Working-class Brooklyn woman Franchesca “Frankie” Baranski is in a bridal party that consists of New York City’s wealthiest socialites. Despite her maid-of-honor status, she is literarily the help, as she also works for the catering company serving the guests. The other bridesmaids, who are spoiled and highly privileged, make her feel out of place. She loves the bride, her best friend Pruitt “Pru” Stockton, so she endures the awkward social situation. She is introduced to the best man, Aiden Kilbourn, a handsome, aloof COO of a multi-million-dollar company and Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor. They get off to a bad start when he makes a snide comment about her name, but Pru drags Frankie away to the dance floor before the exchange becomes too heated.

Aiden has a stress-related migraine and dislikes most of the people around him. Chip Randolph, the groom, tells him about Frankie, calling her smart and sarcastic and claiming that she is too good for Aiden. When Aiden jokes that Frankie dances like a pole dancer, Frankie hears and takes offense, so she points out his elitist way of speaking down to people. She continues to berate him until she notices that he feels ill.