For Better or For Worse

Eugene attempts to raise the stranded convertible with a lever made from tree branches, but the contraption collapses. Since Katrina was unexpectedly whisked away without her phone, they cannot call a tow truck. Their only choice is to walk across the mountain in search of help, even though Katrina is still wearing bedroom slippers.

Back at the church, Connie's elaborate preparations begin falling apart. The many candles start a fire in the fellowship hall, filling the intended reception area with smoke and melting the ice sculpture into an unrecognizable shape. The soloist, who also works as a firefighter, suffers smoke inhalation while putting out the blaze and cancels her performance.

Tom brings Agnes to enjoy the celebration, but she wanders away and puts on Millie's heirloom wedding gown. Her illness causes her to mistake Millie for her mother and believe she is preparing for her own wedding. Tom recognizes how closely the dress resembles the one Agnes wore when they married and gently enters the happy memory with her.

Eugene tries climbing a tree to find a cell-phone signal and falls. He and Katrina continue on foot without the sandwiches, which Eugene has also left in the trunk. Miserable at the way his rescue has failed, Eugene admits that he planned the trip to prove he could be a strong and romantic husband. Katrina assures him that he does not have to perform heroic feats to be her hero.

The church arrangements worsen as a storm breaks. The pastor receives an electrical shock while testing the outdoor sound system and goes to the hospital. Millie fires the Rathbones, the live swan eats part of the wedding cake and becomes sick in the fountain, and Connie realizes they have lost the reception room, music, cake, pastor, bride, and groom.

Agnes admires the decorations but asks her supposed mother why she chose orchids instead of Agnes's favorite lilies. She recalls being promised that her one wedding day could be everything she wanted. Her innocent request reaches Millie in a way Katrina's objections have not. Millie finally recognizes that the celebration should reflect the bride's wishes rather than her mother's traditions.

Eugene remembers that a Kids' Radio transmitter stands on top of Forest Mountain. He climbs the access road and sends a Morse-code call for help. Whit happens to be at the station, receives the signal, and drives into the mountains. Eugene returns to Katrina with news that help is only a short walk away.

When Eugene and Katrina reach the church fifteen minutes late, they hear a ceremony already ending. Millie has arranged a brief renewal of Tom and Agnes's vows, giving Agnes a wedding she can remember and enjoy. Agnes wears the family dress, while Katrina is free to wear the gown she selected for herself.

Millie also accepts the indoor ceremony Katrina originally wanted and asks Whit to officiate in the injured pastor's place. The clearing weather allows the reception to remain outside among the chairs, gazebo, and lights already arranged. For the first time, Millie calls it Katrina's wedding and allows her daughter to choose.

At the ceremony, Katrina reads loving vows that express her delight in sharing the rest of her life with Eugene. Eugene begins the flowery speech Connie wrote for him but stops when its images of dew and roses feel false. Speaking from his own heart, he tells Katrina that she understands him better than anyone, is his best friend, and is the one person without whom he cannot imagine living.

The simple truth of Eugene's words moves Katrina far more than borrowed poetry. After the vow renewal, the reception includes Bernard and Tom's choices of a magician, a juggler, and fireworks. Connie and Millie put aside their rivalry and praise each other's contributions.

Eugene attempts one last romantic gesture with an original ukulele song for Katrina, but quickly decides to save it for later. After every fire, storm, wrong turn, and change of plans, Katrina tells him that she cannot imagine a better day.