Act 2 begins with the Stage Manager announcing that three years have passed. He says the first act was about daily life, and this one is about love and marriage. It's early in the morning on a rainy July day. Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs are both awake and making breakfast. Howie Newsome delivers the milk, and Si Crowell is delivering newspapers, just like his brother Joe did before him. Howie and Si talk about how George was a great baseball pitcher, but he's decided to give up playing to get married. When Howie brings Mrs. Gibbs her milk, she asks for extra because she'll be having relatives over. He says that his wife hopes that George and his wife will be very happy. Then Howie crosses to Mrs. Webb and says the same thing to her, which makes the audience realize that George is going to marrying Emily. Doc Gibbs comes down for breakfast and teases his wife about losing one of her children, which she says makes her want to cry. Mrs. Gibbs announces that she thinks weddings are just awful the way they force young people into adulthood without any preparation. Eventually, though, she admits that people are meant to go through life as couples. Dr. Gibbs says that he saw Rebecca crying upstairs, upset about losing her big brother. Cheerfully, George comes down the stairs and tells them he's going to step next door to see his bride. Mrs. Gibbs warns him that it's raining, and she worries that he'll catch a cold.

     George leaps across the puddles and greets Mrs. Webb. She tells him that a groom isn't supposed to see his bride before the wedding, but he says that's a superstition. Emily's parents tell George that she's still sleeping because she's been busy packing and preparing. Mrs. Webb offers to go check on her, and George is left alone to talk to Mr. Webb.

     George tells him he wishes that weddings weren't such big productions with all the marching and vows, and Mr. Webb tells him all men feel that way. Mr. Webb shares some advice that his father gave to him on his wedding day. His dad told him that he should start out by showing his wife who is the boss by giving her an order even if it doesn't make sense just to make sure she'll listen. His dad also said that Mr. Webb shouldn't ever let his wife know how much money he has. George seems appalled by this advice when Mr. Webb continues the story by saying he did the opposite of what his dad told him, and his marriage has been good. Mr. Webb then asks if George plans to raise chickens on his farm. George says he isn't sure. Mr. Webb says he's considered raising some chickens of his own when Mrs. Webb returns. She announces that Emily doesn't want to see George before the wedding, so he'll need to leave. George does, and Mr. Webb says that another superstition should be that no groom see his father-in-law before his wedding either.