Purpose: First collaborative work + attraction beneath antagonism
The Challenge: Keisha wants "elegant but fun" — a combination neither planner wants to admit requires both their skills.
Vivian's Contribution: Structure, timeline, vendor relationships, handling Keisha's anxious mother.
Milo's Contribution: Personal touches (Darnell's grandmother's recipe as cake flavor), managing Keisha's influencer anxiety, creating "Instagram moments" that feel genuine.
Forced Proximity: They must share the venue's only usable office. Late nights. Takeout dinners. Vivian learns Milo was a corporate lawyer who quit after a breakdown; Milo learns Vivian's grandmother raised her after her parents' messy divorce.
Attraction Moment: 2 AM, covered in paint samples, arguing about color theory. Suddenly they're close. Chemistry crackles. Milo almost kisses her. She pulls back, terrified.
Complication: Their "mock wedding" preview is a hit — but Zara's team credits the success to their "creative tension." The competition continues, now with higher stakes and forced continued collaboration.
Humor Beat: Milo's rescue dogs escape during the ceremony. Vivian, improbably, corrals them using her high school equestrian skills. She's furious. He's impressed. She's more furious that she's impressed.
Ending Beat: Vivian finds Milo's "wedding inspiration" binder — hundreds of pages of her own work, carefully analyzed. He really has been following her. She doesn't know if it's sweet or stalkerish. She doesn't throw it away.