"The One with Ross's Wedding" is the fourth season finale of Friends, which aired on NBC on May 7, 1998. The plot revolves around Ross and the rest of the group flying to London for his wedding to Emily.
The episode was directed by Kevin S. Bright, with the first part being written by Michael Borkow and the second part by Shana Goldberg-Meehan and Scott Silveri (from a story by Jill Condon and Amy Toomin). Scenes for the episode were shot on location in London and in front of a British studio audience. For many broadcasts (and the DVD release) it is presented as a double-length episode, though sometimes it is aired as two separate parts.
Plot
Ross' and Emily's parents meet and prove quite antagonistic; Stephen and Andrea Waltham are quite happy that the Gellers have agreed to pay for half the wedding, against tradition, but Jack feels the list of expenses at their house is highway robbery, so Ross tries to mediate. Joey is terribly homesick, despite playing best man jointly with Chandler, but gets over it when Emily's bride's maid starts hitting on him. Rachel misses her flight having forgotten her passport, and on the next annoys the gentleman sitting besides her to death who is quite happy to disagree with her all the way.
At the rehearsal dinner, Monica tries to be happy for her brother, but her mother is driving her crazy and, even worse, a drunk man mistakes her for Ross's mother. When she gets depressed thinking her mother is right and she'll never get married, Chandler tries to comfort her by telling her "Who wouldn't want you?" The next we see of Chandler and Monica, they are waking up in bed together the next morning.
Phoebe phones Joey he must warn Ross that Rachel is coming, but she gets straight to him in Montgomery Hall, and at the last moment just congratulates him, so the wedding goes on, with Joey reporting over the phone to Phoebe. As Chandler escorts Monica down the aisle, they agree that what they'd done the previous night had been stupid, but also agree that he's coming back to her room later that night. Emily says her wedding vows to Ross, but when it's Ross's turn to say his, he inadvertently says 'Rachel' instead of Emily...
Trivia
General
- In his speech Joey says "I first met ross in this coffee house back home." Although it was a bar at the time.
- As of this episode, Chandler has now seen all three girls' breasts:
- In "The One With The Boobies" (S1E13), Chandler walked in on Rachel topless after a shower.
- In "The One With The Football" (S3E9), Phoebe flashed Chandler to get hold of the football.
- And in this episode, Monica and Chandler slept together, hence he saw Monica naked.
Goofs
- When Ross and Emily's parents meet for the first time, Judy Geller makes the joke that this may be the only wedding they get to throw, referring to Monica never getting married. However, Ross was married once before to Carol and, presumably, already had a wedding. However, assuming Ross's wedding to Carol followed the more common tradition where the bride's family pays for the wedding, it's likely that Ross's parents didn't really play any part in throwing that wedding.
- Jack Geller calls Mr Waltham a "Thieving, would-be-speaking-German-if-it-weren't-for-us little man." This is in reference to Adolph Hitler during World War 2, however Hitler never intended to invade Britain, so this insult is inaccurate.
- Although the wedding dress Emily is wearing is similar to the one picked up by Monica in "The One With All The Wedding Dresses", it is clearly a different design. What's more, Emily is wearing a matching jacket that was not with the dress Monica picked up, and a tiara instead of the veil Monica wore.
- When the wedding begins, the first bridesmaid walks down the aisle with a man, dressed in the same attire as the best men. He is not seen again, and the only men in the wedding party are Joey and Chandler.
Cast and Crew
Main Cast
Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Green
Courtney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller
Supporting Cast
Helen Baxendale - Emily Waltham
Tom Conti - Stephen Waltham
Jennifer Saunders - Andrea Waltham
Christina Pickles - Judy Geller
Elliot Gould - Jack Geller
Olivia Williams - Felicity
June Whitfield - The Housekeeper
Hugh Laurie - The Gentleman on the Plane
Jane Carr - The Ticket Agent
Daniel Caltagirone - The Waiter
Heathcote Williams - The Older Guest
Peter Eyre - The Registrar
Greg Malins - Man on airplane
Crew
Directed By:
Kevin S. Bright
Written By:
Shana Goldberg-Meehan & Scott Silveri
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Preceded by "The One With Ross' Wedding, Part 1" |
Series Four Episodes | Followed by "The One After Ross Says Rachel" |
| << Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5 >> | |||||||
| #01 | "The One With The Jellyfish" | #09 | "The One Where They're Going To Party" | #17 | "The One With The Free Porn" | ||||
| #02 | "The One With The Cat" | #10 | "The One With The Girl From Poughkeepsie" | #18 | "The One With Rachel's New Dress" | ||||
| #03 | "The One With The Cuffs" | #11 | "The One With Phoebe's Uterus" | #19 | "The One With All The Haste" | ||||
| #04 | "The One With The Ballroom Dancing" | #12 | "The One With The Embryos" | #20 | "The One With All The Wedding Dresses" | ||||
| #05 | "The One With Joey's New Girlfriend" | #13 | "The One With Rachel's Crush" | #21 | "The One With The Invitation" | ||||
| #06 | "The One With The Dirty Girl" | #14 | "The One With Joey's Dirty Day" | #22 | "The One With The Worst Best Man Ever" | ||||
| #07 | "The One Where Chandler Crosses The Line" | #15 | "The One With All The Rugby" | #23 | "The One With Ross' Wedding, Part 1" | ||||
| #08 | "The One With Chandler In A Box" | #16 | "The One With The Fake Party" | #24 | "The One With Ross' Wedding, Part 2" | ||||