A reverend puts an engaged couple through a grueling marriage preparation course to see if they are meant to be married in his church.
Sadie and Ben are in love, and although Ben suggests getting married in the Caribbean, Sadie has her heart set on a wedding at the family church, St. Augustine's. Ben says sure, and they meet with the pastor, Rev. Frank. The only date open for two years is three weeks away, and Frank insists the kids go through his marriage prep course. They're to write their own vows; he also demands chastity, bugs their apartment, initiates arguments, has them care for robot twins, creates friction between Ben and her family, and raises doubts in Sadie. Desperate, Ben looks for dirt on Frank. Can he undermine Frank's authority and keep Sadie's heart?—<[email protected]>
Reverend Frank believes that a marriage is like sticking your tongue on a frozen flagpole. It looks fun, but once you do it, you regret it and only pray to come out of it with your dignity and your extremities intact. Frank says that his business is "Good Marriages".
Sadie and Ben met at a local coffee shop. They start dating and Ben goes to second base when he stops Sadie from stepping in the path of a reversing car. They have sex, and eventually move in together. Ben proposes to Sadie 6 months later, at Sadie's parents 30th marriage anniversary. Sadie has a sister Lindsey (Christine Taylor).Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore) has always longed to marry the man of her dreams in her family church. Grandma Jones (Grace Zabriskie) says that this was the church that her husband built. She also contends that Lindsey never got married there, and hence her marriage ended in divorce.Though she has found her lifetime companion in Ben Murphy (John Krasinski), Sadie is distressed to learn that St. Augustine's has only one wedding slot available over the next two years, though after re-checking their planning book, they find that the wedding can be held in three weeks.
While Sadie and Ben do qualify for the slot, the church's eccentric minister, Reverend Frank (Robin Williams), will not wed the couple until they agree to attend his prenuptial course (shortened, due to the new date, from three months to three weeks). Cameron the Choir Boy (Josh Flitter) is Frank's assistant. Frank reserves the right to call off the wedding, if the couple do not complete the course for any reason.Frank lays down the rules, write your own vows, no sex till the honeymoon and don't miss any assignment. Ben was not enthusiastic about taking the course, but Sadie signs them up.As their wedding date draws near, Sadie and Ben must now follow all of Reverend Frank's rules, attend his unusual classes, and complete a series of homework assignments designed specifically to irritate one another, in order to get past puppy love and ensure that their union will have a sound foundation.
On behalf of Frank, his young assistant (Josh Flitter) breaks into the couple's house and bugs it. Thus, Frank and his assistant can listen to all conversations, though Frank doesn't let his assistant listen to the adult parts.One of the assignments was to simulate an argument after a tire blow out, late at night, in pouring rain.Ben wants to have sex with Sadie, but she wants to stick to the rules and shuts out Ben. Frank takes Sadie and Ben to the maternity ward of the hospital and makes them look at women delivering babies, which is a painful process.In one part of the course, the couple has to care for twin "creepy robot" babies. They get on Ben's last nerve, and he destroys one, to the horror of bystanders in a department store (Sadie and Ben had gone there to register for their gifts).Ben discovers the microphone/transmitter but does not tell Sadie, for fear she will accuse him of lying and planting the bug himself.
Problems gradually begin to develop between the couple due to the course. Frank makes Ben do word association with Sadie's family and he calls Lindsey blonde, calls her dad pompous and her mother Stepfordy.Ben is also insecure that Sadie takes her friend Carlisle's opinion on every matter related to the wedding and the reception. Sadie has already written her vows and Ben hasn't even started yet.Ben's friend Joel tells Ben not to communicate to Sadie as she trusts Frank now, and instead find out Frank's deepest, darkest secret to bring down Sadie's blind trust in him.
Ben begins an investigation into Frank and finds that Frank was married in his own church. Ben breaks into Frank's house and after going through Frank's papers, he discovers that Frank was once married to a Maria Gonzalez and the marriage ended in a divorce.Shortly before the wedding, Sadie becomes reluctant to have the wedding, among other things because Ben has not prepared marriage vows as Frank instructed them to do, but instead drew a flip cartoon of a truck. Lindsey also adds that her ex also never wrote down any vows at all.
The last test is when Frank makes Sadie put on a blindfold and drive a car based on Ben's instructions. Ben was already in a bad mood and Frank riles him by saying that Ben is bad at communicating. As a result, Ben makes mistakes, and they end up driving down a one-way street. Sadie feels that she got no instructions from Ben at all during the entire exercise.
At the Pre-wedding rehearsal, the differences between Ben and Sadie come out in the open. Ben uses the moment to then confront Frank over Maria Gonzalez, believing him to be a hypocrite. Frank reveals that the marriage was done to allow Maria, then an immigrant, and a member of Frank's congregation, to stay in the USA. Upset that Ben would waste his time on a "stupid investigation", Sadie calls off the wedding. On Frank's advice, Sadie goes on vacation to Jamaica, their slated honeymoon destination.
Ben seeks advice from his friend Joel (DeRay Davis), who advises him to give up on Sadie, saying that there are other women like her out there. Ben however disagrees with this and decides to go to Jamaica. Frank and his assistant travel there too. He attempts to call Sadie, but she refuses to listen.Her parents assure her that all marriages have problems, and her friend Carlisle (Eric Christian Olsen) tells her that Ben may just want someone who relies on him, allowing her to forgive Ben more easily.Ben writes his vows on the sands of the beach to impress Sadie and they reconcile, and Frank marries them there.
