The Wedding People is about growing up and learning to let your internal motivations and desires drive you vs. letting external drivers take ahold of your life.
It begins with Phoebe walking into a Victorian inn in Rhode Island, intent on committing suicide that night. She has the gown on her body and no luggage. The plan is a delicious room service meal, a nice bath and then to take her cat’s medication and overdose. Weirdly, Phoebe walks into a wedding.
The hotel is fully booked out for the wedding, but for some reason her reservation for the penthouse suite was honoured. Phoebe meets Lilah the Bride, is hugged and feted, given a gift bag and checked into her room. But when Phoebe and Lilah find themselves alone in the elevator together, the truth of the situation comes out, and the Bride turns into Bridezilla as she discovers Phoebe’s plan. “You cannot do this to me! It’s MY wedding.”
The rest of the novel is a hilarious back and forth between determined Phoebe and hysterical Lilah. Phoebe, once determined to commit suicide, finds that she’s actually quite determined to live her life. She resorts to being upfront about her feelings, needs, and desires. It’s refreshing! Her honesty forges a bond between herself and the bride. Lilah doesn’t feel like anyone is being honest with her. The bridesmaids let her walk about with food in her teeth. Her future groom is maybe not the best choice for her. She’s angry at her mother.
This novel has all the terrible (and funny in retrospect) things “wedding people” do as guests and members of the wedding party: The terrible, embarrassing speeches, the rude behaviour of future in-laws, and the catty quips from guests about the costs, the location, the choice of decor. But it’s also an absurdly funny and devastatingly sad look at how some people find their way to the alter, into a job, or onto a path that isn’t right for them. No spoilers: but there is a happily ever after.