During an extravagant wedding reception at a southern estate, five bridesmaids, each with her own reason for avoiding the bride and the reception, hide out in an upstairs bedroom. Despite their differences, the women – a fundamentalist Christian, the lesbian sister of the groom, a woman dealing with her own failed marriage, the bride’s rebellious sister who is hiding a dark secret, and a cynical beauty queen – bond and slowly discover they have more in common with each other than with the bride.