A New York fashion designer Melanie Carmichael (Reese Witherspoon) suddenly finds herself engaged to the city's most eligible bachelor (Patrick Dempsey). But Melanie's past holds many secrets, including Jake (Josh Lucas), the redneck husband she married in high school, who refuses to divorce her. Bound and determined to end their contentious relationship once and for all, Melanie sneaks back home to Alabama to confront her past, only to discover that you can take the girl out of the South, but you can never take the South out of the girl.