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The One With The Cheap Wedding Dress

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"The One With The Cheap Wedding Dress" is the seventeenth episode of the seventh season of Friends, which aired on March 15, 2001. In it, Monica buys a wedding dress on sale that she wants, but another bride to be threatens her to try and get it back while Ross and Joey realize they're dating the same woman and fight for her affection.

Plot[]

Monica is getting ready to buy her wedding dress. At a dress store, she meets a woman, Megan Bailey, who is getting married. Monica tells her about a discount store, Kleinman's, in Brooklyn that is having a 50% off sale soon and is simply deciding which dress she wants before she heads to the sale. Megan thanks her for the tip. Later, while at Kleinman's, Monica sees Megan again, only this time she is clutching the same wedding dress that Monica planned on buying. After wrestling her to the ground, Monica manages to escape with the dress.

Meanwhile, Chandler wants the Swing Kings to play at his and Monica's wedding. Monica promises to book them for him. When she met Megan, she told her the date of her wedding and that Chandler wanted the Swing Kings, not knowing they would have a quarrel later on. Monica learns that Megan has booked the Swing Kings on the day of Chandler and Monica's wedding and can't have them unless she gives her the dress.

After trying to dissuade Chandler from wanting the Swing Kings, he reveals that when he was dancing with Monica to their music, it was the first time that he knew that Monica was who he "wanted to dance all [his] dances with". Monica decides that making Chandler happy is more important than the dress and calls Megan, agreeing to hand it over in exchange for letting her have the Swing Kings. Before returning the dress, she tries it on and asks Chandler not to like it since she is returning it. He "hates" the dress so much that he wants to rip it off... Monica is reluctant, but lets him do it a little to spite Megan.

Meanwhile, a black girl, Kristen, moves in across the street from Central Perk. Ross and Joey both go on dates with her without knowing about the other one. Eventually they find out and decide that only one of them can keep dating her. They resolve to each take her on one more date and let her decide who she likes better. They set a spending limit of $100. On the night of Ross' date, Joey comes over to wish him good luck. He sees that Ross sent Kristen flowers that cost $100. He smiles at Ross, telling him "That's the limit. You're screwed!". But Ross says that he technically didn't break any rules because he sent the flowers before the actual date.

Ross takes Kristen to a restaurant, but Joey appears as an attempt to sabotage his chances with her. Ross and Joey pretend to not know each other, but get into a verbal fight that reveals very embarrassing personal information about each other (ranging from Ross' three divorces, to the VD poster Joey appeared on, to Marcel). Kristen leaves in the middle of the fight, and Ross and Joey don't notice until she is gone, but don't seem terribly fazed and decide to eat dinner anyway.

Cast and Crew[]

Main Cast[]

Jennifer Aniston - Rachel Greene
Courteney Cox - Monica Geller
Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe Buffay
Matt LeBlanc - Joey Tribbiani
Matthew Perry - Chandler Bing
David Schwimmer - Ross Geller

Supporting Cast[]

Andrea Bendewald - Megan Bailey
Gabrielle Union - Kristen
Kim Harris - The store owner

Crew[]

Directed By:
Kevin S. Bright

Written By:
Brian Buckner, Sebastian Jones, Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen

Quotes[]

Monica: You just stick to your job.
Phoebe: What is your job?
Chandler: Staying out of the way.

Megan Bailey: [after having exchanged information with Monica about their wedding dates and photographer] Oh, who's your band?
Monica: Oh, my fiancé wants the Swing Kings.
Megan: Oh, you're so lucky. My fiancé wants the heavy metal band, Carcass.
Phoebe: [excitedly] Oh, is that spelled with a "C" or a "K"? Oh my God, it doesn't matter, they're both great!

Rachel: [to the woman carrying a wedding dress, not knowing that she's the store owner] Now that you know what you want, you should go to Kleinman's and get it half off. This place is so overpriced.
Store Owner: I own this store.
Rachel: So, does this come in another color or...

[a crowd including Phoebe, Rachel and Monica are gathered outside Kleinman's with signs in the background that say 50% OFF ANNUAL SALE TODAY ONLY!]
Rachel: So this is Brooklyn.
[Phoebe nods]
Monica: [firm and clear] All right. Listen up. There is usually only one dress in each size, so when they open those doors, fan out.
[Phoebe and Rachel nod]
Monica: [unfolds a picture of the Wedding dress] Now, this is what you're looking for. Memorize it.
[Phoebe and Rachel take a good look at the picture and then Monica folds it up]
Monica: [firm and clear] When you locate the dress... [takes out three whistles and gives one each to Phoebe and Rachel] ...blow on these. All right? Three sharp blasts. When you hear it, come running.
Rachel: Okay.
Phoebe: Got it.
Monica: All right.
[a staff member unlocks the doors and the crowd starts pushing to get in]
Woman: Here he comes. Hurry!
Rachel: Oh! They're pushing. They're pushing.
Monica: [to Rachel] Hey! Don't be a baby!
Rachel: Well, I...
[the staff member opens the doors and crowd stampede into the shop, but Rachel is knocked aside and falls by the door]
Phoebe: [comes back] Hey! Rachel! Come on!
[Rachel gets up and follows Phoebe into the shop]

Monica: [pleased] Megan!
Megan: Monica!
Monica: You came!
Megan: [cheerful] Yeah!
Monica: [holds up the white dress] This is my dress!
Megan: [cheerful but disagreeing] No!
Monica: [insisting] Yes, it is! You saw me wearing it.
Megan: [smug] And now you'll see me buying it!
Monica: [disbelief] What? You freak! You wouldn't even have known about this place if it wasn't for me!
Megan: [smug] Look, you don't want to fight me.
Monica: [very firm] Maybe I do! I'm pretty feisty!
[Monica takes out her whistle and blows it three times]

[Phoebe hears Monica's three sharp whistles and runs across the shop]
Phoebe: [calls] I'm coming! I'm coming!
[three sharp whistles are heard from the other side of the shop and Phoebe changes direction]
Phoebe: [calls] OK!
[three sharp whistles are heard from the other side of the shop and Phoebe changes direction again]
Phoebe: [calls] Hey!
[multiple whistles are heard from both sides of the shop]
Phoebe: [frantic] What do I do?
[Phoebe runs over to a row of Wedding dresses where the repeated whistling is coming from and finds Rachel hiding among the dresses, repeatedly blowing her whistle]
Phoebe: [over Rachel's repeated whistle-blowing] What are you doing? Did you find the dress?
[Phoebe pinches Rachel's nose, she stops whistling and the whistle falls out of her mouth]
Phoebe: Did you find the dress?
Rachel: [scared] No. You gotta get me out of here, Phoebe! These bargain shoppers are crazy!
Phoebe: [stands up] I - We gotta get Monica!
Rachel: [puts her hand out] No! You gotta hold my hand!
Phoebe: [sheer disbelief] Oh my God!
[Phoebe takes Rachel and they run like crazy across the shop where Monica is sounding her whistle]
Phoebe: [crazed] Excuse me! Excuse me!
[Phoebe and Rachel find Monica, who has her dress and is pinning Megan down on the floor]
Monica: [passes the dress to Phoebe] Go! Go! Go!
[Phoebe takes the dress and runs. Rachel is about to follow when she notices Monica holding Megan down]
Rachel: Hey...
Monica: [points] NOW!
[Rachel runs after Phoebe, Monica holds Megan down for a bit longer and then runs after Phoebe and Rachel, blowing her whistle three times]

Joey: We're gonna have to set a spending limit on the date. I don't have the money to take her to a fancy place like that.
Ross: Well, sorry. That's what I do on dates.
Joey: [By stretching hands] All right. Well, I guess I'll just have to do what I do on dates.
Ross: So, let's decide on the spending limit.
Joey: Yeah. [thinks] Uh... a slice... $6?
Ross: I was thinking more like $100.
Joey: Okay. Can I borrow $94?

Phoebe: [somebody has just called Monica, told her something shocking and has then cut her off before she has had the chance to respond. Phoebe can't fathom what has happened.] What?
Monica: That was that girl Megan. She booked the Swing Kings on the day of our wedding and said that I couldn't have them back unless I gave her the dress!
Phoebe: [shocked] Ooh! [then excitedly] Does that mean Carcass is available?

Trivia[]

General[]

  • Ross' inability to flirt with women, previously shown in "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt", is demonstrated again in this episode.
  • Kristen probably left after Ross said "Leave Marcel out of this!" as she can partially be seen wringing her hands in defeat and getting up from her seat.
  • Andrea Bendewald (Megan) is one of Jennifer Aniston's real-life best friends, and was a bridesmaid at her wedding to Brad Pitt.
    • Also, Aniston was the matron of honor at Bendewald's wedding to Mitch Rouse.
  • Kim Harris, who appeared as the store owner also appears in "The One With The Donor" as a cologne spritzer.
  • Matt LeBlanc improvised his last line in the Ross and Joey story, "does a bear s*** in the woods?", but it was cut out in the TV episode.
  • Although a big deal is made of Chandler loving swing music and wanting the Swing Kings to play at the wedding, the band that actually plays at the wedding is called Dave Anthony Jungle Swing, and they never play any swing music. In fact, this is the same band who played at Barry and Mindy's wedding.
    • Despite Monica saying she has booked the Swing Kings for their wedding at the end of the episode, it is possible that the Swing Kings later had to cancel on them, forcing the couple to find a replacement band at the last minute.
  • Megan mentions that her husband wants the heavy metal band Carcass to play at their wedding. Carcass is actually a real death metal band; they were on hiatus when this episode first aired.
  • Carcass isn't the only heavy metal band referenced in this episode. In the scene where Ross and Chandler (and Joey in a later scene) are talking to Kristen, the record store has a poster for Disturbed in the record store window.
  • This is the second time Monica wears somebody else's wedding dress onscreen. The last time was that of Ross' second wife, Emily. However, on that occasion Chandler didn't see it until the wedding day.
  • During Ross and Joey's date with Kristen, they both keep mentioning embarrassing things they have done over the years. Ross asks Joey about a time he ate his date's food and Kristen realizes that Joey must have eaten her crab cake when she went to the restroom. This situation would be the center of one of the sub plots three years later in Season 10 ("The One With The Birth Mother"), where Joey ends up eating his date's dessert.
  • Throughout the entire series, Ross and Joey are the only characters to date an African American woman. Kristen is the first one they date, while the second one will be Charlie Wheeler (though Ross and Joey do not date her at the same time).

Goofs[]

  • In this episode, Rachel is sitting in Chandler's Barcalounger, the one that was broken a couple of episodes ago. This episode was supposed to air before "The One Where Rosita Dies".
  • When Ross is walking over to Kristen's car to introduce himself, you can see the microphone moving out of the shot at the top of the screen for a second.
  • When Joey and Ross are arguing in the restaurant, in the shot where Ross when he mentions Joey's VD poster, his right arm is at his side, but in the next shot it's instantly on Kristen's chair.
  • Monica chooses a wedding dress at an expensive boutique, then later goes to a discount store to buy the same-style dress at a half-off sale. The dress she buys is different from the one in the boutique, having wider and frillier straps, and a completely different neckline and bodice. When she tries it on later at the apartment, it is now the same style as the one at the boutique.
    • In the interview with the clothes dresser, Debra McGuire, she explained that the dress originally designed for the episode wouldn't fit (the one seen in the boutique shop). Therefore dresses from Warner Bros' wardrobe stock were used instead.
  • Monica says her wedding is May 15th, but if Rachel's birthday is May 5th and was three episodes ago, then the wedding would have passed already. If this episode had been screened in the original sequence before "The One Where Rosita Dies", then Rachel's birthday would be in two weeks time.
  • Even though Phoebe doesn't leave the apartment, she goes from not wearing any rings to having her normal rings on her hands.
  • Joey not having enough funds does not make sense because he is on Days of Our Lives and should be paid enough per week.
  • At the restaurant, the shape of Kristen's wine glass changes between shots.
  • When Joey meets Kristen for the first time, in the street, he introduces himself and shakes hands with her, the neon signs on the shop window behind him is unlit, but the very next frame it is switched on as the introduction continues, as she states her name. There is no gap in the conversation.
  • When Ross says 'in fact', he is in the corner of the screen as the camera is facing Chandler and you can see that his mouth isn't moving in time with his speech.

External links[]

Episode Navigation[]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Preceded by
"The One With The Truth About London" 		Season Seven Episodes Followed by
"The One With Joey's Award"
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