- Ben: In my time working for the state government, my job sent me to 46 cities in 11 years. I lived in villages with eight people, rural farming communities, college towns. I was sent to every corner of Indiana. And then I came here. And I realized that this whole time, I was just wandering around, everywhere, just looking for you.
Leslie and Ben have decided to get married on a whim at the end of the fundraising gala and send their friends out to take care of the necessary details: April and Andy handle the license, Chris goes with Ben to get wedding rings, Ann handles the dress and the cake, and Tom insists that he be the officiant. Donna and Jerry return to the gala to keep things running smoothly.
While Andy and April successfully locate the marriage licenses and get them signed off by Ethel Beavers (who's been asleep for several hours after going on a date, and he's staying the night), Ben and Chris have no luck with finding suitable rings. Leslie's original dress that she planned to wear for the wedding scheduled in three months is not ready, forcing Ann to improvise on finishing it. Tom runs into a dead end with becoming an ordained minister, as it takes 24 hours for a minister certification to be sent to him. However, Jerry is actually already ordained, so the two pair up to co-host the celebration. Ron assists Ben and Chris in their ring search with quick improvisational work by removing a wall light from Ann's home and taking it back to his woodworking shed in order to meld it into two rings.
Everything seems to be on schedule and going smoothly, until Councilman Jamm, still bitter over how Leslie one-upped him at the Emergency Response drill, shows up drunk and disrupts the ceremony as Leslie is walking down the aisle alongside Ron. Ron warns Jamm to back off and leave and when Jamm does not heed Ron's warnings, Ron punches Jamm in the face. The two are taken to the police station, but Ron is allowed to leave after Ann posts his bail. Jamm is left in a cell for the night.
Giving up on getting married that night, Leslie accepts the fact she will get married like normal in three months as planned. Ann has different ideas and invites Leslie back to City Hall under the guise of having a few drinks. As Leslie and Ron roam City Hall's corridors, Ron opens up to Leslie about how much she means to him and lets her know what a truly amazing friend she is. This leads to him taking Leslie's arm and escorting her into the Parks Department office where the crew has assembled an altar for a second attempt. Surrounded by just their closest friends and colleagues, Leslie and Ben get married in a simple yet perfect ceremony.
Tropes
- Beware the Nice Ones: When Jamm begins to drunkenly interrupt the wedding, Andy and Chris are the first to stand up, clearly intending to attack Jamm.
- Bullying a Dragon: Jamm tries to assault Ron even though his punches clearly have no effect on his body. Ron even warns him to not attack him again before punching Jamm in the face.
- Character Development: Chris shows off his development when he gives Andy a pep talk over failing the police academy exam.Chris: (to Andy) How we deal with tragedy defines who we are. I used to be terrible at it. Beyond terrible.
- Continuity Nod: Ethel refers to the time Leslie made her read the court transcript of her declaring her love for Ben on the record after her ethics trial.
- Cool Old Lady: April and Andy view Ethel Beavers as one due to her still going out on dates despite her age. They even want to adopt her as their grandma.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Ron takes Jamm out with one punch to the face.
- Jerkass: Councilman Jamm gets drunk and crashes Leslie and Ben's impromptu wedding at the park fundraiser and throws two stink bombs. He gets a well-deserved punch from Ron for the last one.
- The Maiden Name Debate: Parodied - Ben trolls Leslie by saying he wants her to take his last name and that "it's really important that symbolically Leslie Knope disappears and becomes Leslie Wyatt." As she stutters through her reaction, he looks at the camera grinning and reassures her that he's just messing with her.
- Megaphone Gag: Leslie Knope's Sitcom Archnemesis Jeremy Jamm crashes a parks fundraiser gala, very drunk and wielding a megaphone. He chants "parks are stupid" until Leslie yanks away the megaphone and responds with a chant of her own. As is often the case, these shenanigans are witnessed by their Straight Man coworker:Leslie [through the megaphone]: Knope rules, Jamm sucks! Knope rules, Jamm sucks! Knope rules, Ja— Councilman Howser.Councilman Howser: ...Leslie. Jeremy.Jamm: You better make sure my aunt gets her megaphone back.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The Pawnee police arrest Ron along with Jamm since he did technically commit assault and battery by punching Jamm. However, they quickly release him once Ann posts his bail and they leave Jamm in his prison cell since he started the whole mess and hit Ron first.
- Ship Tease: While seeing Chris console Andy after the latter is feeling down from failing the police test, Ann notes that Chris can be paternal with a fond look on her face.
- Shout-Out: Ann's idea for completing Leslie's dress came from her watching a lot of Project Runway. Tom meanwhile was about to quote Hitch for his wedding speech for Ben and Leslie's proceedings.
- Simple Solution Won't Work: While trying to figure out where to get two wedding rings in a hurry, Ben briefly exclaims "Jewelry store!" before remembering that it's past closing time for jewelry stores, hence why they have a problem in the first place.
- Talk to the Fist: Ron delivers a pretty hard punch to Jamm's face, knocking one of his teeth out.
- Wedding Episode: Leslie and Ben decide to get married three months before their originally planned date and the episode is about their colleagues trying to make this happen. When bureaucracy and hijinks threaten this, Leslie almost gives up before her colleagues reveal that they arranged the office for a second attempt, and Ben and Leslie get to say their "I Do's".
