Fave wedding romances: 'Breaking Dawn,' 'Sound of Music,' 'Steel Magnolias'

Harlequin authors Lynne Graham, Jennifer Hayward and Kat Cantrell share three of their favorite romance novels/movies that feature weddings.

Lynne Graham, author of The Billionaire's Bridal Bargain

• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. Because who doesn't love the beautiful wedding dress that Bella Swan wears to walk down the aisle? All that beading and lace have provided many an inspiration for my heroine's wedding dress. And the groom was quite handsome too!

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. For probably just about the most powerful and wonderful happy-ever-after to the most loved literary couple ever. And also for not just having one wedding but two!

• Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer. It might not be the most romantic of novels, but when Adam marries Jenny it's incredibly touching because she loves him so desperately and he doesn't return those feelings.

Jennifer Hayward, author of The Italian's Deal For I Do

Wedding season is upon us! With an impending walk down the aisle for many couples, 'tis the time to immerse ourselves in our favorite movies featuring that life-changing milestone called marriage. Whether it's a sweeping, sigh-worthy romantic saga or a comedy that entertains us with its cast of not-so-romantic secondary characters, such as the very funny Bridesmaids and Wedding Crashers, we know these films are guaranteed to take us on a roller-coaster ride of emotion.

In honor of this most wonderful season, I'm sharing with you three of my favorite films/books that feature wedding bells. All three have had a big impact on my life and my stories and stayed in my head long after the final credits rolled.

• Gone With the Wind. Without question, my favorite romance and Scarlett, my most beloved heroine of all time. A quintessential Southern belle, Scarlett is strong and courageous, vulnerable and cheeky and above all deeply flawed. She is selfish and she is vain, but that's why I love her. It makes her so real to me. This dark-haired, green-eyed beauty wants to be the belle of the ball and is not afraid to go after what she wants, which leaves Margaret Mitchell tons of room to redeem her. And redeem her she does. Scarlett becomes an intensely heroic figure I had to cheer for as the movie progresses.

Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, Scarlett and Rhett's romance is far from perfect. But that's why I love it. Rhett Butler, the black sheep of his wealthy family, is the perfect man to "manage" a willful Scarlett, and manage her he does as he becomes her third husband. It's a battle of wills to the end, but when Scarlett finally realizes she's in love with Rhett, is it too late?

• The Sound of Music. Nothing puts a smile on my face like watching the Von Trapp children weave a spell around their new nanny, Julie Andrews, who's having an identity crisis during a break from her stint at an Austrian abbey. Widowed Captain Von Trapp is about to marry a Baroness until his carefree new governess arrives to steal his heart.

Watching this love story unfold as Maria teaches the captain how to let go and love again makes me cry every time. Set against a backdrop of the looming Nazi occupation of Austria, you want to cheer as Maria walks down the aisle to wed the captain, the nuns singing, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? Er, at least I did.

• Steel Magnolias. The amazing cast and humor in this movie earn a spot on my list. Set in Louisiana, it's about a group of close-knit women who congregate regularly at the local beauty parlour owned by Dolly Parton. Its portrayal of women as exactly what I think they are — steel magnolias — stole my heart.

Julia Roberts plays a bride-to-be with a looming shadow hanging over her nuptials. Shelby (played by Roberts) desperately wants to have a baby, but a pregnancy could be fatal for someone with her health issues. But Shelby would "rather have 30 minutes of wonderful, than a lifetime of nothing special."

Get your tissues ready. This one's worth every salty moment.

Kat Cantrell, author of From Fake to Forever

Since I'm a romance author, you probably won't be surprised to learn that movies with weddings always catch my attention. I'm a visual person and I love the dresses and flowers! I especially like to see how the director's vision for the scene plays out. There are so many variables and potential themes, lighting — I'm a sucker for those small details.

• The Sound of Music features my all-time favorite wedding scene. I get a lump in my throat every time I see Maria float down the aisle in that overhead shot, with the organ music playing and that long, dreamy train stretching for what seems like a mile behind her. I love it because it's such a beautiful scene but also because Maria is getting married in a very traditional Catholic ceremony. It's a part of this former nun's identity that she's carrying with her into her new life as Mrs. Von Trapp and shows that she's still Maria at heart. A marriage where the bride can combine her old self so seamlessly into her new self is a true happily ever after.

• My second favorite is the wedding scene in Father of the Bride where Steve Martin is walking down the aisle with the actress playing his daughter, Kimberly Williams (now Paisley, and totally as an aside, Brad and Kimberly are one of the top five of cutest celebrity couples, but I digress…). The dad thinks to himself, "I realized at that moment that I was never going to come home again and see Annie at the top of the stairs, that I'd never see her again at our breakfast table in her nightgown and socks. I suddenly realized what was happening: Annie was all grown up and leaving us. Something inside began to hurt." Wow — queue the waterworks. This scene gets more poignant the older my kids get. When you have an emotional response to something every time you see it and each time, it's different because you're different? That's a great scene. It's exactly what a wedding should be.

• My third favorite is Ever After (fans of mine know Cinderella is hands-down the best story every created and this movie is my all-time top version). The wedding scene between Prince Henry and the Spanish Princess is a nail-biter. I still remember the first time I saw the movie. I watched in horror as Henry waited at the end of the aisle for this woman who was not Danielle. I thought to myself, "NO! What is he doing? He can't marry her. She's not the right woman!" And that's the power of a wedding, folks. The viewer knows what it means. It's a Commitment with a capital C, and in a love story, you want a sense that these people we've come to know and cheer for are going to make it. The wedding is the encapsulation of their story — the prize, if you will, for defeating all the obstacles between them. And the hero better be marrying the heroine.