Women Recreate 'Bridesmaids' Wedding Speech–But It Doesn't Quite Go To Plan

A pair of women had wedding guests in stitches after recreating an iconic movie speech as part of their friends' nuptials.

Cathy Larimer, an Irish woman from Limerick who currently lives in Chicago, took to TikTok to share footage of her childhood friend Anna performing the speech from the movie Bridesmaids alongside her husband Michael's best pal Courtney.

The performance is greeted with raucous laughter from those assembled friends and family members familiar with the 2011 comedy. Unfortunately, as Larimer revealed, not everyone was in on the joke. In fact, some thought something altogether different was happening.

Having a wedding that reflects the happy couple's personalities was a key consideration for newlyweds in the U.S. last year. In a survey of 9,318 American couples who wed in 2023, conducted by the wedding planning website The Knot, 62 percent ranked personalization among the most important factors of their big day.

That was what made Anna and Courtney's speech to Cathy and Michael in front of them and the 85 guests assembled at Cloughjordan House in Tipperary, Ireland, so special.

"It was the greatest weekend of my life," Cathy told Newsweek. "We didn't have traditional wedding roles at our wedding—no bridesmaids or groomsmen. However, we did want our best friends to be involved in the wedding in a fun way but not to feel obligated to do all the typical duties."

For Anna and Courtney that meant taking on the roles of Annie Walker (Kristin Wiig) and Helen Harris (Rose Byrne), the two close friends of bride-to-be Lillian Donovan (Maya Rudolph) who end up competing for her attention in the days leading up to her big day.

Matters come to a head early on, during Lillian's engagement party, when Annie and Lillian become embroiled in a game of one-upmanship during a toast to the happy couple with both women out to prove they are the bride's true best friend.

It's a scene and a movie that holds a special place in Cathy's heart. "Anna and I are huge fans, we used to watch it every weekend in college and can recite the film with our eyes closed," she explained.

"We quote this film an obnoxious amount, when we used to try to fall asleep at sleepovers we would continually say 'keep smilin', keep shinin'' and erupt into laughter until we were ready to fall asleep."

She said: "We always talked about performing this scene at our weddings, and when I got engaged, almost as a joke I asked Anna if she would do it. She said she would, so we started brainstorming who would play the antagonist."

Michael eventually suggested Courtney, having studied alongside her at the famous Second City improvisational comedy troupe in Chicago. "The girls did not rehearse, I created a group text last year introducing them to one another and we sent a few voice notes as jokes but that was about it," Cathy said.

When she learned they had not been in touch, Cathy assumed it wasn't happening, which made the performance all the more special although Cathy admits some of her older relatives were a little confused, having evidently never seen Bridesmaids.

"It was a divided room for sure—my parents knew what was going on because I was able to give them the nod and they understood," she said. "I was able to tell a few people near our seats that it was a bit, but some of my other aunts and uncles thought Courtney was being extremely rude."

It was only when watching back the footage, which was posted to TikTok under the handle cathyireland_in_chicago that she realized some were not in on the joke. "I was only able to check out the reactions once I was sent the video at the end, and they are priceless," she said.

Cathy has no regrets though and would encourage other couples to follow their hearts when it comes to their big day. "People should do whatever makes them happy at their weddings, even if it's a bit untraditional. Even if that means keeping a promise from 12 years ago to make an entire room of people feel uncomfortable," she said. "This was an incredible highlight for me, Michael adored it too."