Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy wins girl back (usually by running down an airport terminal or a street, preferably in the rain), and of course, it ends with a triumphant wedding. That’s the formula for a classic happy ending – just ask Shakespeare.

Not all movie weddings, however, are created equal. While the big climactic wedding has become the romantic comedy cliché to end all clichés, some films have still managed to turn marital vows into movie magic. In honor of this weekend’s "The Big Wedding," here are five cinematic weddings that are worth getting down on one knee and spending the rest of your life with – or at least a quiet Saturday night.

"Rachel Getting Married"

The plot of this 2008 family drama follows Kym (Anne Hathaway in an Oscar-nominated turn), a recovering drug addict fresh out of rehab, attempting to regain her footing in the real world. But that’s not really what "Rachel Getting Married" is about. It’s about exactly what its title says: Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt), Kym’s sister, getting married. That’s the topic veteran director Jonathan Demme – most famous for "The Silence of the Lambs," a very, very, very different movie – is most interested in, and that’s the one he follows the closest.

Demme’s handheld camera lingers on all the details, like the multi-cultural wedding band constantly playing in the background. When the wedding and the dinner parties finally begin, Demme almost leaves the storyline behind so he can focus on the festivities and the family’s interactions. The result is that the audience really feels like a guest at the wedding, taking in all of the vibrant, festive and natural excitement. It’s one of the rare occasions when having an easily distracted director actually worked in a movie’s favor.

"The Godfather"

It’s ironic that one of the most legendary weddings in the history of film wouldn’t be found in a romantic comedy, but instead in a big, brooding crime epic. That being said, I think there are more laughs to be found in "The Godfather" than in "Bride Wars" and "The Wedding Date" combined.

Much like "Rachel Getting Married," the opening wedding sequence in Francis Ford Coppola’s genre-defining mafia drama serves as an invitation into the Corleone family. Unlike gangster movies of the past, the audience really got to see, feel for and understand the people behind organized crime. The wedding of Connie and Carlo works as the perfect way to show the unity, the bonds and the humanity – as well as the faint menace – of the family that audiences will be spending the next five hours with (ok, three hours).

It should be noted that there is a wedding sequence in "Goodfellas" as well, but this is one case for me where "The Godfather" takes the cannoli.

"The Wedding Singer"

I hate Adam Sandler. Not the man himself – I’ve never met him, and I’ve only heard great things from the people who have – but his movies? Intolerable. I used to just not find his particular brand of humor funny, but his latest wave of films ("Grown Ups," "That’s My Boy," etc.) are what happens when a guy is paid to just hang with his friends and some Maxim models while a camera rolls.

One of the few Sandler films I like, however, is "The Wedding Singer," perhaps because it doesn’t feel all that much like a typical Sandler movie. The obnoxious, tasteless shenanigans are kept to a nice minimum, Sandler is playing a real character rather than an annoying caricature (the supporting performances, like Steve Bucemi, are also just the right amount of weird) and the romance between him and Drew Barrymore is actually quite sweet. And in terms of classic cinematic wedding moments, it doesn’t get much more memorable – if maybe not romantic – than "Love Stinks."

"Father of the Bride"

You can’t really go wrong with either of the two renditions of "Father of the Bride." The 1950 Oscar-nominated comedy, directed by legendary musical director Vincente Minnelli ("Gigi," "An American in Paris" and "The Band Wagon"), is sweet and charming, and the cast, including Elizabeth Taylor and Milwaukee’s own Spencer Tracy, is spot-on. At the same time, the 1991 remake starring Steve Martin is a warmly charming comedy favorite as well. If I had to choose one (and I do), I’d probably pick the Steve Martin edition. It’s a good bit funnier while being just as affable as the original. Really, though, both of these cinematic wedding parties are worth crashing.

"The Princess Bride"

Rob Reiner’s classic 1987 cult film is everything a moviegoer could want from an adventure film. It has some of the most memorable and original characters in the genre’s history, with performances that could never be duplicated (try to imagine any of these characters played by different actors. You can’t; it’s impossible). The script is both funny and sweet, and the story fits in more epic, adventurous fun in 98 minutes than most modern attempts can summon in three hours.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a classic adventure without a climactic wedding. No, Westley doesn’t barge in and save the day, being all dashing and romantic – mostly because Prince Humperdinck rushes through the ceremony like the pompous, snooty prat we love to hate – but it is still a really entertaining, dramatic wedding. The best part? The greatest priest in the history of movie weddings (I will strike anyone who brings up Robin Williams in "License to Wed"). He makes the event truly a mawwadge to wemembah.