in another part of the neighborhood, m'lynn eatenton (sally field) and her daughter shelby (julia roberts), are preparing for shelby's wedding later that day. along with clairee belcher (olympia dukakis), the cheerful widow of the former mayor, they arrive at truvy's to have their hair done. suddenly, shelby, who has type 1 diabetes, falls into a hypoglycemic state, but recovers quickly with the help of the other women. m'lynn reveals that shelby has been told by her doctor that she should not have children, and this was the point of an argument shelby had with her fiancé the night before, with shelby wanting to back out of the marriage so as not to deprive her fiancé of the chance to have children.