Plot

Marshall and Lily elope to Atlantic City, but they discover that getting married in Atlantic City isn't as easy as getting married in Las Vegas.

Now that Marshall and Lily are back together, they have to decide if that means that an imminent wedding is also part of their future. After some convincing by Marshall for Lily to woo him the right way, they do decide to get married. A perceived problem is that most of Marshall's family now hate Lily for walking out on him in the first place. To avoid the wrath of the Eriksen's at a wedding ceremony, Marshall and Lily decide to go to Atlantic City to elope, with only their three closest friends by their side. Although some do have some work issues to get around, all three of Ted, Robin and Barney head off to Atlantic City for the event. But once there, Marshall and Lily run into an obstacle that it takes three days to get a marriage license in New Jersey. Lily in particular does whatever she has to to make sure they get married on this day. Meanwhile, the guys seem more preoccupied with being tourists in Atlantic City than they are with the wedding. Ted is preoccupied with Robin's less than formal wedding attire. And Barney is preoccupied with some mysterious Chinese who seem to know him really well.—Huggo

Marshall and Lily are now back together (Marshall learned to cook over the summer) when Lily makes an off-hand comment about "the man I'm going to marry", then realizing they hadn't yet talked about still getting married. After Lily proposes to Marshall (Marshall makes her propose in a classy way) and having hot, passionate and amazing sex on the kitchen floor (with a creative use of Mrs. Butterworth's), Marshall tells Lily of how his family had harsh words about her when she left for San Francisco and canceled the wedding plans. His grandmother was particularly harsh on having some choice words for Lily.

Lily is embarrassed to have a ceremony in front of Marshall's family, out of fear that they will judge her harshly, so they decide to elope to Atlantic City, New Jersey. They immediately go and find Robin at the news station, Ted at his architecture firm (where he is the project manager now after Druthers was demoted), and Barney at a salon getting a pedicure. After all five get a pedicure, they go to Atlantic City. Lily goes looking for a bouquet and sends Robin to find some clothes that don't make her look better than the bride. Robin gets a tacky t-shirt which has a bikini bod printed on the front and back. Ted finds the printed bod super-hot. Barney, after finding Lily a veil, takes Marshall and Ted to a strip club for an 18-minute bachelor party (Marshall had a lap dance). Lily had given them 20 mins to find a veil, which they did in 2 mins only. Barney thinks he is the best man, even though Marshall insists that Ted is the best man and his best friend.

When they approach the receptionist at the casino's wedding chapel, they find that the waiting period for a New Jersey marriage license is three days. They go to the courthouse to find a judge who will waive the waiting period (it can only be done in extreme circumstances like shipping off overseas to fight for the country. But Marshall and Lily say that Love is an equally strong reason for the waiver), and finally manage to get into a judge's chambers after staking out a bathroom. Ted keeps staring at Robin's shirt boobs and wants to have sex with her in the courthouse bathroom.

The judge, impressed by Marshall and Lily's committed, 10-year relationship, almost grants the waiver on the waiting period, but Barney reveals that Marshall and Lily broke up for six months, causing the judge to change his mind. Barney says he had to tell the truth since they were under oath, even though they had not taken any. Barney believes the courthouse is the oath and they are under it. Running out of options, Lily suggests that they get married in international waters where they don't need a marriage license. Lily tells Robin that unless she gets married that day itself, she will have to face Marshall's family is a huge ceremony and she wants to avoid that at all costs. They find a boat captain willing to marry them, but he wants $5,000 to perform the ceremony.

Throughout the episode, Barney runs into a few Chinese men who he has brief but familiar conversations with, leaving the rest of the gang puzzled. He finally tells the group that he used to visit 'the AC' on a regular basis, but he developed a serious problem and stopped. Barney is sure he can win them the money. He enters a confusing Chinese game (Pinyin: Xíng Háishì Bùxíng, Chinese for 'Deal or No Deal') that no one else understands. Barney has lost his entire life savings once, but that night he is feeling hot. However, after watching the game in action Marshall catches on (Ted's full name is Theodore), and counsels Barney to win enough money to pay the boat captain. Marshall's advice proves sound when Barney wins the game and the gang gets the money.

Marshall and Lily are in the middle of their wedding when they decide they want to (and have to) face Marshall's family. They call off the wedding, however, the captain accidentally marries them. They ask him to undo the marriage, and the event becomes the story of the time that Marshall and Lily were married for 12 seconds.

The end scene shows Ted coming out of his room wearing Robin's bridesmaid shirt and Lily wondering if Robin is here and Marshall saying "man I hope so"...