The Enthusiasts Guide from “Yes” to “I Do”
Host Leah Haslage is pulling back the veil to bring you honest advice and creative ideas from those in the wedding industry. From the Engagement to the Honeymoon, get all the details you need from wedding and event experts on how to make it your best day ever!
The Best Weddings in Movies and TV with Christina Jeurling Birro, Host of Pop Culture Confidential
Love a good wedding movie or television episode?! Christina Jeurling Birro, host of the podcast Pop Culture Confidential, shares behind the scene stories of the making of some of her favorite wedding movies and television shows of all-time!
Movies:
The Deer Hunter 01:56
The Godfather 05:13
Goodfellas 6:44; 8:39
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 08:02
Steel Magnolias 09:25
Runaway Bride 14:23
When Harry Met Sally 16:05
Crazy Rich Asians 19:28
TV:
The Crown 21:58
The Office 25:31
Parks and Rec 26:53
Schitt’s Creek 27:49
Follow Pop Culture Confidential on Twitter, Instagram and your favorite podcast app!
Get to Know Christina:
Journalist Christina Jeurling Birro interviews the most innovative and influential people working in television, film, entertainment and pop culture.
Pop Culture Confidential is an international interview podcast with industry professionals from film, TV, journalism, media and more. Guests on Pop Culture Confidential include: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Cox, Pamela Adlon, Cynthia Nixon Gloria Steinem, Alicia Vikander, John Turturro, Paul Raci, Jeremy Strong, Arian Moayed former Obama speechwriter David Litt, Brian Tyree Henry, Padma Lakshmi, Kaitlyn Dever, Anthony Ramos, Emily Blunt, David Sedaris, Susan Sarandon, Sterling K Brown, Netflix Ted Sarandos, Henry Winkler, director Damien Chazelle, director Paul Feig, Kate Mulgrew and Uzo Aduba, Jean Smart, Mark Ruffalo, director Tom McCarthy Spotlight, Carol screenwriter Phyllis Nagy, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, sitcom producer Chuck Lorre, screenwriter Steven Knight, director Kirsten Johnson, legendary casting director Ellen Lewis (Goodfellas, Forrest Gump), Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Carrie Coon, Academy Award winning set decorator Star Wars/Alien Roger Christian, Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi, writer/producer Allison Silverman (The Colbert Report, Kimmy Schmidt), Joe Toplyn a head writer on The Late Show with David Letterman and many more.
Leah Longbrake:
Christina, welcome to Weddings Unveiled. I am thrilled to have you here with us today to geek out together over movies and TV.
Christina Birro:
Thank you so much for having me. I'm thrilled to be here as well. One of my favorite topics is movies and diving into this is so much fun.
Leah Longbrake:
So, for those not familiar, tell us about your podcast, Pop Culture Confidential.
Christina Birro:
Well, I have a podcast where I interview everyone from the industry. Actors, directors, writers, but also media. We look into current events if it has a politics or culture. And, I've been doing it for about three or four years now. And well, I'm a journalist for 20 years already, but I've mostly done TV so this was new to me. And, it's just really fun.
Leah Longbrake:
It's a fantastic podcast.
Christina Birro:
Thank you.
Leah Longbrake:
I recommend everyone check it out. It's through Evergreen Podcasts, so we're family now.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I'm so happy to be with you guys.
Leah Longbrake:
So, let's get started on the first of the wedding movies that you've chosen and it's such a fascinating choice. Your first one that you chose is The Deer Hunter. Which is not the first one that most people would think of when it's, "Hey, let's talk about wedding movies."
Christina Birro:
No, I thought it'd be interesting to start with a couple of movies that actually start with weddings and that have a really, really interesting production around them. So, The Deer Hunter is quite a controversial movie. Michael Cimino, the director was criticized for it being a very one-sided portrayal of the north Vietnamese. It had a lot of problems. I mean, Michael Cimino himself, a super perfectionist, the next movie he made was one of the biggest flops ever in Hollywood history, Heaven's Gate.
Christina Birro:
But, the perfectionist he was, this wedding that begins the movie is absolutely amazing. It was supposed to be 20 minutes, turned out to be 51. Basically, the movie starts at the wedding. One of the characters Steven, played by John Savage is getting married to his girlfriend. And, it's basically a double thing in the narrative because it's both the wedding and it's kind of a going away party for Robert de Niro and Christopher Walken who are going to Vietnam. Meryl Streep is there. She has a wonderful performance together with her then actual boyfriend, John Cazale, who I adore, who was very sick during the making of this movie.
Christina Birro:
But, anyway, that's a wonderful first. But, the wedding itself was filmed in a real Russian Orthodox church with a real life priest and this incredible reception. Cimino, everything had to be real. The choir that sings, they sang that hymns 50 times for him in order to do this scene. And he asked all the extras, hundreds of extras to wrap gifts so that they would look real. And, while they were doing this production, he didn't realize that they had actually brought real gifts, not only wrapped boxes. So, there was a whole bunch of gifts.
Leah Longbrake:
Oh, wow.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. And, so everything is completely real. And, also this was supposed to be set in the fall, but they filmed in the summer. So they had to do all these things with the leaves and the trees and paint them orange. And, it's a pretty spectacular scene to look at actually, just to get that realistic. Have you seen it?
Leah Longbrake:
Yeah. I have and it's not only one of the most iconic movies. I mean, it's AFIs... In the top 50 or 60 of all time. And, you mentioned Meryl Streep being in it, correct me if I'm wrong I believe that was her first Oscar nomination ever for supporting?
Christina Birro:
Yeah, yeah. And, she's so great in it. They could have used her even more.
Leah Longbrake:
I agree. The wedding scene, my favorite part, and I think one of the most notable is the big wedding dance scene.
Christina Birro:
Oh, it's incredible.
Leah Longbrake:
They do the traditional Russian Orthodox wedding dance. And, I didn't think about it until you just said about the wedding gifts, but you'll see it as they're carrying the bride and groom out the door, you see this overflowing, pile of gifts on the table. So, who knew the extras were supplying? It wasn't just props per se.
Christina Birro:
No, no.
Leah Longbrake:
And, there's a special story behind it.
Christina Birro:
No, he wanted them to wrap the gifts so they would look as gifts would, but he didn't mean for them to actually bring gifts, but they did. So, they feel heavy. They look heavy. Yeah. So, that's an amazing movie and or amazing start. And, I wanted to sort of compare it to the start of The Godfather, which also starts with an incredible narrative.
Leah Longbrake:
Yes.
Christina Birro:
And, I think this is just a masterclass in writing, directing and how he weaves every single character into this scene. In this wedding, you get to know everyone. You get to know everyone's relationship with each other. What's going to happen. If you really look closely, you'll see everything that will happen in the movie. It's also such a beautiful wedding. Connie, played by Francis Ford Coppola's actual sister Talia Shire. It looks just beautiful with the Sicilian music and it's just, I mean, that's more of a classic wedding intro that everyone knows.
Leah Longbrake:
But, you feel like when you're watching it, like you are in a traditional Italian wedding. You have the older relatives up there singing "That's Amore" in Italian and the dancing just like with The Deer Hunter.
Christina Birro:
Yeah.
Leah Longbrake:
But, I agree with the fashions being impeccable and same thing with The Deer Hunter because the movie came out in 78, but it takes place in the late sixties. And, I think they did a stellar job with getting the-
Christina Birro:
Oh, beautiful.
Leah Longbrake:
Pink chiffon bridesmaids dresses, and her wedding dress really on point for that era. And same with Godfather.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. And, the thing about Godfather too, is that you're introduced to a bunch of other, because you have all the sort of rich friends and the politicians and the cultures meeting and seeing this wedding, it really is incredible.
Leah Longbrake:
And, you mentioned Godfather, another mafia movie that you wanted to tie in, which I never would've thought of was Goodfellas.
Christina Birro:
Well, Goodfellas has a spectacular wedding scene. There you have Henry Hill and Karen Friedman. So that's Lorraine Bracco getting married to Ray Liotta. And, the scene just before the wedding is him pistol whipping another man so it's a very harsh cut into this wedding scene. And, what we get first as a small Jewish ceremony in a small house, maybe 10 or so guests because she's Jewish. And then all of a sudden cut to the Italian part of the wedding.
Christina Birro:
A very simple sort of a restaurant type ballroom. But there Michael Ballhaus, the cinematographer, he just weaves around this party and you see the older guests and she's completely... You see Karen, she's just overwhelmed by all these Italian saying hello. This family member and they're all named the same thing. It's Tony, Tony, Tony, and she's just sort of twirling around and the camera's following her and she looks beautiful and she looks very happy and they get all these Italian traditions where they get money and you really see the sort of this part of the Italian American mafia, where they have a bit of money they're doing pretty well, and this wedding, it's just a spectacular scene. And, that Scorsese style where the camera just roams around this whole room.
Leah Longbrake:
That makes me think of My Big Fat Greek Wedding because he is-
Christina Birro:
Right.
Leah Longbrake:
An only child and his parents are very conservative and kind of quiet and then they'd get thrust into this big Greek family where a lot of the guys have the same names and there's all these customs and traditions. And it's, "What do I do?"
Christina Birro:
Absolutely. That's a great comparison. Yeah, it's sort of, there's a few sub genres I'm sure we'll get into in the wedding genre. That one for example is where someone gets sort of overwhelmed by another family's wedding traditions. And, these are sort of two of those, but Goodfellas, you also see that she's both a little scared but mostly intrigued by this lifestyle. You get to see in that scene before that, I mentioned that she's kind of intrigued by the violence too. She hides the gun for him. And she says as much that this was a bit intriguing. So, you sort of see her entrance into this family as she's not particularly scared of it at the moment.
Leah Longbrake:
At the moment.
Christina Birro:
Not really [crosstalk 00:09:22].
Leah Longbrake:
[crosstalk 00:09:23].
Christina Birro:
See it.
Leah Longbrake:
No, but that's a great one. And I want to go back and rewatch that one because again, I haven't watched it in so long and hadn't thought about it. So, next is every rom com enthusiasts, favorite queen of weddings, Julia Roberts.
Christina Birro:
She is the queen. What's your favorite Julia Roberts wedding movie?
Leah Longbrake:
It's Steel Magnolias.
Christina Birro:
Is it? Mine too.
Leah Longbrake:
Unveilers that have been listening to the show from day one have probably heard me quote it a gazillion times, because I always bring up the Armadillo scene or "My colors are blush and bashful."
Christina Birro:
"Your colors are pink and pink."
Leah Longbrake:
"Your colors are pink and pink. It looks like the hall's been hosed down with Pepto-Bismol." It's so good.
Christina Birro:
It's so good and it's so emotional. I mean, that's the movie you cry your way through. This is the sub genre of the getting prepared for a wedding movie, sort of the Father of the Bride. Where you see the whole process of a wedding.
Leah Longbrake:
Yes.
Christina Birro:
And Steel Magnolias is just so wonderful. This group of women and their relationship to each other and how they help each other through the best of times, the worst of times. And, Julia Roberts is a bit different in this one because at the beginning she's sort of, I don't know if... spoiled brat is a little much, but she's very... She knows what she wants.
Leah Longbrake:
She's the only daughter with two brothers and she gets her way.
Christina Birro:
Exactly. And, but then I'm not sure I want to spoil it too much, but then it takes quite a turn, the movie, with her character. But, I adore that. And even though it's maybe a wedding, I myself did not have any big weddings. I just think that with all the problems you see while they're arranging this wedding and trying to get out of all the birds out of the trees and the father... It just is so much love in there in that scene at the end.
Leah Longbrake:
And much like Godfather, since they start this movie off with the preparing of the wedding, it's the wedding day. It's a great way to introduce all the characters and get an insight into how the characters are going to interact with each other.
Christina Birro:
Right, right. You get everyone's personality and everyone's arc that touches at it in that wedding scene. So, when you get to the final scene, which is, what can I say? Very dramatic.
Leah Longbrake:
Very dramatic.
Christina Birro:
You really understand the relationship to each other and how they've been there for each other and who takes what role in these people's lives.
Leah Longbrake:
Right.
Christina Birro:
No, it's really beautiful. And I would like-
Leah Longbrake:
Talking about the other cultures, like the Greek weddings and the Italian weddings here, you have an example of a big Southern wedding where the entire town's invited. And, she's got the big hair and the puffy dress.
Christina Birro:
Poofy hair.
Leah Longbrake:
And, 13 bridesmaids because, "Mama made me have my cousins and Marty St. Maury." And, they had these big hats.
Christina Birro:
And, the Daryl Hannah character who's the new hairdresser, she asks Sally Fields, "Are you going to put your dress over your head? Because, I tend to go very poofy when I [inaudible 00:12:26]."
Leah Longbrake:
Yeah. It's just... "You can't mess it up. It looks like a football helmet."
Christina Birro:
No, it really is and all of those details are perfect. And, as you were mentioning the armadillo cake, which is part of the bachelor party? Is it the bachelor party?
Leah Longbrake:
The groom's cake.
Christina Birro:
The groom's cake, right. Exactly. And no, it's really... And, I rewatched it and it's not a wedding movie, but I came to think of, have you seen Terms of Endearment?
Leah Longbrake:
Yes. But it's been so long.
Christina Birro:
It's actually quite a very... It's a lot like Terms of Endearment at the end. There's a few things I was thinking that they feel very similar and both of those are movies that just make me cry and cry.
Leah Longbrake:
Right? Yeah. We just need a good cry either movie on yeah. If you have a dry face, if you are not bawling at the end, you might need to go see a therapist or something or something might not be right. It's heart and gut wrenching.
Christina Birro:
And I have to say, I cried at both of these movies before I had kids too. So, they really do something to you don't necessarily... It's just very, very emotional in that way that you're laughing and crying at the same time.
Leah Longbrake:
Yeah, and oh yeah. I don't want to give spoilers alert if you have not seen Steel Magnolias, there's one scene in particular that you do so uncontrollably and then you laugh so hard.
Christina Birro:
But it is [crosstalk 00:13:48] 30 years old?
Leah Longbrake:
Yeah.
Christina Birro:
We should be able to spoil it I think.
Leah Longbrake:
It's supposed to say there's a funeral involved if you haven't seen it. And, at the grave site, Sally Field gives one of the greatest performances and makes you bawl your eyes out, but then Ouiser played by Shirley MacLaine and Olympia Dukakis, may she rest in peace. One of the greatest ever, playing Clairee, just make you laugh uncontrollably. You just go from one extreme emotion to the other. And it's just... It's one of the best wedding movies ever.
Christina Birro:
And there you see that friendship we were talking about at the beginning and how strong it is and how acceptant they are of each other, because Ouiser is not an easy person, Shirley MacLaine's character.
Leah Longbrake:
No.
Christina Birro:
But, you sort of feel that this small town, they know each other so well that they accept all these things. And no, it's really one of my absolute favorite wedding movies ever.
Leah Longbrake:
And with that, let's go to some of the other Julia Roberts movies, because this kind of started it for her. And, then she got luckily sucked in to doing more for us.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. She's such a gorgeous bride. I mean, you're like, "Oh my God."
Leah Longbrake:
I mean, with Runaway Bride alone, and she gave us so many great looks.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. So great. So great. Is that your favorite one? No. You like the Steel Magnolias?
Leah Longbrake:
Steel Magnolias but I have to say when it comes in order for the Julia Roberts movies, Runaway Bride probably took over as number two and then My Best Friend's Wedding.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. Yeah. That's my order too. And, the only thing about this, how could they not choose Julia Roberts?
Leah Longbrake:
No, it's true. I can't think of any other actress that could do what she did in those roles.
Christina Birro:
No, no, she's unbelievable.
Leah Longbrake:
But with Runaway Bride, one of the things I loved was when she was trying on the wedding dress with Richard Gere, and this is when they're kind of starting to fall for each other. But she said, what she loved about the dress was how it made her think of like a church bell and how it swayed.
Christina Birro:
Yes, I remember that.
Leah Longbrake:
[crosstalk 00:15:49] with the dress because the camera pans down the dress. It's sleeveless and it has sheer, but then satin to it and it kind of, it kind of stripes on the skirt when they pan down and she's just swaying back and forth and the skirt just kind of sways back and forth and it is shaped like a bell. And you don't think at first until she says it and it's, that's so romantic and pretty. The best dress to me is the ending.
Christina Birro:
Yeah.
Leah Longbrake:
The off the shoulder sat and down with her hair down at the curls, it's just pure romance.
Christina Birro:
So beautiful.
Leah Longbrake:
Okay. Okay. The next movie I'm so excited about because no one ever thinks of this for a wedding. I'm so happy you did. When Harry Met Sally.
Christina Birro:
Well, When Harry Met Sally is like so many. I think I'm certainly not alone, one of my absolute favorite relationship movie. And what's so beautiful, there's actually two weddings in this. If you can say that. The first one is when Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby get married and it's just so sweet, even though Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal are fighting in that scene, you understand how this relationship... They're so much in love. It's a gorgeous New York venue. That's where I got married. And no, not at that venue, not at that venue, but in New York.
Christina Birro:
But, that room is so gorgeous. The speech that Bruno Kirby gives where he says, "If we would..." Because, the point was, the double date was that Billy Crystal was supposed to be with Carrie Fisher and so on. And, so the speeches, "If we would have found either of these two Harry or Sally remotely attractive, we would not be married today." And, Sally is so beautiful to the Carrie Fisher character when she starts crying, when she sees her beautiful dress.
Leah Longbrake:
Yes.
Christina Birro:
And, then at the end of When Harry met Sally, it's what you've been waiting for is that they finally get together after what is it? 12 years and three months or whatever they say. You don't actually see the wedding, but they're sitting in this couch at the end where they have all these little short interviews with married couples and Harry and Sally talk about their wedding. And, it's just, you can see it when she describes it. How she describes it. "We had this beautiful coconut cake with chocolate sauce on the side, very rich chocolate on the side."
Leah Longbrake:
[inaudible 00:18:11].
Christina Birro:
Yes. "Because, not everyone likes chocolate on their coconut." And, how they describe it as beautiful, and you can just see. It's just the perfect ending and you don't really even want to see the wedding because it's just... It's the thing about Harry and Sally are their conversations, their fights, their conversations, how they talk about love. And, so at the end that you don't see it, you just hear them, I think is a fantastic ending to that movie.
Leah Longbrake:
Oh, I totally agree. And yeah, most people would not ever think of that ending as being the second wedding in the movie really, she's even wearing white.
Christina Birro:
Yes. That's so true. I didn't think of that.
Leah Longbrake:
I mean, they could've done to City Hall and gone right to the interview. You don't know.
Christina Birro:
Exactly.
Leah Longbrake:
But back to Jess and Marie's wedding, the late for Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher. I like to think Jess and Marie are in heaven together. Her dress another beautiful off the shoulder.
Christina Birro:
So simple.
Leah Longbrake:
89, 1990 look, but would be very in vogue today.
Christina Birro:
Yes.
Leah Longbrake:
It's back in vogue, the slightly puffy sleeve the off the shoulder. Meg Ryan's looked stunning on her. It's a little dated now, but it was a great deep green and black velvet.
Christina Birro:
Yeah, that green dress. Yeah.
Leah Longbrake:
It looked beautiful on her. And very of the time.
Christina Birro:
All her clothes in that movie are fabulous. All the suits she wears in the fall. New York while taking walks with him. Oh, I think she's gorgeous in that one.
Leah Longbrake:
Me too and I think of New York City as a third character in that movie.
Christina Birro:
Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
Leah Longbrake:
And one of the greatest soundtracks of all time, if you haven't heard it.
Christina Birro:
Harry Connick Jr's absolutely perfect soundtrack to that movie, yes.
Leah Longbrake:
I had a few songs purposely played at my cocktail hour.
Christina Birro:
Oh you did?
Leah Longbrake:
Oh yeah. I wanted to make sure that that soundtrack was incorporated. It's one of my favorite movies and I love Harry Connick.
Christina Birro:
Oh, me too. That's wonderful.
Leah Longbrake:
So the last of the movies before we get into TV is Crazy Rich Asians.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. I thought we just mentioned this. I wanted to talk about it because of the venue. I thought now we'd gone through a little bit of narrative and a little bit of other things. But, I think this is one of the most spectacular venues ever produced for a movie. And I know that the production designer on this, if you guys are interested, there's a rabbit hole you can go with interviews with the production side should talk about how they wanted to make this indoor Garden of Eden and a total environment.
Christina Birro:
How they made grass and took a bunch of traditional flowers and constructions of Chinese dragons that served as backgrounds. And, they manufactured a whole bunch of bamboo things. And it is quite spectacular. I don't know if you remember it before she walks down the aisle, there's some water that's fills in between us. She's walking through. It's just so beautiful.
Leah Longbrake:
It's like the thing of dreams to have like you're walking on water. I mean, I can't even imagine.
Christina Birro:
And, this is also sort of a category of movies, makes me think of, I don't know if you remember Monsoon Wedding?
Leah Longbrake:
Oh, yeah.
Christina Birro:
Which is also this colorful, magical feeling of a wedding. It's just so spectacular that venue itself. Incredibly romantic in the whole movie. But, that's that's, to me, one of my favorite visual venues of the movie of latest few years.
Leah Longbrake:
Is it true that in the more affluent, richer Asian cultures, this is pretty on point?
Christina Birro:
I mean, that's what I get the feeling. I have never been to a wedding of this style, but it seems so when you listen to how the production did, they really went into detail. I mean, of course they did some things for spectacular movie magic.
Leah Longbrake:
Right.
Christina Birro:
But, they were incredibly detailed in small things that they picked on how they looked and colors and things like that. So I do think that, that's something that they took great care to do.
Leah Longbrake:
And her dress was another stunning dress.
Christina Birro:
Oh, it's a knockout.
Leah Longbrake:
And, the way they do the high-low purposely. So you could really get that walking on water effect, because if you had a to the floor gown, I don't think it would have the same visual appeal.
Christina Birro:
No. She puts her foot in so delicately into the water and, oh, it's a beautiful dress. It's just gorgeous.
Leah Longbrake:
I want all the fashions from that movie.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. It just is like a candy to look at.
Leah Longbrake:
Yes. Oh, that's the best way of putting it. Yeah. Visual candy. So, moving on a TV, the first one we're going to discuss is something I'm going to confess. I have yet to watch, but I have followed along, online seeing stuff. So I have an idea, but The Crown.
Christina Birro:
Yes. And, The Crown, I also thought it was interesting to talk to in terms of accuracy, because this is also really interesting to read about. I think there's three different costume designers through the seasons and they each have done one of the big weddings and I think it's Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and Diana are the wedding dresses that are actually shown. And, they went through such immense work to recreate these wedding dresses. I mean, beyond the silhouettes, but the fabrics, the embroidery, the lace, the trim. But, there's still a little bit of magic in it that you see that they haven't just copied them.
Christina Birro:
They've incorporated to the actresses that are wearing the dress and especially Diana's dress, which they really took care. Apparently, this took 14 months for them to make for the TV series. And, it's only shown for one moment because you never actually see the wedding. The idea of that was there's two theories of why you only get to see Emma Corrin standing in the dress for a little. One is that they didn't have the money to then reproduce the entire Charles and Diana wedding. But, also because they wanted it to sort of... She just turns around and you see her back and you see sort of that feeling of, "Okay, she's [crosstalk 00:24:03]."
Leah Longbrake:
Getting in to.
Christina Birro:
Yes, yes. And there, they really went for her fantasy. The Disney princess that she wanted to sort of convey with that dress. And, I just think that's very interesting in terms of seeing the accuracy of how they worked.
Leah Longbrake:
Yeah. I noticed when I saw a photo of the Diana dress because, growing up obviously around the time, I mean, I grew up on Diana.
Christina Birro:
Yes, me too.
Leah Longbrake:
They got married, I think the year before I was born, maybe, but it's been my entire life. And David Emmanuelle did such an exquisite job on that original dress. I noticed the movie version seemed a a little less puffier than the original.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. You can see that they've taken... I mean, they've done... And I think it's pretty smart of them, they haven't done a complete copy. But, all the clothing in The Crown is they look at it, but they've made slight changes. Brought it a little bit modern, but also to very much fit the actresses that are wearing them. And, I think they've done a terrific job with that.
Leah Longbrake:
Absolutely. What do you think about, I think it's Princess Beatrice? Her wearing Queen Elizabeth's actual wedding dress for her wedding last year? Or two years ago?
Christina Birro:
Yeah. I don't know much about, but actually I thought that dress was spectacular. And, if I thought that was, in my taste more spectacular than her is actually. I thought that she looked so beautiful in that dress. And I thought, and it was really a beautiful gift to her grandmother and to the tradition. I thought that was a very, very nice dress.
Leah Longbrake:
Yeah, it was such a timeless look. It really is. I mean, Queen Elizabeth got married 60 years ago? 70 years ago? Something like that.
Christina Birro:
And, her dress is so modern with these embroidered... It really is. To me, it's actually my favorite of these on The Crown. I don't know all Royal dresses, but these, because we're talking about them, I looked at them much. And, I think that those, I think that one and Princess Margaret's is actually the most modern of them.
Leah Longbrake:
Oh, interesting.
Christina Birro:
Yeah, it has a collar and it's quite covered up, but it's very beautiful as well.
Leah Longbrake:
I'm going to go back and look at all the Royal Wedding dresses again. The next one is, and I actually went back and rewatched, so I could-
Christina Birro:
Oh good.
Leah Longbrake:
Because, I wanted to, but The Office. Jim and Pam. Type of another laugh and cry.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. I have to-
Leah Longbrake:
Episode.
Christina Birro:
This is the category of when I was preparing to talk to you, Leah, that I have to say gets me the most emotional and that's the sit-com weddings. It's my absolute... I just think that there's a way that they often end and it's often a finale and it's often all the characters and it's often all the arcs that have been in these two people and why they meet. And, there's three of them that I like, particularly it's Pam and Jim, where you just cry the whole time. It's Parks and Rec, Leslie and Ben. And, Schitt's Creek.
Christina Birro:
But, Pam and Jim is so spectacular. I think, first of all, because they get both of the things in there. They have their own private little time during the day, which is what I actually did with my husband. We got married on our own and then afterwards had a party with friends couple of months after. But, this is the same day and then they get married and in typical Office fashion, the whole group, just as a crazy dance number. The viral YouTube dancing through the aisles thing, but it's so lovely and beautiful and fun.
Leah Longbrake:
That really is one of the best TV weddings of all time without a doubt. But, Parks and Rec?
Christina Birro:
Ugh, also.
Leah Longbrake:
That City Hall wedding and Leslie in her amazing skirt that her best friend Ann made.
Christina Birro:
Ann made.
Leah Longbrake:
That had all the newspaper clippings throughout her career and accomplishments and that alone, I loved their relationship.
Christina Birro:
Their relationship is beautiful and it's the most perfect sit-com wedding dress ever. That little skirt with all the bills and propositions and documents and everything. Yeah. That's great. And, also such a loving ending. There were a few weddings on Parks and Rec and all of them were fun, but this one is very, very emotional.
Leah Longbrake:
I love when they say, I love you and I like you and my husband and I did a hand fasting ceremony during our wedding and we have the ribbon made to say that throughout it.
Christina Birro:
Aww. That's great.
Leah Longbrake:
I love it. I love that scene. The other ones Schitt's Creek, which is one of the newest ones on the list.
Christina Birro:
Yeah, I thought we could have something new here. I just think that that's a fabulous ending and no one will ever forget Moira's huge wardrobe wig. And, I mean, that was just an amazing picture that you see everywhere. And, it's just a fun and also beautiful, very romantic wedding between the two of them. I just think it's a great ending.
Leah Longbrake:
What's also great about it too is, oftentimes when someone's that extravagant, that eccentric, they pull focus.
Christina Birro:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Leah Longbrake:
But she doesn't... Even though she's this outrageous outfit, she doesn't pull focus from-
Christina Birro:
David and Pat.
Leah Longbrake:
David and Patrick having their vows or anything. Neither does Alexis wearing a white dress.
Christina Birro:
Yes. True.
Leah Longbrake:
You still have all the attention on them and I think that's amazing and beautiful.
Christina Birro:
Yeah. And it's just the perfect episode because it's both chaotic, but then emotional. And, I think that's what they pull off so well with the whole sort of Rose family. No, there's something very special about a good sit-com wedding, I have to say.
Leah Longbrake:
I agree and with Parks and Rec, you mentioned how there's many other weddings in it and actually The Office, there was also Dwight and Angela's.
Christina Birro:
Oh, right.
Leah Longbrake:
But, one of my favorites, my all-time favorite show is Friends. And there is multiple weddings and wedding dresses and almost weddings throughout this whole series. But to me, I have to say Chandler and Monica's really is up there for me with one of my favorite weddings.
Christina Birro:
True.
Leah Longbrake:
It was chaotic and crazy, but it ended up being so beautiful. Especially since Chandler's always this funny guy and whatever, but he gets emotional. You can see he truly found love.
Christina Birro:
Right.
Leah Longbrake:
And, I love Monica's dress.
Christina Birro:
Oh, it's gorgeous. Yeah.
Leah Longbrake:
Chic.
Christina Birro:
Oh, there's so many things. I mean, you have the Sex in the City weddings, which is iconic and you have-
Leah Longbrake:
Yes.
Christina Birro:
[crosstalk 00:30:36] there's so many. I was just thinking, "Wow, how do you sort of whittle down this list?"
Leah Longbrake:
We'll have a part two. We're going to keep going on with this, believe me. And, we could even do soap, opera weddings. There are so many weddings out there that... Because, Luke and Laura really kind of catapulted the TV wedding period. No matter what your genre is.
Christina Birro:
Right.
Leah Longbrake:
Okay. So, we have mentioned a lot of fantastic movies and television shows, but whether it's one of the ones you mentioned today, or if it's something else, do you have an all-time favorite movie or TV wedding dress?
Christina Birro:
Hm. That's a hard one.
Leah Longbrake:
Or one that you think is highly underrated?
Christina Birro:
Yes. Gosh, a wedding dress. I did not get married in a traditional white dress. I got married in a sort of a vintage blue dress. And, so I can appreciate sort of City Hall wedding dress too, very much, but I have to say I'm very partial for that Godfather and traditional Sicilian beautiful veil type of just not too poofy, but very, yeah. I'd have to say that.
Leah Longbrake:
So, since you love the City Hall looks, you probably really appreciate Miranda's?
Christina Birro:
Yes.
Leah Longbrake:
Deep colored suit in the park.
Christina Birro:
Very chic.
Leah Longbrake:
Yes. I totally agree. Well, I've had so much fun geeking out with you today and talking about all these different fun wedding movies and TV shows, and thank you for all the facts you've given.
Christina Birro:
Well, thank you.
Leah Longbrake:
And, how can we get more information on you and Pop Culture Confidential?
Christina Birro:
Well, you can listen to Pop Culture Confidential wherever you get your podcasts on iTunes. It's PopCultureConfidential.com if you want to go in and see some of the guests I've interviewed or follow anywhere on Twitter and get in touch and tell me what wedding movies you would... I probably have to interview someone as well on the topic.
Leah Longbrake:
Thank you so much for being here.
Christina Birro:
Thank you.
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