The Wedding People

The narrative flashes back two years, detailing Phoebe’s hardships in the months before her divorce from her husband, Matt Stone. While recovering from a miscarriage, Phoebe plans a vacation to the Cornwall Inn. Phoebe’s nonviable pregnancy marks the end of a long and challenging infertility struggle, and she’s eager to create something to which she can look forward. Matt judges Phoebe for constructing a spreadsheet about Cornwall’s excursions and fun activities, and he suggests they return to the more affordable Ozarks, their traditional vacation destination. Phoebe agrees to this plan, though she dislikes the extensive workload of building an itinerary and hiking plan in the Ozarks. Lately, Phoebe feels all aspects of her life are tiring, including sex. Phoebe also feels disappointed with her career. Although she and Matt both work as college professors, Matt has tenure while Phoebe is an adjunct. Matt enjoys more security and opportunities than Phoebe, although they have carried a similar workload for years. Phoebe blames herself for failing to advance as she hasn’t published anything since her dissertation.

One evening, Phoebe sends Matt a flirty text suggesting the couple have sex later. Matt returns home with a bottle of champagne. Instead of initiating intimacy, he toasts to an award he will soon receive from the university where he and Phoebe work. Phoebe celebrates with her husband, though she finds the champagne too dry after the initial sip. Later, Matt notices Phoebe’s text message and apologizes tenderly for missing it. Phoebe wishes Matt would show more aggression in bed; she fantasizes about rough sex with Matt. Phoebe discusses feeling inadequate with her cat, Harry.

Phoebe begins to think of her life as a tragic Russian novel, still beautiful but unhappy at its end. She ponders various deceased mothers in literature (e.g., Cinderella‘s mother) while thinking of her mother, who died during childbirth. On impulse, Phoebe buys an expensive emerald dress for Matt’s award ceremony. She believes she deserves to look and feel special in place of being pregnant and having a family. Ultimately, Phoebe decides the dress is too flashy for an event held in a college gymnasium in Missouri. She opts for a black Calvin Klein dress, which she has worn yearly to the same event for over a decade.

Phoebe and Matt purchase wine from their favorite shop on the day of the award ceremony. The misogynistic undertones of the wine seller unsettle Phoebe more than usual, especially when she sees the tip jar labeled “Joe’s Pussy Fund” (35). At the event, Phoebe feels the weight of Matt’s professional success overshadowing her career achievements. She feels suspicious and dismayed by Matt’s joyous interactions with Mia, a physically attractive co-worker further advanced in her career than Phoebe. Mia’s husband, Tom, has depression and attempted to die by suicide a few years prior, after which Phoebe and Matt offered friendly support. Although Phoebe once considered Mia a close friend, she feels jealous of Mia’s ability to make Matt laugh. The fact that Mia recently became a mother doesn’t help their strained relationship.

Phoebe begins to fantasize about Matt as a stranger who asserts himself aggressively during sex. The couple grows distant. Phoebe’s attempts to feel content with her career, marriage, and personal life dissolve in the first few months of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. One evening, Matt packs his bags and leaves after a quiet dinner. He tells Phoebe that he is in love with Mia.

Returning to the Cornwall Inn timeline in the narrative present, Phoebe catches her self-criticism as she pours more chocolate wine. She thinks about the years of self-implicated rules and how she’s still divorced, with no children and a stalled career. Phoebe wants to see the ocean before she dies but feels disappointed by the sea. She has never visited the ocean before, a fact Matt found cute. Phoebe wants to eat a large, decadent dinner before her death. She calls to order room service but is told the Inn is understaffed and all guests are invited to attend the welcome reception for the wedding. Phoebe cannot face a room of happy people celebrating, so she sits on the beach and thinks about the past few days.

Mia and Matt now raise Mia’s baby (from her previous marriage with Tom) as their own. Phoebe lost her office when she opted to teach online for another year during the pandemic. Now, her desk resides in the senior faculty lounge beside the copy machine. On her last day at work, she confronted Mia in front of the jammed copy machine, and although she apologized, Mia declared Phoebe and Matt’s marriage ended long before Matt and Mia’s affair began. Phoebe returned home to discover Harry, her cat, died in his sleep. She drank heavily and woke up the following day with a hangover. This is the moment Phoebe decides she will travel to the Cornwall Inn to die by suicide.

The details Phoebe planned for her death begin to unravel. In addition to being disappointed by the ocean and failing to order a luxurious dinner, Phoebe’s music keeps skipping, and the cigarette she wants to smoke makes her cough. She hears the wedding people laughing and enjoying a pleasant evening below her; however, she enjoys spying on the other guests from her balcony. Lila knocks on Phoebe’s door and barges into Phoebe’s room, demanding that Phoebe stop smoking. She also begs Phoebe to delay her planned death by suicide by a week so as not to ruin the wedding. Lila is incredulous that Phoebe’s room has a nicer balcony and view than her own, especially since she requested a “shoreline” view. Phoebe explains what a shoreline view means before detailing the origin of the word “balcony,” and Lila is impressed.

Phoebe and Lila fall into a conversation about insignificant art. Lila works at an art studio as the curator’s (her mother‘s) assistant, but she dislikes her work. Lila briefly shares details about her family. Her parents, Patricia and Henry, raised Lila with conflicting religious beliefs that left her terrified of dying and hell. Lila reminds Phoebe of her students; she peppers Lila with questions, encouraging her to draw conclusions. Henry died before Lila could get married; the pandemic delayed the nuptials. His dying wish was to see Lila marry, so he gifted her $1 million. Lila feels intensely pressured to ensure the wedding is exquisite because of her father’s contribution, which was his final gift to Lila. Gary, her fiancé, was Henry’s doctor, who tried and failed to save Henry’s life. Lila offers to pay for Phoebe’s weeklong stay at the Cornwall Inn if she promises not to die by suicide for a week. Phoebe declines, and the women enter into a shouting match about Phoebe’s plans to end her life.

Just as Lila turns to leave for her opening reception, Phoebe notices a bit of food stuck in Lila’s teeth. Phoebe noticed this earlier in the lobby and is concerned that Lila’s friends failed to point it out. Phoebe stops Lila and addresses the issue. Lila calls the front desk and requests floss. While waiting, she suggests she and Phoebe stand on the balcony and spy on the wedding guests with binoculars. Lila reveals how Gary is an older widower with one pre-teen daughter. His brother-in-law, Jim, is the best man. Gary’s close friendship with Jim feels weird to Lila, and she worries Jim will try to ruin the wedding. She watches Jim flirt with her mother; Lila launches into the story of how her parents met and collected contemporary art for decades, only for Henry to confess he hates modern art just before dying. Now, Patricia warns Lila away from marrying. Lila’s monologue encourages Phoebe to consider her relationship with her father, which was strained after her mother’s death. Phoebe spent most of her childhood trying to get by quietly without upsetting the men in her life. She wonders how her life might have been different had her mother survived childbirth. Lila continues to talk about her father on his deathbed, and at one point, both she and Phoebe enter an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Phoebe can’t remember the last time she laughed so hard; she realizes she never laughed like this with Matt. 

When Lila returns to the open reception, Phoebe feels lonely and empty. She finishes the bottle of chocolate wine and takes an entire bottle of Harry’s pain pills, which are tuna flavored. She immediately wonders if the dosage will be enough to end her life. Pauline arrives, delivering a coconut pillow and offering complimentary spa services to compensate for the lack of room service. Phoebe declines, but the two have a polite conversation. Pauline is from the Midwest and is a recent college graduate; she feels ecstatic to have landed her job as a property manager straight out of college, though she understands the hiring pool is limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pauline appreciates Phoebe’s kind honesty.

Phoebe tries to lie in bed, but she hears Patricia make an impromptu speech and decides to move to the balcony to better hear. Lila specifically requested that her mother not make a speech. As waves of fatigue sweep over Phoebe, Patricia’s speech grows increasingly humiliating at Lila’s expense. Phoebe realizes she doesn’t want to die without hearing Patricia circle to a wholesome conclusion. She fights the exhaustion, traveling to the bathroom and forcing herself to vomit. The speech improves slightly, and Phoebe falls asleep with her face pressed against the cold marble bathroom floor as other wedding guests toast the bride and groom.