37 FramesSome movies don’t just entertain us. They live in us.
For us, Father of the Bride was one of those films.
Not the kind that wins Oscars or gets dissected in film schools (though it should be lol). But the kind that quietly shapes how we see family, love, chaos, and the impossible tenderness of letting go.
And today, with the passing of Diane Keaton … the soul of that story … we feel it all over again.
The House We All Knew
Father of the Bride is one of those rare movies that captures a moment in life that feels universally familiar. Even if you didn’t grow up in a house with white picket fences, even if you didn’t play basketball in the driveway, or have a dad who lost his mind over wedding bills … you felt like you knew that family.
Because you did.
We all did.
Diane Keaton’s Nina Banks was the anchor. Warm, patient, quietly funny, and infinitely kind. She was the calm in Steve Martin’s comedic storm … the heart that made the chaos human.
There’s a story … probably apocryphal but perfect anyway … that between takes, Keaton and Martin used to make each other laugh so hard they’d have to redo entire scenes. They were the perfect duo: her elegance meeting his eccentricity. Together, they made love look like something worth working for. Messy, imperfect, but real.
When Weddings Were Still About Family
As wedding planners and filmmakers, we often say that the best weddings aren’t the ones that go perfectly. They’re the ones that feel real. The ones where the father forgets his speech, the flower girl takes off down the aisle at top speed, and everyone ends up laughing through tears.
That movie … that story … captured all of it.
It wasn’t about floral installations or guest counts or timelines. It was about the emotion of a parent watching their child begin a new life. The ache and pride of that moment. The little things we never think about until they’re gone … the shoes left by the front door, the sound of a car pulling out of the driveway.
And if you’ve ever loved someone deeply enough to want everything for them … even when it breaks your heart a little … you’ve lived Father of the Bride.
The Diane Keaton Effect
There was something about Diane Keaton that no one else could replicate.
She never performed femininity. She redefined it.
The turtlenecks. The laughter that started as a giggle and ended as a declaration. The way she played women who were complicated and real. Women who thought too much, cared too deeply, and loved anyway.
And in Father of the Bride, she gave us a version of motherhood that wasn’t perfect, but present. The kind that doesn’t need words to say “I’m proud of you.”
She didn’t steal the spotlight. She was the light.
We know this isn’t one of Diane Keaton’s “best” films. Not in the canon of Annie Hall, The Godfather, or Something’s Gotta Give.
But that’s exactly the point.
It’s the one that feels most us.
Multi-generational. Familiar. Relatable in all the ways that matter.
It’s about families who love loudly and imperfectly. About parents doing their best, kids growing up too fast, and the beautiful chaos that happens somewhere in between.
Elkie’s Favourite
Maybe that’s why it’s one of Elkie’s favourite movies, too.
We’ve watched it together more times than we can count. Popcorn, pajamas, commentary about the hairstyles and the dresses (and always, always laughter at Martin Short’s wedding planner).
And maybe one day, when she plans a wedding of her own, she’ll remember that movie not for its fashion or its fun, but for its truth.
That weddings aren’t about the show.
They’re about the people who love you enough to let you go.
The Heart of It
We’ve seen thousands of wedding days now. From the Alps to Kyoto, from deserts to dance floors. And through it all, we’ve learned that what Father of the Bride got so perfectly right was this:
A wedding isn’t just a beginning.
It’s also a goodbye.
It’s a love story layered on top of another love story. The one that raised you.
It’s the quiet moment before everything changes.
The bridge between who you were and who you’ll become.
And maybe that’s why we still cry when Steve Martin looks down the aisle and sees his daughter walking toward her future. It’s not sadness. It’s the recognition that love is cyclical. That one chapter closes so another can open.
A Little Bit of Magic, A Lot of Truth
We know Diane Keaton would laugh if she knew how many planners have quoted Father of the Bride at some point in their careers.
Because she knew, long before most of us did, that weddings are less about logistics and more about legacy. The kind that doesn’t hang on the wall, but lives in the stories people tell about you later.
Her magic was never in her performance. It was in her presence.
And now, the world feels a little quieter without her.
But maybe that’s what great artists do. They leave echoes.
You’ll find hers in every mother’s smile during a first dance.
In every laugh shared in the chaos of planning.
In every person who still believes that family is worth the noise.
So tonight, we’ll pour a glass of something nice.
We’ll cue the movie.
We’ll laugh at Steve Martin trying to buy hot dogs in bulk.
And we’ll cry when the phone rings at the end. Because we always do.
Here’s to Diane Keaton.
To Nina Banks.
To every parent learning how to let go.
And to the stories that remind us that love … real love … is both the beginning and the goodbye.
📋 Planning | 📸 Photography | 🎥 Film by @37frames
🎬 Written with popcorn in hand and tears in our eyes.
37 Frames
