When beautiful Kay Banks (Elizabeth Taylor) announces her engagement to Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor), her doting middle-class father, Stan (Spencer Tracy), must contend with a variety of problems, ranging from money issues to wedding planning difficulties. As things get hectic, Stan's wife, Ellie (Joan Bennett), tries to be the calm in the center of the storm. At the heart of the comedy, though, is Stan's emotional tie to his little girl, and his realization that she has indeed grown up.