Weddings

Dominique Dupont is a 60-year-old French-American designer who founded Dupont Designs, a luxury bridal gown empire, 34 years ago in New York. She trained at Chanel in Paris and attended Parsons School of Design before launching her business at 26 with an inheritance from her father, Armand Dupont, a wealthy French financier. Armand never married Dominique's mother, Marie-Aurélie de Palme. As a devout Catholic, he refused to divorce his wife, though he acknowledged Dominique and provided generously for her and Marie-Aurélie. Marie-Aurélie's aristocratic parents disowned her over the relationship. Now 85 and living in Paris, Marie-Aurélie remains devoted to Armand's memory.

Dominique's marriage to Andrew Walker, an investment advisor 16 years her senior, ended in divorce after six years and three children: Tommy, Felicity, and Violet. Twelve years later, she fell in love with Bill Smith, a married attorney who advises her business. Their secret affair has lasted 16 years, but Bill has never left his wife, Eileen, and Dominique sees him only once or twice a week, never on holidays. With her children grown, she is beginning to doubt this arrangement is enough. Her mother has warned her it will leave her lonely in old age.

Her adult children have built separate lives. Tommy, 33, is a top executive at a streaming platform in Los Angeles, married to Marlene, a former aspiring actress from Las Vegas. Felicity, 32, is a painter in Tribeca who has been dating Taylor Whitfield, a 37-year-old Wall Street wealth manager from a snobbish old-guard New York family, for three years. Violet, 28, runs a successful Madison Avenue store selling luxury vintage objects and dates Jamie Madison, a 35-year-old sports reporter. Violet is outspoken and firmly opposed to marriage.

The story opens on a bleak November day as Tommy emails that his family will skip Thanksgiving, deepening Dominique's sense that her family is unraveling. That same month, Taylor proposes to Felicity after dinner with his parents. When she says she feels too young and wants to focus on her art, Taylor becomes enraged. Fueled by alcohol, he pins her on the couch and rapes her. The next morning he is deeply contrite, promising it will never happen again. Afraid of losing him, Felicity tentatively agrees to the engagement but warns she will go to the police if it happens again. She calls Dominique, who senses something is wrong but does not learn the truth. Dominique advises her that engagements can always be broken.

Wedding planning begins. They settle on a June 20 ceremony at the Metropolitan Museum of Art with roughly 300 guests. The Whitfields contribute nothing financially beyond a rehearsal dinner, leaving all costs to Dominique. She and Felicity fly to Paris for a wedding dress, since Felicity wants something simpler than her mother's elaborate designs. They discover Liliane Leroy, a young designer whose sketch of a slim silhouette with antique lace and embedded pearls delights Felicity.

During the trip, Dominique asks her mother about Clément Bertrand, an artist Marie-Aurélie dated 40 years earlier. Marie-Aurélie explains she refused Clément's marriage proposal out of loyalty to Armand's memory, and they lost contact. She also warns Dominique that her relationship with Bill will never be enough. Inspired by the conversation, Marie-Aurélie later searches for Clément online, discovers his wife died a decade ago, and begins meeting him regularly. Their connection deepens into a romance, and Clément starts spending most nights at her house. When Marie-Aurélie breaks her ankle, Dominique flies to Paris and discovers Clément serving her mother breakfast in bed. She is embarrassed but delighted.

Over the holidays, Dominique and Bill take their annual ski trip to Courchevel in the French Alps, the only time they live as a normal couple. In St. Barth, Jamie proposes to Violet, who refuses marriage but agrees to an unconventional engagement with a commitment never to wed. Felicity endures a miserable holiday with Taylor and his parents in Vermont, sitting alone at midnight on New Year's Eve while Taylor sleeps.

Back in New York, Taylor's behavior worsens. He grabs Felicity's arm during arguments and forces sex on her, and she submits to avoid provoking his violence. In March, she discovers she is pregnant, due in October. She wants an abortion, but Taylor forbids it, slaps her across the face, and storms out. His mother demands a DNA test and implies Felicity is immoral. Taylor does not defend her. Felicity declares the engagement over, but Taylor spends the night begging until she relents, partly moved by the image of the baby waving on the sonogram. Dominique learns about the pregnancy during a Paris dress fitting and tells Felicity she can walk away at any point.

In the Tuileries Gardens, Clément proposes to Marie-Aurélie, and she accepts. They plan a July wedding in the south of France. Meanwhile, Bill's wife is seriously injured in a car accident, and he stays in Greenwich to supervise her care. Six weeks pass without his seeing Dominique. During a phone call, Dominique realizes the relationship is over and says so. Bill acknowledges he has feared those words for 16 years. They say "I love you" and hang up.

Felicity's art show opens to critical acclaim, with more than half the paintings sold. On the eve of the wedding, Taylor arrives at her apartment extremely drunk and rapes her with extreme violence, knocking out a tooth, leaving marks on her neck, and causing internal injuries. Felicity calls Violet, who meets her at the hospital with Jamie. Police photograph her injuries, and a doctor informs her she has miscarried.

Dominique calls Bill for legal advice. He arrives within an hour, telling her he has been an idiot and loves her. The wedding is canceled. Taylor is arrested and eventually sentenced to two years in a psychiatric facility for sex offenders. Marlene, who experienced sexual assault at 15, sits with Felicity through her surgery, deepening Dominique's respect for her daughter-in-law. In the weeks that follow, Bill tells Eileen their marriage is over and begins divorce proceedings. He starts spending most nights with Dominique, and after 16 years of stolen moments, they begin building a real life together.

In July, the family gathers at a villa in Saint-Tropez for Marie-Aurélie and Clément's wedding. Dominique creates a replica of a beloved 1960s Givenchy dress for her mother. Tommy walks Marie-Aurélie down the aisle in a tiny church, and Clément cries when he sees her. Moved by the ceremony, Violet says yes when Jamie asks her to marry him for real.

Felicity decides to spend the fall in Paris studying art at the Beaux-Arts, a prestigious school. At the Café Flore, she runs into Fred Miller, an old friend from Yale, who offers to help her find a studio and suggests dinner when she returns.

Violet and Jamie's wedding takes place on Labor Day in the Hamptons, in a sandy garden at sunset. Dominique designs a whimsical white organdie and tulle dress for Violet. Everyone dances, eats, and lights paper lanterns on the beach under a harvest moon. During the reception, Felicity texts Fred, and Violet notices a light in her sister's eye she has not seen in a long time. Bill and Dominique sit together watching the celebrations. At the end of the night, they light a lantern and sail it into the sky, carrying the wish that has finally come true.