This year marks the 10th anniversary of the now classic romantic comedy, 27 Dresses. The film, starring Katherine Heigl as a woman who has been a bridesmaid at 27 other weddings, yet never a bride, was a hit when it came out in 2007, and became a highly relatable movie for women who had suffered through similar indignities all in the name of keeping a bride happy on her big day. (Remember the Gone With The Wind-themed wedding, anyone?) In honor of the film’s 10th anniversary, we share a little bit of trivia you might not know about this wedding film genre classic.
1. The movie is inspired by a true story. Yes, 27 Dresses is partly lifted from screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna’s friend Kate, whom she describes as a perpetual bridesmaid. “Kate is so unbelievably nice that at the time I did the movie she’d been in 12 weddings. To be ranked in the Top 4 of 12 different people when you’re still not out of your 20s is pretty impressive,” said McKenna, who also wrote The Devil Weras Prada screenplay, said in a recent interview. “What I loved about it wasn’t just that she was in these weddings, but that she was the person that would pick up everyone from the airport, dog-sit for people, and I was always very fascinated by it.”
2. The movie was supposed to be a completely different film. Producer Jon Glickman says that the original pitch was only about 60% of what the end movie ended up being. “At the beginning, we had aspirations of this is going to be the An Unmarried Woman of the new millennium, which was a classic female drama directed by Paul Mazursky,” said Glickman. “But no matter where we went with the story, we knew it was an incredible commercial idea.”
3. The writer had no interest in giving Jane a traditional happy wedding. “I wanted her to end up on her own, hilariously enough,” McKenna said.
4. In a rare Hollywood instance, the writer, director, and star of the rom-com were all women. “It was nice to be on set with so many women,” said actress Judy Greer. “There was a lightness to that set that I don’t always experience, which I think shines through in the movie and gives it a really supportive, happy atmosphere.”
5. The costume designer said the hardest part of her job was finding 27 dresses that would look unflattering on Katherine Heigl. Catherine Thomas, the woman in charge of the film’s wardrobe, scoured eBay, thrift stores, and catalogs looking for ugly bridesmaid dresses for the movie. She ended up picking 50 dresses to narrow down to 27. “No matter what the dress was, she still looked beautiful,” said Anne Fletcher, the movie’s director. “So we’d just add more flowers, more tulle, a hat.”
6. Actress Judy Greer, who plays Jane’s best friend Casey, has played a similar BFF role in three other romantic comedies. Yes, you’ve seen her as the side kick of the lead actress before in What Women Want, The Wedding Planner, and 13 Going on 30.
7. The famous “Bennie and the Jets” scene almost didn’t happen. Apparently a few weeks before they started shooting, the director thought the famous Elton John song was too slow. “We were actually investigating some other songs, including “Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones,” said producer Glickman. When writer Aline found out, she fought hard to keep it in. “She went on a crazy lobbying effort, calling the head of the studio, calling me 5,000 times, as if it was like the most important piece of legislation facing Congress, to stop us from changing the song. And she did. And she was right.”
