: “Our culture, our heritage, is so steeped with history and beauty." Read More
  • TV

    TV

    See All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Winter TV
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies

    Movies

    See All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music

    Music

    See All Music
    • Music Reviews
  • What to Watch

    What to Watch

    See All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
  • BINGE

    BINGE

    See All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • The Bachelor
    • The Last of Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • You
    • The Masked Singer
    • Yellowstone
    • Saturday Night Live
    • Outer Banks
  • The Awardist

    The Awardist

    See All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Books

    Books

    See All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater

    Theater

    See All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events

    Events

    See All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. TV
  3. From Rachel Green to Chelsy Davy: Pop culture's best exes-at-weddings moments

From Rachel Green to Chelsy Davy: Pop culture's best exes-at-weddings moments

Prince Harry has reportedly invited some of his former girlfriends to the royal wedding — but he's not the first
By Ruth Kinane,  Maureen Lee Lenker and Mary Sollosi May 15, 2018 at 02:46 PM EDT
Skip gallery slides
FB

1 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Here comes the ex

prince-harry-2-2000
Credit: Dave Benett/Getty Images; Samir Hussein/WireImage; Dave Benett/Getty Images

As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding approaches, we’re devouring every detail trickling out about their big day — including who will be in attendance. Amid reports that Harry’s ex-girlfriends Cressida Bonas (right), Ellie Goulding, and Chelsy Davy (left) made the guest list for the royal nuptials, we’ve revisited movie and TV weddings where one (or more) of the bride or groom’s exes made a memorable appearance (the outcomes of which vary significantly). Read on to relive 11 such ceremonies.

1 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Friends

Friends
Credit: Oliver Upton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

“I, Ross, take thee, Rachel…”

Of all the horror stories that could arise from having your ex attend your wedding, accidentally saying their name in your vows is probably the worst. Ross (David Schwimmer) makes a faux pas for the ages when he names Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) in his vows during his wedding to Emily (Helen Baxendale) in the Season 4 finale. Rachel hadn’t planned to attend the wedding in London, declining the invitation, but she flies there at the last minute planning to confess she still loves Ross. In the end, Rachel decides not to be the worst wedding guest ever and instead merely wishes Ross luck — but her presence does the damage on its own, causing Ross to mistakenly name her during the ceremony. In the end, it's for the best — elongating the “will they-won’t they” narrative of Rachel and Ross’ love and adding a comedic moment to their decade-long star-crossed romance.

2 of 12

3 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

My Best Friend's Wedding 

MCDMYBE EC041
Credit: Everett Collection

Julia Roberts stars in the ultimate tale of the other-woman-at-the-wedding. Julianne (Roberts) and Michael (Dermot Mulroney) make a pact to marry if they both reach 28 unmarried, but when Michael gets engaged to Kimmy (Cameron Diaz), Julianne decides she wants him for herself regardless of age and goes to all kinds of lengths to win him back. She's ultimately unsuccessful, but luckily her (other) best friend (Rupert Everett) is there to pick up the pieces.

3 of 12

Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

4 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

How I Met Your Mother

HIMYM
Credit: CBS

“Don’t ever invite an ex to your wedding,” the disembodied voice of middle-aged Ted (Bob Saget) advises his children before this particular chapter in the tale of how he met their mother. He learned that lesson the hard way: Despite the vehement protestations of his fiancée Stella (Sarah Chalke), young Ted (Josh Radnor) more or less accidentally invites one of each of their exes to the big event. Then, when he and Stella separately confront their own respective former partners, Ted gets his own ex to leave before the ceremony, but Stella isn’t so successful — she runs away with hers. But you know what? It’s fine! If Ted had married Stella he never would have met your mother!

4 of 12

Advertisement

5 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and A Funeral - 1994
Credit: Polygram/Working Title/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

This Richard Curtis rom-com has not one, but two cases of exes attending weddings and both of them are utterly disastrous experiences. Charles (Hugh Grant) attends Carrie’s (Andie MacDowell) wedding, after having already confessed his love for her while helping her select her wedding gown! Not only is Charles utterly miserable there, but he also finds out his best friend Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas) has been carrying a torch for him for years and their other friend, Gareth (Simon Callow), suffers a fatal heart attack during the groom’s toast. Carrie also attends Charles’ wedding to tell him she has separated from her husband, causing him to realize she, not the woman standing next to him at the altar, is the only woman he’s ever loved. Ruined weddings galore!

5 of 12

6 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Will & Grace

Will & Grace - Season 1
Credit: Chris Haston/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

We know that if Will (or Grace for that matter) was going to be the ex at the wedding there was going to be plenty of neuroses and drama. When Will discovers that his ex Vince is getting married, he becomes obsessed with figuring out what went wrong in their relationship. In true sitcom style, everything is resolved by the end of the episode, but not before Will makes a toast to himself for being a sad, lonely man. Oh, dear.

6 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

7 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

The Philadelphia Story

Film and Television
Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock

In pop culture, an ex at the wedding means they might end up being the one walking down the aisle (or running away with the bride/groom), and it’s a time-worn trope providing an excellent narrative framework for The Philadelphia Story. When C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) arrives for Tracy Lord’s (Katharine Hepburn) wedding weekend, he’s there purely on work pretenses (or so it seems) — helping a team of reporters attend to cover the nuptials for Spy magazine. But over the course of the wedding festivities, we learn that Dexter never got over Tracy — and as she does some soul-searching (and gets drunk for the second time ever in life), she finds herself drawn to her first husband who she once dismissed for the grave sin of being human.

7 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement

8 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Sabrina the Teenage Witch 

sabrina
Credit: ABC

Not that we're here to condone ditching your betrothed on the big day, but when it comes to soul mates, we're good with a little altar jilting. Sabrina and Harvey go way back to her first day at Westbridge High School, when he complimented her on her symmetrical face. Though they drifted as they got older, there was nothing keeping them apart in the end. The no-longer-teenage witch flees her wedding at 12:36 — the exact time she and Harvey met for the first time. Magic!

8 of 12

Advertisement

9 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Girls 

girls-1-2000
Credit: HBO

The fifth season of Girls opens with Marnie’s (Allison Williams) unfortunate marriage to the insufferable Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). In attendance at their faux-boho ceremony is Marnie’s onetime lover Ray (Alex Karpovsky), who talks the groom down from a pre-nuptial meltdown despite his own tortured longing for the bride. As if the monstrous makeup weren’t enough of a sign that the whole thing is doomed.

9 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

10 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

The Graduate

Film and Television
Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock

One of the most iconic final scenes in New Hollywood history immediately follows a young man crashing his ex’s wedding (where he could count both the bride and her mother among his former paramours). After Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) successfully interrupts the ceremony and escapes with the almost-married Elaine Robinson (Katharine Ross), their fleeting moment of triumph fades away into doubt as they both grasp what they just did, and wonder where their lives are headed from there.

10 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

11 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Happy Endings

Happy-endings
Credit: ABC

This one is less ex-at-the-wedding and more random-guy-from-work at the wedding, but it still worked as a way for Alex to get out of marrying Dave. Note to would-be wedding crashers: Rollerblades seem to woo the ladies away from their grooms.

11 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement

12 of 12

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

The Mindy Project

The Mindy Project - Season 2
Credit: Jordin Althaus/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling) has a lot of exes — so it’s inevitable that she would attend at least a couple of their weddings. The series began with one such event, with Mindy giving a drunken, cringe-worthy speech at ex Tom’s (Bill Hader) wedding before crashing a bike into a swimming pool, leading her to vow to reform her personal and professional life (hint: she doesn’t — at least not at first). But that wasn’t the only ex's wedding she attended — perhaps even more disastrously, in the second season, she goes to ex Josh’s (Tommy Dewey) wedding with Peter (Adam Pally) as her date. Mindy actually is totally cool, but Peter ruins everything when he sleeps with the sex addict bride in the bathroom during the reception. Mindy tries to save things by giving a speech, but the irate guests end up literally throwing cake at her (and each other).

12 of 12

Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

  • By Ruth Kinane
  • By Maureen Lee Lenker @themaureenlee
  • By Mary Sollosi @missollosi

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 12 Here comes the ex
    2 of 12 Friends
    3 of 12 My Best Friend's Wedding 
    4 of 12 How I Met Your Mother
    5 of 12 Four Weddings and a Funeral
    6 of 12 Will & Grace
    7 of 12 The Philadelphia Story
    8 of 12 Sabrina the Teenage Witch 
    9 of 12 Girls 
    10 of 12 The Graduate
    11 of 12 Happy Endings
    12 of 12 The Mindy Project

    Share & More

    Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message
    EW.com

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Meredith© Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab Do Not Sell My Personal Informationthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright EW.com. All rights reserved. Printed from https://ew.com

    View image

    From Rachel Green to Chelsy Davy: Pop culture's best exes-at-weddings moments
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.