The last-minute doubt before a wedding is one of the most enduring themes in movies and literature, and here it is again in ‘‘Made of Honor,’’ a tale of a man’s 11th-hour profession of love for his best friend.

But such real-life situations are hardly the stuff of the funny movies, those close to them say. When pre-wedding drama happens, lots of people stand to get hurt, even if things work out in the end.

Wedding planner Tia Ervin of Conyers, Ga., says she’s seen the collateral damage of a canceled wedding — a weeping bride, a distraught groom and confused family members.

Still, she would counsel a bride with doubts to skip the walk down the aisle.

‘‘It takes courage to say, ‘I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing,’ ’’ Ervin said.

Three of her 150 brides have canceled their weddings. It’s never easy; she knows a bride who discovered that her fiance had a fling with her cousin. But the bride still debated whether she could make it work, Ervin said.

Internal torture is hard enough, and friends may not necessarily be supportive.

When Adam Botterbusch called off his engagement last summer, even the bridesmaids gave him grief, he said.

‘‘They said, ’How could you do this? We just spent all this money,’’’ the 21-year-old said. He finally agreed to pay for their bridesmaids’ dresses ‘‘to keep the peace.’’

His family is now trying to resell the dresses.

Despite the heartache and expense, the Dover, Pa., resident said he made the right decision and learned something. Next time, ‘‘I’ll go for a longer dating period’’ before popping the question, he said.

Real-life romance is hard, says Pepper Schwartz, a University of Washington sociology professor.

‘‘In the movies someone saves us from ourselves,’’ says Schwartz, who gives love advice on Perfectmatch.com.

‘‘We don’t have to be smart. We don’t have to pick the right one.’’

But dating requires decision making, says radio show personality and relationship expert Cooper Lawrence, author of ‘‘Been There, Done That, Kept the Jewelry’’ (Polka Dot Press, 2006).

‘‘You have to be a risk taker,’’ the psychologist said from her office in New York.

Of course, interrupting a wedding to confess true love is a risk that is different than picking a spouse. And audiences shouldn’t expect that kind of story to go away anytime soon.

‘‘Bad men make for more interesting stories,’’ said fiction writer Jean McGarry, who teaches at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. ‘‘It’s a greater challenge for both the writer and the lover.’’