Julia Roberts has been rom-com immortalized as the perpetually bolting bride in 1999’s “Runaway Bride” and the reluctant single pal hitting the dance floor in 1997’s “My Best Friend’s Wedding.”
But Roberts’ first big-screen wedding 30 years ago was lavish, drenched in pink and went off without a hitch in 1989’s “Steel Magnolias,” which gets an anniversary release in theaters Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday as part of Fathom Events’ TCM series.
“That marriage scene has all the joy and the extravagance of a Deep South wedding,” says screenwriter Robert Harling, who adapted “Steel Magnolias” from his own play. “When I opened the door to the church, it really did look like it had been hosed down with Pepto-Bismol, just like the line in the movie. I couldn’t believe they found so much pink.”
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The joyous wedding and reception came early in “Steel Magnolias,” setting up the pathos to follow in Shelby’s story, inspired by Harling’s sister, Susan Harling Robinson. Roberts’ character is based on the pink-loving Susan, a young mother who died from diabetes complications at 33.
“The wedding celebration brings right to the forefront the actual drama of the piece, Shelby’s condition,” says Harling. “That’s why it happens so early in the movie. It captures how these people celebrate and the underlying villain of diabetes.”
The all-star predominantly female cast – featuring newcomer Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton and Daryl Hannah – descended on Harling’s hometown of Natchitoches, Louisiana (population 18,000) to shoot the film.
Director Herbert Ross filled the St. Augustine Catholic Church with pink decor and locals who were guests at Susan’s real wedding. When Skerritt’s Drum walked his daughter Shelby down the aisle to marry Jackson (Dylan McDermott), Harling played the presiding minister.
Skerritt and Sally Field (as Shelby’s mother M’Lynn) sat in the church right in front of Susan’s real father and mother (Robert and Margaret), making for a surreal scene from the altar.
“Seeing all of those people again in the congregation was incredibly moving,” says Harling. “Looking at my mother and father sitting behind Sally Field and Tom Skerritt, it just blew my mind. It was powerful.”
Guests noshed on an armadillo-shaped groom’s cake at the Cajun music-filled wedding reception, shot at the sprawling historic house that served as the film’s family home. The armadillo cake was part of Susan’s wedding, “but it was basically a sheet cake cut into the silhouette of an armadillo,” says Harling.
The elaborate, three-dimensional movie version, complete with a long tail, was rendered in red velvet cake. The cake has a cult following and has been re-created repeatedly by fans.
“If I only leave one thing behind as my legacy, it is the armadillo cake,” says Harling. “If I had been able to patent the armadillo cake, I’d be jetting around the world in my private plane. I have seen some amazing ones.”
Offscreen, Roberts would have her own wedding drama, breaking off her engagement to co-star McDermott, canceling her 1991 wedding to Kiefer Sutherland just days before the ceremony, and marrying Lyle Lovett after a whirlwind romance while filming “The Pelican Brief.” Now 51, she’s been married to Danny Moder for 17 years.
Onscreen, Roberts married Hugh Grant in 1999’s rom-com “Notting Hill” and her spooked character would eventually exchange vows with Richard Gere in “Runaway Bride,” in a private, stress-free ceremony.
