‘The Office’: Why Jim And Pam’s Secret Wedding Was So ‘Special’
There are so many incredible moments and episodes of The Office that we can’t help but take the time to recall so many years later. One such episode aired ten years ago this month. Here’s a look back at what made this particular episode such a notable one.
Pam and Jim tied the knot 10 years ago in ‘The Office’
On Oct. 8, 2009, the two-part episode “Niagara” aired on NBC. It saw Jim and Pam finally get married… but with a bit of a twist. You see, most of the episode focuses on the ceremony in which everything that can go wrong, does go wrong.
However, they had a “real” wedding in secret, which the audience gets to see interspersed with moments from the epic “Forever” dance down the aisle. Watch the video above, and then read on to learn how it all came together in an article published in Entertainment Weekly.
Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski recall the day
Jenna Fischer (Pam), called the whole experience “very special,” and “very posh and fancy,” unlike most days of shooting because the hotel they stayed at treated it like it was really her wedding day. “We didn’t have trailers, so I wore my wedding dress out of the hotel, all the way to the ship, and then I was walking back in a wet wedding dress. It was very guerrilla-style filmmaking,” she added.
John Krasinski (Jim), recalled the day as being “insane.” “We had to get it all done in a matter of an hour or so. We had to hide the fact that it was us and try not to let people see the actual wedding in case it got spoiled. On top of it all, I had the flu. So one of the most romantic kisses in the show… is actually just me giving her a huge kiss on the cheek because I didn’t want to get her sick.”
Mindy Kaling says it was ‘so special’ to film
Though The Office took place in Pennsylvania, it was filmed in Los Angeles. However, for the Niagara falls scene, they needed the real deal. So Mindy Kaling, who wrote the episode, flew out to shoot it on location, which she recalls thinking was “not going to be the sexiest work trip.”
However, “going on the actual boat was so special,” said Kaling. “It was just me, Jenna, John, Paul [Feig], the script supervisor, and the cameraman. I was in my 20s and sitting in a parka, sweatpants, a hat, and sneakers and getting splashed on as I watched Jenna getting doused with water and mist from the actual falls, but I just remember how beautiful she looked.”
Why Paul Feig said it was ‘challenging’ to shoot
Director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) was at the helm of the episode, calling it “very challenging because it’s very wet.” He continued, saying, “It was crazy because we weren’t allowed to take over the boat, we just had to be on there with the public.”
“We went in the morning and shot it and it was completely dry. It worked fine, but we thought we’d take another crack at it in the afternoon. That’s the one we used because suddenly it was soaking wet. It was hard, everything was blowing around. We recorded the sound but we knew we weren’t going to use much. It just felt real and pure,” he finished.
