Parenting

12 Lessons 'Four Weddings And A Funeral' Can Teach You About Life

by Leigh Anderson
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Remember the spate of Hugh Grant flicks that came out in the 1990s? Well, Four Weddings and a Funeral is 21 years old now and is the best of the bunch, mostly because it was smarter and more sensitive than the average rom-com of the decade. Below, 12 things that’ll make you want to re-watch the movie on Netflix.

1. There is a wedding season in your life. Charles arrives at the second wedding, looks at the program and says “So, who is it today?” The circuit of weddings in your 20s and 30s seems never-ending (and expensive!), but you’ll miss it when it’s over. You’ll especially miss attending a formal event without having to wrangle your kids.

2. Some people are just always, always, late. Hugh Grant is probably late to his kids’ graduation ceremonies now. In fact, the sequel should be called 4 Stepping-Up Ceremonies and a Graduation.

3. “Fuckity-Fuck” is the perfect phrase for when you’re trying to jam on a poufy dress in a crashing hurry.

4. “Marriage is just a way of getting out of an embarrassing pause in conversation” is a pretty good explanation for why some coupes, who appear to have nothing in common and not even like each other very much decide to tie the knot.

5. Not everybody marries the right guy the first time. In fact I wrote about that very mistake here. Carrie marries Hamish before she realizes that Charles is the one for her.

6. Hats are glorious. We should all wear more hats. And, also Scarlett’s orange and purple dress in the first wedding.

7. ‘A big meringue’ is the best description ever for 1980s and early ’90s wedding dresses.

8. Every wedding needs a Gareth. “It’s bloody Brigadoon!” Gareth exclaims at Carrie and Hamish’s wedding.

9. Weddings have a way of dredging up the past. Remember Charles seated at the table of ex-girlfriends? Or running into Duckface in the hallway?

10. “Fuck-a-doodle-do” is the perfect expression for when your beloved marries some old Scottish guy instead of you.

11. No one is out of your league. When Charles first sees Carrie, Fiona tells him Carrie’s too good for him—which, of course, she isn’t.

12. Marriage or no marriage, we should all be able to say, as Gareth does, “May we all in our dotage be proud to say, ‘I was adored once too.'”

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