RTR Blog: Andrew's Top 9 Trek Weddings!

     Growing up in a household with two sisters, I was no stranger to getting out voted when it came to choosing what show to watch as a kid. One my sisters favourite shows to watch, when I wanted the T.V for Star Trek, was a show called Four Weddings on TLC. Four Weddings was a show that pitted four brides against one another all vying to win a free honeymoon after attending and ranking each others wedding on three main components; Dress/Attire, Venue/Location and Ceremony. It was a decent enough show, but it was definitely not Star Trek. So today, years later, I'm going "Four Weddings" the onscreen weddings we've seen in Star Trek and give them a rating out of five! This is Andrew's Top 9 - Star Trek Weddings!

9 - Robert Tomlinson & Angela Martine (TOS - Balance of Terror)

Attire/Dress: 
  I know that the budget back in season one of the Original Series probably wasn't high, but it meant that poor Robert and Angela had to go without a tux, without a dress, and even without a dress uniforms. Angela did get a tiara to wear, she had her hair done nicely, and did come down the aisle to "here comes the bride", but for her big special day, you'd expect something other than a standard duty uniform.

Venue/Location: 
     Despite probably being a lot of Trekkers dream to get married on the classic T.V Enterprise, it doesn't make for the most glamorous in universe location to get married with so many strange new worlds to choose from! Scotty notes that he's set up a video system for the crew to watch on monitors and they also get a  pretty nice alter and dais to host the ceremony as well.

Guests/Ceremony: 
  Having Captain Kirk officiate your wedding automatically gives your ceremony a certain degree of prominence. Add in senior staff guests Dr. McCoy and chief engineer Scott, and you've got all the makings for a great ceremony. Unfortunately an attack on outpost number four brings about the condition red alert and an unfortunate abrupt end to the proceedings. It could be assumed that at this point in Trek lore, we would get a pretty standard North American style wedding, but we never get to see it, hurting this ceremonies score.

Overall: 
  Overall, it is really interesting to see that wedding ceremonies, and marriages themselves are still going strong in the twenty third century. This ceremony also happens to benefit from being the teaser to a memorable and amazing Original series episode Balance of Terror. A lack of wedding attire, exoticism or a completed ceremony is what holds back this wedding the most, and ranks number nine on the list.


8 - Benjamin Sisko & Kasidy Yates (DS9 - Til Death Do Us Part)

Attire/Dress: 
   Despite being an impromptu wedding, Kasidy still had time to either replicate or purchase (perhaps from Garek) a wedding dress that I think looks great. The soon to be Mrs. Sisko opts for a more silvery short cut dress rather than the traditional white. Benjamin and Admiral Ross go with the traditional duty uniform, and as much as I love the grey shoulder later season DS9/First Contact uniforms, it would have been nice to see the more formal dress uniform for a big life event like this one.

                                                        Venue/Location: 

      It's understandable that a wedding taking place amidst the final ramp up and conclusion to the Dominion war would need to be done on the quick, and so the conference room makes sense for a venue. As nice as it would have been to see a nice Bajoran location for the wedding, it made sense for the story so you can't blame the writers for setting it there. That being said, as a wedding venue, it was dark, lacking decorations and had no real area designated area for performing the ceremony itself (well other than those weird shapes behind Ross).

Guests/Ceremony: 
  Dr. Bashir, O'Brien, Odo, Kira (begrudgingly), Nog and best man Jake all scored invites to the Sisko's wedding. Quark got the catering job and Admiral Ross got the officiating duties. Unfortunately Worf and (Ezri) Dax had been captured by the Dominion at this point, and weren't in attendance. As for the ceremony itself, it was a pretty standard TV wedding, with your typical cliche back and forth. Unlike the Tomlinson/Martine ceremony, this wedding we get to see go to completion despite a mid-ceremony plead from the  profits for Sisko to not go through with it.

Overall: 
  Overall this is a nice little bright moment amidst the darkness of the Dominion war, but does feel very underplayed. I always liked this wedding story wise because I think that it adds some really good emotional punch to "What We Leave Behind", a few episodes later. Unfortunately as a wedding itself, it lacks a lot of the pomp and circumstance that you'd expect from the main characters of one of the shows getting married, and for that reason it sits eight on the list.



7 - Rom & Leeta (DS9-Call to Arms)

 Attire/Dress: 
   The Sisko's were not the only couple on Deep Space Nine to get married due to the Dominon war, Rom and Leeta had a similar rushed ceremony when the war was just breaking out in the episode Call to Arms. Rom wore his slightly fancier engineering outfit and Leeta wore a kind of schmocky green and pastel dress that wasn't as nice as a lot of other outfits she wore on the show. Oddly Quark and his date? Or maid of honour were much better dressed that either the bride or the groom.

Venue/Location: 
  Just like with the Benjamin-Kasidy wedding later in the war, the rushed nature meant that the good ole conference room had to used in a pinch. It's hard to rag on war time weddings that are done with a looming threat, but if this were a real four weddings scenario I'm sure those brides would be tearing this to pieces.

Guests/Ceremony: 

   Perhaps Quark said it best when he said "well, that was the most pathetic excuse for a wedding ceremony I've ever seen. No bridal auction, no latinum dances, and the bride? The bride was severely over dressed!" How high on the list do you think a traditional Ferengi wedding would have made it? This is not the best ceremony by any stretch and the only notable guests are Quark and Nog, but part of why I rated this slightly higher than what perhaps it deserves is because of the lead up. For many episodes leading up to the wedding and even in this episode we get to see Leeta and Rom discuss and debate many aspects of the wedding. Should it be Bajoran or Ferengi, what dress should she wear etc. Deep Space Nine did such a great job of world building and this wedding was no exception, even if the ceremony itself was hurried through before chaos hit the station.

Overall: 
  It was very tough to decide between this wedding and the Sisko-Yates wedding. They were done under similar scenarios, and to a certain extent for similar reasons. I thought that Kasidy had the nicer dress, and their ceremony had more marquee guests, but at the end of the day Rom and Leeta did it first and I always liked the episode Call to Arms more than Til Death Do Us Part, and for that reason I gave the tie break to Rom and Leeta!


6 - Koss & T'Pol (ENT-Home)

  Attire/Dress: 

Vulcan, Vulcan, Vulcan! Well modern era Vulcan that is, everything about Koss and T'Pol's wedding in the Enterprise episode Home falls in line with what we've seen from Vulcans during this era (TNG and beyond) of Star Trek. Everyone wearing long flowy robes and veils with the exception of T'Pol who looked stunning in a long purple dress with matching purple head scarf. Again, not the traditional white that you'd expect, but perhaps purple is a Vulcan sign of purity or something. This is yet another wedding that happened somewhat abruptly, but you have to give it to them that they took the time to at least make the bride look stunning.

 Venue/Location: 
  I'm not sure if this is outside of T'Pols mothers house or not, but it definitely feels like a redress of the generico Vulcan set we've seen in Enterprise. They spruced it up slightly with a nice roaring bonfire and some big gongs, but still doesn't wow me like some of the other venues yet to come.

Guests/Ceremony: 
   Another short ceremony, but what we do get is pretty good. We get a little sense for what makes up a Vulcan wedding; the two that are marrying kneel on pillows and touch three fingers while the equivalent of an officiant performs a very Earth like ritual. Only the envious Charles Tucker III and T'Pol's mother T'Les are in attendance to make note of with some extras thrown in to fill out the scene.

Overall: 
  Overall, I didn't love this side arc during Enterprise season four, nor the side plot of T'Pol getting married despite being in love with Trip. It was really interesting to see a true proper Vulcan wedding and the show runners, costume and set people put just enough effort into this to make it feel unique, especially considering that it doesn't take up that much screen time. If T'Pol had married Trip with the whole crew on Vulcan, it would have ranked way up the list, but because they didn't, this one falls in the top half.


5 - Tom Paris & B'Elanna Torres (VOY-Course:Oblivion & Drive)

Attire/Dress: 
     I may get some flak for ranking this one so highly especially since it is technically the Tom and B'Elanna copies from the fourth season demon planet. That being said this is the first main cast memeber-main cast member wedding that we've seen on the list. It is a very standard affair, including the attire. All of the senior staff, including the bride, wore their dress uniform while oddly the lesser crew members or extras (friends of the couple I assume), wore their regular duty uniform.

Venue/Location: 

  Considering that Voyager is lost in the delta quadrant it makes sense that the demon Torres and Paris would use the mess hall as a venue for their wedding. I would however, have expected the over excitable demon Neelix to go way over the top with the decorations for the event, especially considering we've seen him do so for similar Talaxian holidays in the past. Oddly this was very underwhelming; a tiny little archway a few flowers and that was it, I expected more from Neelix, and it left me really wanting more. 

Guests/Ceremony: 
   Where Tom and B'Elanna's wedding really shines is with the very classic traditional Earth style wedding. We get a shot of a three tiered cake complete with tiny figurine toppers (do you think they were playmates?), Ensign Kim playing his clarinet, champagne, vows, rings, a bouquet toss and even rice on the newlyweds, even if it's molecular structure broke down immediately after being thrown. I liked that Chakotay walked the bride down the aisle, I liked that Janeway officiated, and I liked Kim as the best man, even if his line about "they're saving the pain sticks for the honeymoon" was slightly off colour for a wedding.

Overall: 
   It was about as paint by numbers as you can get, but it has a certain charm to it that I really liked. I also appreciated that we also get to see the classic "Just Married" sign with cans dangling behind the Delta Flyer in the seventh season episode "Drive" eluding to the fact that the non-demon copies of Tom and B'Elanna got married. This was a relationship that the writers on Voyager really took their time with and lengthened out throughout the whole series, so when we finally see them get hitched, it was a genuine feel good moment!


4 - Miles O'Brien & Kieko (TNG-Data's Day)

Attire/Dress: 

  For the O'Briens nuptials, we get the men all dressed in you're traditional and very much expected (for military people) dress uniforms, which is par for the course. Keiko's choice of wedding dress on the other hand is what pulls this wedding up the list in terms of attire. Being from future Japan, Keiko wears a traditional Japanese uchikaki (a wedding komono) with a matching Tsunokakushi, which is the hat. Oddly, in Japanese, the Tsunokakushi translates roughly to "horn hiding", meant to veil the woman's horns of jealousy, ego and selfishness. It's intention is to indicate that she is ready to become a gentile and obedient wife, something I would have expected to have been abolished in the enlightened twenty fourth century. Regardless, I love that the costume designers "futurized" it by making it out of a pink plastic with tonnes of glitter and flowers as accents. Great stuff.

Venue/Location: 

Despite being probably the coolest hangout in Trek history (sorry Quark!), it does boil down to another wedding in the "common area" of the ship. I think that they dressed it up a little bit more than the Paris or the Tomlinson wedding with some blue spacey tapestries, Bonsai tress and flowers.


Guests/Ceremony: 

   I remember this being much, much, much longer than it actually ended up being. Capping off such an iconic Next Generation episode, Data's Day, definitely helps this brief but effective ceremony. You've got officiant Picard, best man Laforge, and man of honour Data, which we see getting set up throughout the episode. I liked that they added the Japanese tradition of having the sake, and you can see behind the bride and groom a very nice spread of food for the reception. Eagle eyed viewers will see Riker and Troi in the background as guests, which really makes you wonder what Crusher, Worf and Guinan had to do that was better than attending this, or perhaps they weren't invited.

Overall: 

     Although not a perfect wedding, I have to admit that this was the one that I thought of when I first was compiling my list to review. It has the benefit of being in a memorable episode, it ties Keiko's Japanese culture into the 24th century and it probably holds the record for longest on-screen romance in Star Trek, as we see how it progresses throughout Deep Space Nine. It didn't seem like it now, but it actually is really cool that they put this much care into a minor character, which paid dividends when Miles O'Brien became a main character years later on DS9!


3 - William T. Riker & Deanna Troi (Star Trek: Nemesis)

Attire/Dress: 

     Being the only wedding that we get in the Trek movies, it is understandable that this one has a little bit more of a budget to play with. That being said, I am happy that they stuck with the movie dress uniforms for the men. This is easily the best the formal uniform we ever got, with the white jacket and grey insert while the Captain got a double distinguishing central white piece. The accouterments like the shoulder and sleeve piping with the familiar placements of the rank pips and communicator were done perfectly making this uniform second to none. Marina Sirtis as Counselor Tori looks amazing, and in a non-traditional pink wedding dress, it really makes her stand out as the bride amidst the wedding party all in white, and the guests as well.

 Venue/Location: 

      Taking place at the foot of some mountains in Alaska, which is Rikers home state, is about as perfect of a place as you could imagine for a wedding. I would have loved to see the second half of the wedding on Betazed if the crew hadn't been interrupted by that pesky Shinzon! Because we have movie money here, we get much nicer tables, linens, and even a band complete with futuristic green plastic symbols. It's a shame that the trees and the mountains in the distance look kind of fake and "set" like when you really look carefully, because if this had been filmed on location it would have been five stars for sure!

Guests/Ceremony: 

    Sadly we don't get to see the wedding ceremony itself, which is the only negative that I can come up with for this section. Narratively it makes sense, because ST: Nemesis is such a go,go,go movie, that a lengthy wedding scene would slow the pace to a halt. That being said, we do get to see the reception fresh with Picards best man speech, Worf playing the part of drunk uncle, and Data doing his best Adam Sandler impression as the wedding singer. I also love that everyone got an invite to this long awaited matrimony, we get of course the main cast, but also Guinan and a returning Wesley Crusher back from his time with the traveler. In a perfect world, Majel Barrett would have been able to make an appearance one last time as Troi's mother Luwaxanna, especially since that was such a running theme throughout the television show that she wanted to see her daughter get married. Unfortunately I think that she was too ill at the time to make an appearance, and the fact that she was probably arranging the Betazed half, makes for an understandable in story reason for her not being there.

Overall: 

     Taking the third place prize, Deanna and Will got the advent of a big movie budget in what isn't perhaps the greatest Star Trek feature. There is a lot to love about this wedding, including that we had all waited so long to see if they would ever finally get together. I think that this is one of the better parts of Nemesis, and if you look at just the wedding in isolation, it is a lot of fun. If you'd like to hear more about this wedding specifically, Matt and I actually covered ST:Nemesis as part of our one year celebrations, you can listen to it here: http://randomtrekreview.blogspot.com/2019/07/rtr-25-naked-and-hungover.html


2 - T'Pring and Spock ( TOS - Amok Time)

Attire/Dress: 

     Camp level maximum!! I'm not one that goes back to the Original Series that often, but when I do I am always pleasantly surprised with how campy and over the top it is. That is never more apparent than the attire here in Amok Time for Spock's wedding. T'Pring, the bride, wears a very 60's future looking silver dress with lots of accent pieces for her hair and jewelry. Unfortunately Spock, Kirk and McCoy wear their regular outfits, with an addition combat sash belt for Kirk and Spock during the Koon-ut-kal-if-fee. I think we can all agree that it is the wedding guests/guards that steal the show in terms of attire here. Bare chests, insane silver dome helmets and plague-doctor-esque masks are just some of the costumes we see here. You almost need to freeze frame the episode to really appreciate how exotic and alien everything looks when the wedding party arrives. It is totally 100% sixties camp, it is so over the top, but yet so amazing all at the same time!

Venue/Location: 

    After so many mess hall wedding ceremonies, we finally get a wedding on a strange new world! This is the early TOS version of Vulcan, with it's red sky, red soil, high temperatures and low oxygen levels. This looks and feels exactly how you would want an alien planet to feel like. Throw in that it takes place on a huge clifftop rock pedestal, and you have the perfect setting for what will become one of the most famous Star Trek scenes of all time. In terms of a location, you get a sand floor, a giant green gong and a burning coal fire pit in a circular combat area. It's hard for me to think of any possible way to make this better. It is as outlandish as the outfits, and unique enough for it to be remembered so fondly by so many people so many years later!

Guests/Ceremony: 
 
    If anyone out there in the Trek community is planning on having a traditional Vulcan wedding, please invite me! This is the kind of alien wedding ceremony I've been waiting for. It's hard to summarize all of the elements of what makes up the Koon-ut-kai-if-fee, and us as the audience learn about it along side Kirk and McCoy. So here's how it works, children at a very young age (Spock at seven), are bonded to each other through telepathy, in what we would call an arranged marriage. At the appropriate time, the psychic bond will draw one another to the aforementioned "Koon-ut-kai-if-fee" which roughly translates to marriage or challenge. Now if there are two males in Pon-farr, they can fight to the death for the love of the woman or if she does not desire her arranged partner, she can choose a defender to challenge instead. Of course, considering this is the most exciting of the options, it's the one that occurs in the episode. And to throw another layer of excitement, T'Pring chooses Kirk, Spock's closest friend and Captain. It appears that the challenge occurs in multiple stages like a gladiator fight, as the combatants are first given a Lirpa (a staff with a half circle blade on one end and a muddler on the other), and in the second round they are given leather straps. Of course in Amok Time, McCoy cleverly fakes Kirk's death with an injection, so that our two main characters don't actually have to kill one another, but one can assume that after one person kills the other, they continue on with the marriage ceremony.

Overall: 

    For everyone that is currently upset that this isn't number one on the list, let it be known that I really, really struggled with the top two. At the end of the day, as amazing and iconic as this episode/scene is, it ends on a somber note. T'Pring admits to Spock that his reputation has made him unfavourable as a mate and that she desires Stonn instead. She explains to Spock that by choosing Kirk as the champion, either outcome would result in neither combatant wanting to marry her (Spock for being betrayed, and Kirk because he was chosen against his will), a plan that Spock gives her credit for being perfectly logical. I do love how we get to see Spock leave with at least some level of pride when he tells Stonn, that one day he may realize that having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting.

1 - Worf and Jadzia Dax (DS9 - You are Cordially Invited)

Attire/Dress: 

    To me this is the only true five star wedding that we've gotten in Star Trek to date; it could always be topped next year in Star Trek: Discovery, Picard, or Lower Decks. Starting with the costumes, it just doesn't get better than this! Worf and Dax in crimson red robes, leather gauntlets and crowns! Jadzia looks beautiful, Worf looks bad ass and the whole thing just screams Klingon! An added bonus is the male guests wearing the Klingon "bachelor party" attire and Sirella has an awesome blue version of what Worf and Dax wore to officiate. Every thing about this costumes and attire for this wedding was just done perfectly. Even the other guests, if you look closely are all well dressed; Ferengi, Bajorans, Klingons, etc, they are all wearing their Sunday bests for this one!


Venue/Location: 

     They may have just dressed up Quarks bar for this one, but I feel like they really went above and beyond to make it look different. We've seen the mess hall and 10 forward used for past weddings, but the disappointment was always that they threw up some flowers and a tapestry and that was that. Here they totally revamped the set to make it feel totally different and unique. We get burning flames, red drapes on the walls and a huge alter where the vows can take place. If you just saw a screen cap of this episode I very seriously doubt that many people could determine if it was Quarks or Kronos!

 Guests/Ceremony: 

       This is just a nice wedding ceremony. Leave it to Deep Space Nine to take an entire episode to set this up and make the whole thing feel really important and special. Although it is not technically part of the wedding ceremony, seeing the two different stag parties throughout the episode is just hilarious and entertaining. Dax and the girls have the traditional Earth style bachelorette party with a hunky guy dancing, tonnes of food and of course drinking. It is contrasted with the men going through all of the Klingon bachelor party rituals. Most of them involving some sort of pain or torture, getting to see O'Brien and Bashir suffering throughout the episode is hilarious and sets up the stinger for the end of the episode nicely. As for the Klingon wedding, I thought it was really cool, they tied in a lot of the Kahless stuff we've seen in the past and I loved that took the time to think about why a Klingon would get married and what would it look and feel like. It was very story driven, with mock Bat'leth combat and the explanation that a couple is stronger fighting with each other rather than against. I loved the dialog of the importance of the Klingon Warriors heart and how the couple says that their heart only beats for the other rather than the typical "I dos". Kiss the bride, and cue Bashir and O'Brien to rush the groom with the painsticks, what better way could you end a Klingon wedding?

Overall: 

    And there you have it, the best Star Trek wedding that we've seen in the fifty plus years of Star Trek. This really was a great episode featuring two very likable main characters that I think most people were rooting for. Every aspect of this was spot on, and I tip my hat to everyone involved. Costume designers, set makers, directors, and of course the actors, this was done to absolute perfection and whenever we get our next Star Trek wedding, it'll have to really go above and beyond to top this one!!

    If you made it this far, I hope you enjoyed it and thank you so much for reading!! Did you agree or disagree with my list? Leave your thoughts and comments in the comment section below, and if you are looking for more great Star Trek discussion, debate and more I encourage you to check out Matt and I's most recent podcast where we looked at the Next Generation episode Imaginary Friend here:
http://randomtrekreview.blogspot.com/2019/09/rtr-28-some-nice-delicious-energy.html