'The Wedding Planners' Episode 4 Review: A parent trap and VIP clients gives the Clarkson siblings a huge win
Spoilers for 'The Wedding Planners' Season 1 Episode 4 'Wedding of Champions'
This episode warmed hearts with friends planning friends' wedding, along with a little parental drama, not to mention high profile clients. We enjoyed this episode, the drama seemed a tad bit more fun and completely realistic and the Clarkson siblings 100% stepped it up. There are two weddings to plan in this episode and with a little more than a sprinkle of family drama, this one was an interesting watch. Business is hard, but the family business has love on its side - especially Clarkson Wedding Essentials.
James Clarkson (Michael Seater), the gown whisperer of Clarkson Wedding Essentials, along with his sister Hannah Clarkson (Madeline Leon) have the opportunity to plan the wedding of Jon, James's old friend and his fiancee and high school sweetheart Izzy. Originally an art gallery wedding, the couple gave sentiment priority and decided to host their wedding at a local roller-skating rink - a place filled with memories and the place where they fell in love. With the rink closing down for renovations in a few days, James and Hannah are already running tight on time with just a week to plan this wedding. Turns out that that isn't even the big obstacle, Jon and Izzy's parents used to be old friends, but had a huge falling out when Jon's parents hit the lottery and got "new things and new friends."
They have no clue that their kids were about to get married, let alone that they were going to get married in a week. So how do you get the parents on board? You start with the moms first; they usually have the emotional touch that's needed to pull off a wedding. For the dads who are simply being babies, a simple old school bowling date and a stern talking-to from their kids may have just done the trick. Getting parents on board isn't usually on the resume of wedding planners, but the Clarkson siblings learned from their late mother Marguerite (Michelle Nolden), who focused more on the love the couple shared than the materialistic aspect of it.
From a perfect dress to a retro wedding, this was a stunning burial of family rivalry and the start of a loving journey.
Paige (Kimberly-Sue Murray), the oldest of the bunch runs a bit low on confidence when clients seem to be getting cold feet because mama Clarkson isn't running the business anymore. Just then, she gets a call from Matt a well-known hockey player who wants to surprise his fiancee Briney, a celebrity figure skater with a wedding consultation.
Paige's anxiety spikes when she realizes that during the meeting Briney wanted to surprise Jon and invited Sally (Lanette Ware) from Premium Bridal for a wedding consultation as well. Sally, if you remember has been hell-bent on buying the Clarkson business with a less than appreciate the snarky attitude.
With such high profile clients asking for a friendly competition, Paige gears up to win their hearts by depending on her mother's archives. Going through her mothers' old wedding planning keepsakes, she finds a video with the perfect advice from her mother, the woman many couples trusted on their big day. "Know the client and you'll know the way," Marguerite tells her daughter and the rest is loving history.
On the personal front, James sees his old colleague Stephen Hawson in Hartbridge who was there to help Sally design a gown for Briney. The duo drifted apart when James decided to go ahead and create his own designer collection without telling Stephen. Seems like an apology does wonders and James may have a job back in New York at Stephen’s fashion house, but will he leave his family business and his sisters behind?
P.S. Who else wants the Hannah and Christopher romance to get a move on? Also, excuse us while we go find a roller rink, you know regress back to better days.
'The Wedding Planners' airs Fridays at 8 pm ET/PT on Citytv.