Major Weldon Penderton, a repressed homosexual whose career is languishing in the monotony of postwar Georgia, becomes obsessed with a private who is, in turn, obsessed with Penderton's frustrated and sensual wife Leonora.
Chaos reigns when the beautiful daughter of a family casually announces her plans to marry. What follows is a warmly humorous story, with wedding preparations, ruffled egos and the unavoidable meeting with the prospective in-laws.