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In a Victorian era town, the Everglots, a family of recently bankrupt aristocrats, reluctantly agree to marry off their daughter Victoria to the timid Victor Van Dort, son of nouveaux riches fishmongers. Despite their initial uneasiness about the situation, having never before met, Victor and Victoria hit it off immediately. Unfortunately, after his clumsiness ruins their wedding rehearsal (accidentally lighting Victoria's mother's dress on fire), Victor is banished until he can learn to recite his wedding vows properly. Victor wanders deep into the forest while practicing, eventually performing a flawless mock recital. In doing so, he places his bride's wedding ring on a tree root resembling a human hand. However, it turns out it really is a hand, which comes to life and grabs Victor by the arm. Shortly after, Emily, the "Corpse Bride," a beautiful undead girl in a mouldy bridal gown, emerges from the ground and declares Victor her husband.

Emily takes Victor to the Land of the Dead, where Victor learns how she was jilted, murdered and robbed while trying to elope with a mysterious stranger, and has been waiting for her true love to return ever since. Dearly wishing to return to Victoria, his own true love, Victor first attempts to flee, then tricks Emily into returning him to the Land of the Living under the pretense of introducing her to his still-living parents. Just as Victor reunites with Victoria and confesses his feelings for her, Emily discovers them and spirits Victor away back to the Land of the Dead. Feeling betrayed, Emily gets into an argument with Victor, climaxing with Victor telling her that their marriage was a mistake and he would never marry a girl like her. Heartbroken, Emily leaves thinking Victor only loves Victoria for being alive while she herself is not.

Victoria tries to convince her family of the danger Victor is potentially in, but her claims of the existence of a "Corpse Bride" fall on deaf ears. Instead, her parents arrange her to be married to Lord Barkis Bittern, a presumably wealthy drifter who arrived earlier during the wedding rehearsal. Victoria attempts to object to the union, but is overruled by her parents, who tell her without her marriage to Barkis, they will be forced into the streets. Unbeknownst to the others, however, Barkis intends to kill Victoria and make off with the fortune he believes she still has.

Feeling guilty for his earlier deception, Victor apologizes to Emily, and her love for him is renewed through a piano duet. Suddenly, Mayhew, the coachman of Victor's parents dies and arrives in the Land of the Dead, where he informs Victor of Victoria's engagement to Barkis; Victor is shocked and heartbroken at the news. Emily, meanwhile, learns that her marriage to Victor is not official, as the wedding vows bind them only until death do them part, and she is already dead. To make the union valid, she and Victor must return to the Land of the Living to re-recite their vows, during which Victor must kill himself by drinking poisoned wine. Victor, believing that Victoria has moved on with her life without him, agrees to carry out the ceremony, and invites all of the dead to attend.

After Victoria and Barkis' wedding, the town erupts in panic as the dead arrive, but their fear is replaced with joy when the living residents recognize their loved ones among the dead. In the midst of the chaos, Barkis is shocked to discover that Victoria's parents are penniless. During the ceremony at the church, Emily spots the heartbroken Victoria hiding in the crowd and realizes that Victor's death will cheat her out of a happy life just like she was cheated out of hers. She calls off the ceremony before Victor drinks the poison and reunites him with Victoria. Barkis then crashes the party to reclaim Victoria, with Emily recognizing him as the man who jilted, murdered and robbed her years ago. Victor engages Barkis in a sword fight to keep him from taking Victoria (though Barkis is the only one with a sword—Victor is armed with a toasting fork). Before Barkis can land a killing strike on the beaten Victor, Emily steps in front of him and takes the blow instead, remaining unharmed due to already being dead. Emily lividly orders him to leave, but before he does, Barkis mockingly toasts Emily for never finding true love and drinks the wine intended for Victor. However, he does not realize it is poisoned until it's too late and dies within seconds. The outraged dead proceed to force him back to the underworld, intent on punishing him for his crimes. Content that Victor can now live happily with Victoria and having closure with her murder, Emily finds herself at peace and ascends to the heavens in the form of hundreds of butterflies into the moon as Victor and Victoria watch on.

totally rooting for EmilyxVictor. I think I've been watching too much anime, expecting a pairing like that to wind up canon. XD It's still nice because it's unexpected and shows what true love is really about.