Hoping to persuade her boss, Geri, to make her a partner at their company, Mary is hired to plan catering heiress Fran Donolly's society wedding to long-term boyfriend "Eddie".

On a visit to a potential wedding venue in Napa Valley, Massimo appears and, to Mary's horror, introduces himself as her fiancé.

While visiting another potential venue, Fran reveals she is going on a week-long business trip and leaves Mary and Steve to continue preparations.

At a birthday party, Massimo offers Mary a heartfelt proposal, and she reluctantly accepts; the two couples prepare for their respective weddings.

Mary, having given up on true love, insists that life is not a fairy tale and that marrying Massimo is the right thing to do but realizes he is not the one for her and leaves.

"[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 33 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.

[9] Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum compared the film unfavorably to My Best Friend's Wedding, writing, "Where Julia Roberts turned the world on with her huggability, Lopez's vibe is that of someone afraid to get mussed.

And where Rupert Everett was divine as a sidekick, McConaughey is mortally ordinary as a main dish who spends most of his time smiling like a party guest.

"[10] Kimberly Jones of The Austin Chronicle noted that the two leading characters being mistreated was the biggest disappointment from The Wedding Planner, feeling that while Lopez and McConaughey have "enormous charisma" (referencing Lopez's work on 1998's Out of Sight as an example), the "blandness of The Wedding Planner burlap-sacks their appeal in an altogether dowdy outing for two stars who deserve much snazzier threads.

"[11] A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote that the "undeniable charisma" of the film's stars along with their "goofiness" makes "The Wedding Planner more painless than it has a right to be.

"[3] Michael Thomson from the BBC wrote, "Unfortunately, after the two leads become less wired in each other's presence, and the sexual tension begins to droop, everyone seems to be reading an autocue.