In 1986, Nick Parker (Dennis Quaid) and Elizabeth James (Natasha Richardson) meet and get married during an ocean cruise on the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. After the birth of their twin daughters, Annie and Hallie, Nick and Elizabeth divorce and lose contact, each parent raising one of the twins without telling her about her sister. Nick raised Hallie in the Napa Valley and he became a wealthy wine grower, while Elizabeth raised Annie in London and became a famous wedding gown designer.