Not all movies like The Wedding Planner are obligated to feature a shirtless Matthew McConaughey and a female lead played by either Jennifer Lopez or Kate Hudson but as you’re about to discover, a lot of them do.
Adam Shankman’s 2001 rom-com sees Lopez’ wedding planner saved from disaster by McConaughey’s charming pediatrician, and sparks inevitably fly as they grow closer.
The genre will always remain incredibly popular because it’s light, fluffy, and completely devoid of any serious drama or heavy thematic content, and the following ten movies all hit the expected beats.
10 Breezy Rom-Com Movies Like The Wedding Planner
1. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson are the polar opposites that end up falling for each other in Donald Petrie’s wildly popular rom-com.
She thinks she can get a man to leave her in ten days, he thinks he can make a woman fall in love with him in the same amount of time.
Sometimes, the most enjoyable movies like The Wedding Planner offer a simple story that lives up to a simple premise, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days definitely falls into that category.
2. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)
Movies like The Wedding Planner can often see the basic concept twisted to suit any sub-genre, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past takes that idea and spins a rom-com twist on A Christmas Carol.
McConaughey is back again, starring as a celebrity photographer who ends up visited by his ex-loves in an attempt to change his womanizing ways and finally settle down.
3. Failure to Launch (2006)
You could barely turn around in the mid-2000s without finding a Matthew McConaughey rom-com, and Tom Dey’s Failure to Launch is just one of many movies like The Wedding Planner that the future Oscar winner starred in throughout the decade.
A 35 year-old man who still lives at home with his mother who does everything for him is slowly but surely coaxed into a new life by Sarah Jessica Parker’s relationship expert.
There might be some real star power sprinkled throughout Failure to Launch including Bradley Cooper and Kathy Bates, but it’s Zooey Deschanel who ends up stealing the entire movie.
4. Fool’s Gold (2008)
Shirtless Matthew McConaughey? Check. Kate Hudson as the female lead? Check. Experienced rom-com director? Andy Tennant also helmed Sweet Home Alabama and Hitch. Check!
If you’re looking for movies like The Wedding Planner but fancy a little more bang for your buck, Fool’s Gold’s treasure-hunting escapades and bickering spouses will certainly do the trick.
Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone, and Kevin Hart all lend support in a narrative that coasts by on nothing but the undeniable charisma and chemistry of the established lead pairing
5. Leap Year (2010)
The first entry on our list that doesn’t feature Matthew McConaughey, Leap Year follows a woman hoping to pop the question to her boyfriend, but discovering an entirely new love instead.
Amy Adams is one of the finest actresses of her generation, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she delivers a great performance opposite Matthew Goode in Anand Tucker’s rom-com.
Leap Year is exactly the kind of thing that should appeal to fans of entertaining and heartfelt movies like The Wedding Planner.
6. Two Weeks Notice (2002)
Hugh Grant was once the undisputed king of the rom-com, and he sticks to the persona that made him a star in the first place opposite Sandra Bullock in Marc Lawrence’s predictable love story.
Bullock’s environmental lawyer goes to work for Grant’s brash billionaire, and despite their differences, the two grow closer as her titular notice period begins to draw to a close.
There are some surprisingly smart one-liners to be found, and Two Weeks Notice is surely one of the only movies like The Wedding Planner to feature a cameo from Donald Trump.
7. Monster-in-Law (2005)
Veteran rom-com director Robert Luketic was a reliable choice to helm Bridget Fonda’s first movie in fifteen years, with the famed actress causing plenty of trouble for her son’s fiancee.
Jennifer Lopez is hardly a stranger to the genre either, and the two play off each other very well, even though Fonda’s performance bulldozes everything else of the screen.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of movies like The Wedding Planner are focused squarely on the nuptial aspect, and Monster-in-Law is one of the better ones.
8. The Back-up Plan (2010)
Alan Poul and Andy Heyward co-direct a rom-com that has some pretty questionable morals if you think about it too much.
Jennifer Lopez grows tired of waiting for the right man, becomes pregnant through artificial insemination, before falling in love with a man who can’t wrap his head around the idea.
The script could have been pretty offensive if handled in the wrong fashion, but The Back-up Plan instead turned out to be a thoroughly unremarkable entry into the genre’s extensive back catalog.
9. Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
The second movie on our list from director Andy Tennant stars Reese Witherspoon as a New York fashion designer who heads home to try and get a divorce from her redneck high school husband.
You can always rely on Reese Witherspoon to give a charming lead performance in a rom-com, and Sweet Home Alabama is specifically geared towards her strengths.
It hits the same plot beats we’ve seen a thousand times before, as most movies like The Wedding Planner tend to do, but the leading lady single-handedly elevates it above tedium.
10. Bride Wars (2009)
If you feel as though some movies like The Wedding Planner aren’t focused enough on the big day itself, then Bride Wars could be just what you’re looking for.
Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway’s lifelong best friends book their weddings on the same day, and naturally, the clash ends up putting their entire friendship to the test.
If you’re looking for fully-formed characters and any sort of insight into the stresses of getting married then you’ve come to the wrong place, but Bride Wars does deliver exactly what it promises.