The Wedding Year

Mara Baylor, a Los Angeles photographer who works in a high-end vintage clothing shop, is best friends with Alex. Out for drinks with him, she uses a dating app to select someone to get a free dinner. In this case it is Jake Harrison, as he is a chef.

Out to dinner with Jake, after Mara orders an expensive dinner, he confesses he’s not really a celebrity chef. A cook in a local diner, he instead offers to make her something. As Mara is eating her pancakes, Jake tells her he has just finished culinary school and is from Virginia. When he accuses her of using people for free food, she suggests they sleep together.

Mara and Jake start dating, which is unusual for her. Soon, her sister Jessica calls to announce her engagement. Cynical about marriage, as their parents had a painful divorce when they were young, she finds it difficult to congratulate her. Jake’s big brother Robbie also calls to announce his engagement to Violet.

As they have been invited to more weddings than they can attend, Mara and Jake play a drinking game to narrow down the quantity. At the first of the 7, she meets Nicole, the intimidating ex he had moved to LA for from his hometown. Mara makes a drunk spectacle of herself.

At the second wedding, seeing that Alex is interested in Zak, Jake gets him an introduction. At Mara’s boss Ellie’s wedding, as Mara did not have eels at the rehearsal dinner and therefore not ill, she is asked to be maid of honor. Around the fifth wedding, she and Jake talk about moving in together, she confesses she loves him and he suggests they get married.

At Jessica’s wedding, the 6th, Mara tells her and Alex about their parents uncomfortable meeting with their parents. At Robbie’s, soon Jake’s family starts talking about them moving to Virginia and having kids. Seeing Violet on the run, Mara alerts Jake and Robbie and they follow her to a burger joint, where she finds her binge-eating. She is freaked out how baby obsessed his family is.

After the long flight to LA, the tired pair find Mara’s car not functioning. As she and Jake await mechanical assistance, she asks him where he sees them in five years. Describing a house in Virginia with a room that could eventually be converted into a kid’s room, Mara says she does not see herself as the marrying type and feels too much pressure from him. Not wanting to give up on her dream of a photograpy career, she gives the ring back.

Jake moves back east, getting a proper chef’s job, and gets a positive review from a food critic. Nicole talks him into having a drink, then posts the photos on Facebook. Mara, who is still trying to get discovered for her photography, pauses to have a random hookup with the app. Heading home in a car in the morning, Alex calls to announce his engagement to Zak, warning her that Jake will also be invited to the wedding in a month’s time.

At Alex and Zak’s wedding, after Mara’s speech, Jake approaches her. They both apologize, congratulate each other for their successes, admit they still love each other and he puts the ring back on her finger. Soon after, they adopt a rescue dog.

Last Updated: October 24, 2024 at 07:58