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The Proposal · 2009 — Chapter 10 of 14 · 4'05" · B1

The Paxtons Plan a Barn Wedding, Explained: a sham

In the morning the family shows up with breakfast and a plan: get married tomorrow, in the barn, like every Paxton before them. Grandma supplies the guilt — "It would be a dream come true for me to see my one grandchild's wedding" — and the couple, faking it, has no graceful way to say no.

What happens

Andrew and Margaret wake up in the same hotel bed just as his parents arrive with breakfast. Over cinnamon rolls, they propose the wedding happen tomorrow, in the family barn, so Grandma Annie can attend. Guilt-tripped, the couple says yes — then privately reminds each other the whole thing is fake.

Family dinnersProposalsPersuadingComfortingParent & childB1slowamericanClean
IMDb ↗

Listen for

a dream come trueif you don't mindworked upa sham

00:00 / 04:05
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Phrase of the scene

a sham

something false that pretends to be real

Margaret finally names the wedding what it is: a fraud that will break her mother.

The trial was a sham from the very first day.

Also in this scene

  • a dream come true

    something that you have wanted for a long time finally happening

  • if you don't mind

    used to make a polite request or mild protest

  • worked up

    to make someone excited, agitated, or emotionally stirred

Everything marked in this scene

22 notes across 83 lines

Phrase · B1the happy coupleRoom service. Breakfast for the happy couple.
Phrase · B2shouldn't have done somethingOh, you shouldn't have gone to that trouble.
Phrase · B1it's no troubleOh, you're family now. It's no trouble.
Phrase · B2room for one moreHey, you have room for one more?
Soundfor one

weak form

Hey, you have room for one more?
Phrase · B1if you don't mind

used to make a polite request or mild protest

Yeah, if you don't mind.
Phrase · B2come up with somethingYour mother and I have come up with a proposition.
Soundcome up

weak form

Your mother and I have come up with a proposition.
Phrase · B1a terrific ideaand I happen to think it's a terrific idea.
Grammar · B2you to get married here tomorrow

infinitive clause

We want you to get married here tomorrow.
Grammar · B1why don't you get married here

suggestion

What? What? What? Mmm-mmm. No. Well, you're gonna get married anyway, so why don't you get married here?
Phrase · B2a dream come true

something that you have wanted for a long time finally happening

It would be a dream come true for me to see my one grandchild's wedding.
Phrase · B1a Paxton family traditionIt's a Paxton family tradition.
Phrase · B2it's a signI have. It's a sign.
Phrase · B2be crushedWhen my mom finds out that this whole thing is a sham, she's gonna... she's gonna be crushed.
Grammar · B1When my mom finds out

time clause

When my mom finds out that this whole thing is a sham, she's gonna... she's gonna be crushed.
Phrase · B1find outYour mom's not going to find out. I... my father...
Soundfind out

liaison

Your mom's not going to find out. I... my father...
Phrase · B2work someone up

to make someone excited, agitated, or emotionally stirred

Margaret guesses that Andrew's mother stirred his father into sudden wedding enthusiasm.

She probably got him worked up into it.
Phrase · C1a quickie divorceGet a quickie divorce, we'll be fine.
Phrase · A2learn how to do somethingBut this little missus better learn how to cook, so she can take care of her husband.
Phrase · B1keep someone happyKeep my man happy.

The Paxtons Plan a Barn Wedding, explained

What's really going on

The family thinks they are celebrating a real engagement; the couple knows it is a performance. Every warm gesture here is also pressure: breakfast, the family tradition, and especially Grandma's wish — "It would be a dream come true for me to see my one grandchild's wedding" — which turns the wedding into a dying request. Refusing would expose the lie, so they accept, and the deadline jumps to tomorrow. Once the parents leave, the tone flips: "When my mom finds out that this whole thing is a sham," one of them admits, "she's gonna be crushed." The answer is a schedule for the divorce rather than comfort: "We'll be happily divorced before you know it." The joke is how they avoid saying what the morning actually started to feel like.

Theme

Family loveThe wedding is sold as a gift to Grandma, wrapping family affection around a request no one can refuse.
DeceptionBetween the family's joy and the couple's jokes about divorce, the whole wedding is staged on a lie.

What you'll learn

  • Use come up with for ideas and proposals.
  • Express a fulfilled wish with dream come true.
  • Use before you know it for quick change.
  • Catch the irony in happily divorced.

Listen for

  • for one — weak form
  • come up — weak form
  • find out — liaison
It's not like we're gonna be married forever.

Margaret's way of calming them both: the marriage is temporary, so there is nothing to panic about.

We'll be happily divorced before you know it.

The same reassurance in darker comic form — she is already picturing the divorce before the wedding has happened.

I've had 89 birthday parties. I don't need another one.

Grandma waves away the birthday excuse, clearing the date so the wedding can take its place.

We want you to get married here tomorrow.

The proposal that drives the whole scene: the parents want the ceremony tomorrow, at home.

Questions about this scene

Why do Andrew and Margaret agree to a wedding they don't want?

Refusing in front of the family would expose the fake engagement, and Grandma's wish makes a plain no impossible. Saying yes buys time.

Is Grandma Annie really dying?

The film gives no diagnosis here; what matters is her line about wanting to see the wedding before she dies, which is the lever the family uses.

Why does the family want it in the barn tomorrow?

It's a Paxton family tradition, and tomorrow is also Grandma Annie's birthday, so they can combine both events and have everyone together.

What does 'a sham' mean here?

'Sham' means something fake that pretends to be real. Andrew uses it for the engagement itself: 'this whole thing is a sham.'

Do Andrew's parents know the engagement is fake?

No. They treat it as real from the start, which is exactly why Andrew fears his mother will be crushed once the truth comes out.

The Proposal · 14 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 11burst into tearsAnnie Gives Margaret the Heirloom Dress
Chapter 1let someone goMargaret Fires BobChapter 2turn operations over toMargaret Announces a Fake EngagementChapter 3out of your hairMargaret Fakes a Marriage InterviewChapter 4with cherries on topAndrew Makes Margaret ProposeChapter 5a meal ticketMargaret Meets the Paxton FamilyChapter 6pulling your legAndrew Brings Margaret Home to SitkaChapter 7from the ground upAndrew Turns Down the Family BusinessChapter 8called it offMargaret Meets Andrew's ExChapter 9take this the wrong wayMargaret and Andrew Trade SecretsWatching · Chapter 10a shamThe Paxtons Plan a Barn WeddingChapter 11burst into tearsAnnie Gives Margaret the Heirloom DressChapter 12off the hookThe Sham Marriage ExposedChapter 13get my head on straightMargaret Confesses at the WeddingChapter 14dawned on meAndrew Proposes to Margaret
Chapter 10 of 14 · about 20 min to go