As Ross and Emily send out wedding invitations, he and Rachel each look back on their relationship together while Joey and Chandler look for a purpose in life.

Ross meets Elizabeth's father for the first time and unfortunately he takes an instant disliking to Ross. However Paul does hit it off with Rachel and she tries to talk Ross up but does so with mixed results. Joey almost gets fired from "Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E." after offending the operator of the robot. Meanwhile, Phoebe writes a book based on Monica and Chandler.

Monica and Chandler are getting married in four weeks and have to write their vows, but neither has a clue what to say, so they reflect on their past. In the end, the only real problem is who will be saying the vows first.

Joey prepares for an interview with Soap Opera Digest, although he's afraid of saying something stupid and getting himself into trouble, so he enlists his friends to make sure things go well. During the interview, he reminisces about his past acting experiences, his friends and his romantic life.

Everyone in the gang gets a little upset when Chandler announces that he'll be spending Christmas and New Year's Eve in Tulsa because of work. To make matters worse, Monica gets quite jealous when she finds out that one of Chandler's co-workers is a former Miss Oklahoma runner-up. After doing some retrospection, Chandler decides to quit his job.

When Monica's credit card is stolen, she, along with Phoebe and Rachel, decide to catch the thief. Joey enlists his friends to help him come up with a less ethnic-sounding stage name. And Ross finds out that Marcel has reached sexual maturity and needs to be with other monkeys.

Phoebe is reunited with her former singing partner who thinks "Smelly Cat" has hit potential; Chandler dates a woman with a prosthetic leg who also has some history with Joey. Meanwhile, Ross goes to a fashion seminar with Rachel, so she won't go with Mark, but falls asleep in the middle of it.

Rachel and Phoebe take Joey's girlfriend Charlie shopping, where she overhears the two of them gossiping about Joey. Meanwhile, Ross gives a presentation to a fellow professor in the hopes of getting the role of keynote speaker at the paleontology convention in Barbados. Also, Monica and Chandler consider alternate pregnancy options making some people really uncomfortable in the process.

Rachel and Barry start dating again, which is kind of awkward since he's now engaged to Mindy, who wants Rachel to be her maid of honor. Meanwhile, Chandler goes nuts when a woman he likes won't return his phone calls.

Chandler and Ross's college friend Gandalf is planning to come to town. Gandalf is "the party wizard." Ross and Chandler are very excited until Gandalf cancels. However, they decide to make their own party with Joey's help. Joanna squashes Rachel's chance at a promotion. And when Monica fills in for a friend as food critic for a small newspaper, she must decide between a steady job as head chef of a restaurant she panned or keeping her catering business with her friend Phoebe.

Chandler hires a maid, whom Monica suspects is stealing her clothing. Eric has broken up with Ursula and is ready to date Phoebe, except for one problem: he can't look at her without seeing Ursula. Meanwhile, Ross tries to get Rachel an apartment in his building, but the woman living there isn't in a hurry to die, and Joey wants Rachel to stay with him.

Gavin gives Rachel a very interesting birthday gift while Ross begs Joey to stay away from Emma's hot new nanny. Meanwhile, Mike meets and then accidentally murders Phoebe's unusual pet.

Ross's lesbian ex-wife, Carol, is pregnant with his child, and he doesn't like her choice of last name for the baby. Rachel finds out that her ex-fiancé went on what would have been their honeymoon with her maid of honor.

The gang is amazed to learn that Phoebe married a gay Canadian ice dancer to help him get his green card. And Ross seeks relationship advice from Rachel.

It's Christmas time and Monica tries tipping with cookies, rather than cash, with mixed results. Phoebe tries to track down her real father. And Chandler and Joey wait too late to shop for presents.

Monica gets back together with Fun Bobby. Joey lands a role of a neurosurgeon on Days of Our Lives. And Rachel, dating a guy named Russ, can't see his uncanny resemblance to Ross.

Phoebe dates a man who thinks he's stalking her twin sister. Ross and Rachel give Chandler "boyfriend" lessons. Monica decides the best way to get over Richard is to keep herself busy, so she uses her free time to make jam and considers insemination via a sperm bank.

Phoebe poses as Joey's agent and has some success in getting him auditions. Ross panics when he sees his son with a Barbie doll. Chandler is advancing in his relationship with Janice and, realizing that he has a fear of commitment, goes to the girls for advice.

Afflicted with a mysterious skin condition on his butt that doctors cannot identify the cause of, Ross seeks advice from Phoebe's herbalist. Phoebe finds herself in a dilemma when she cannot choose between two guys. Monica can't decide about Pete when she thinks he is going to propose.

Emily decides that the only way to continue her marriage with Ross is to have him get rid of all traces of Rachel in his apartment. Meanwhile, Rachel and Monica mistake a hairy neighbor for a yeti.

Rachel decides to start smoking in order to avoid missing important meetings with her boss. Meanwhile, Ben gets offered an audition for a soup commercial, and Joey auditions to be Ben's father during the ad. Also, Monica and Phoebe plan a surprise birthday party for Rachel together, but Monica takes over.

After a joke gets published in Playboy, Chandler and Ross have an argument about who came up with it first. Meanwhile, a wayward remark of Phoebe's leads to trouble between the girls and a broke Joey starts working at Central Perk.

Ross starts to panic when Mona suggests that the two of them could send out a holiday card together, thinking that their relationship is starting to move too fast. Chandler's newly divorced boss tries to get Monica and Chandler to go out to a dinner with him, but Monica can't stand him, so Chandler steps up to cover for her. Meanwhile, Rachel's hormones start acting up due to her pregnancy, causing her to hit on almost every guy she meets.

Chandler starts looking for a job and is anxious about having a baby with Monica while uncertain about his career prospects. Meanwhile, Rachel visits work and finds out that during her leave, a guy named Gavin has been temporarily assigned to take care of her job. She starts to feel insecure about her job position and decides to come back from her leave early. Also, Phoebe works as an extra on Joey's TV show and brings even more drama to the set.

After Phoebe and Rachel catch Chandler getting into a car with an unknown blonde woman, they follow them to the suburbs. Fearing that Chandler is cheating on Monica, they inform her and learn that the woman is a real estate agent. The pair has been secretly shopping for houses and struggling with how to tell their best friends about their plans. Together the friends reminisce about their good times in the apartment.