The region of Karelia in eastern Finland, made famous by Sibelius with his ’Karelian Suite’, has rich folk traditions but suffers from serious depopulation. In the early seventies, after a long absence, Pekka, accompanied by his wife, Meeri, returns to a small village of Karelia to attend a wedding. Under the bright August sun his native village looks beautiful and Pekka dreams of returning to live there. Meeri, however, who is used to a more sophisticated city life, finds the villagers rustic and rude.

As the whole village prepare for the coming wedding, happy reunions and petty troubles take place everywhere. Pekka enjoys secret meetings with his former girlfriend. The bride faints during the ceremony. Two men fight over a flirtatious girl. And finally Pekka, believing his wife to be unfaithful, bursts in on the gathering in a bulldozer.