The Bouquet

Logline

A longtime family tradition of being the next to marry after catching the bouquet goes astray when a nerdy little girl accidentally catches it, and none of her female relatives can marry until she does – which will be a difficult feat to accomplish.

Synopsis

There is a strange curse on Harriet's family – a woman can't get married until she catches a bouquet thrown by a blood relative. If she tries, something crazy always happens to stop it. No one knows when or where the curse started but the women in her family are forced to live with it.


At a wedding when she is a mere five years old, awkward Harriet accidentally catches the bouquet. For the next 20 years, nothing her three desperate aunts - Patsy, Shirley, and Marge do results in a marriage. Something odd always happens to stop the ceremony, including a tiger attacking the groom. They are forced to realize there is nothing they can do until Harriet reaches adulthood and they can find her a husband.


That day finally comes, only Harriet is a meek, frumpy librarian who doesn’t even know how to date. Her aunts try to guide her, even taking her to a bar where any woman should be able to pick up a man. There, too many gorgeous women will make Harriet invisible so the aunts come up with a clever stunt to get the women to leave. Harriet doesn’t drink alcohol, but her aunts get her to drink a couple to loosen her up. Just when she meets a potential candidate, she throws up on him.


At work, Harriet has an innocent relationship with Bill Drescher, a nice-looking man with a steady girlfriend. Both are drawn heavily to books, giving them common ground. Harriet’s aunts finally give up on getting their niece married on their own and hire a relationship expert to help her along. Harriet is against the idea, but her aunts are forceful.


To Harriet’s surprise, the expert turns out to be Bill. He spends a good deal of time with Harriet, trying to teach her how to interact with men in an appealing manner. The job proves very hard at first but eventually, a glimmer of hope shines through. The problem is - spending so much quality time with Harriet makes him see her in a different light, and realize that his girlfriend isn’t what he really wants, only he struggles with what to do about it.


Harriet’s aunts grow desperate and kidnap Harriet. They take her to a cabin where they have paid a man to give up his son in marriage to Harriet. Once the son meets her, he wants to back out immediately but his dad has the final say. At gunpoint, Harriet is about to take her vows when Bill finds out what is happening and rushes to the cabin. There, he takes out each aunt until Harriet is free. He now realizes how much in love he is with her and they marry. Her aunts are permitted to attend in their prison attire in hopes of catching her bouquet, only another small child ends up with it, dashing their hopes of ever getting married.

First 5 Pages

The Bouquet first 5 pages.pdf