Hallmark For All Seasons

Countdown to Christmas 2021

A Very Merry Bridesmaid

“A Very Merry Bridesmaid,” starring Emily Osment and Casey Deidrick, premiered on December 4 during 2021’s Countdown to Christmas on Hallmark Channel. The movie was set in the suburbs of Chicago but were filmed in and around Abbotsford, Canada, which is a very popular shooting location for Hallmark movies.

Tracy Andreen and Elena Valdez provided the screenplay. As I’ve mentioned before, Andreen has been a long-time writer for Hallmark, starting off with 2013’s “Snow Bride,” all the way through this year’s Gingerbread Miracle. This was Valdez’s first writing credit.

This movie poster is borderline boring only because Hallmark has really stepped things up this year with the movie posters and this pales in comparison to posters like the one for Christmas in Harmony. I wish we didn’t only have side profiles of the two leads, and I wish they played up the “bridesmaid” aspect of the movie in addition to the Christmas stuff.

Music: Two songs stood out in this movie. During the opening credits we heard Jingle Bells Retro (affiliate link) by Riaan Vosloo and Benedic Lamdin, and during the closing credits it was Forest Blakk’s Sing Along With Me (affiliate link).

In a nutshell

I liked this one, even if it had a whole host of things that I didn’t like about it. But the one thing I DID like was Emily Osment – she was fantastic in this movie and this character was perfectly suited to her.

The Plot of “A Very Merry Bridesmaid”

Leah’s 30th birthday is on Christmas Eve, the same day as her brother’s wedding. Her childhood crush is back in town for the wedding, and he is determined to make sure her birthday does not go by the wayside.

Actors & Chemistry

The winner of this movie, far and away, was Emily Osment. I didn’t much care for 2018’s “Christmas Wonderland,” but she has definitely grown into herself as an actress since then, and I LOVED her in this movie. I absolutely believed that Leah wanted to be low-key about her birthday so that her brother could celebrate his wedding. I absolutely believed that she still harbored an affection for Drew but was willing to just be friends through the first half of the movie. I absolutely believed that she was worried about her dad to the point that she was afraid to travel. Her mannerisms, her expressions, her body language – it was all unique to the character versus being quirks of the actress. She was great.

I also thought Casey Deidrick was fine as Drew. While Drew wasn’t the most exciting character, he was approachable, friendly, loyal to his best friend, and attentive to Leah. And in that capacity, Deidrick did a good job.

As for chemistry, it wasn’t hot and heavy, but it was comfortable. I loved when Leah put her head on Drew’s shoulder while they sat on the park bench. It wasn’t weird, she wasn’t nervous. They were able to show that these two are very comfortable with each other, to the point where she didn’t think twice about doing it. That’s good chemistry.

Tropes

There were some good tropes in the movie. It started off with two immediately: a house with a front porch AND CGI snow. After the initial flashback opening scene we had a big city drone shot. Other tropes included a snow globe sighting, some tree decorating, a carriage ride and some empty coffee cups. The school had a Christmas market, we saw characters wrapping presents and there was some baking. Lastly, I saw some carolers in there as well.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

Where do I start? Most of my notes for this movie fall under this category. I’ll just address the main two issues I had.

First of all, let’s talk wedding. First, if I’ve paid that much for a wedding dress – including three trips to London for fittings – then I’m NOT going to gate check that dress. I’ve probably spent $3-4K on fittings and another $30-40K on the designer dress itself. That thing is getting hung in the first-class section’s closet, not thrown in with the other luggage under the plane. Secondly, if I’m a self-identified Type A personality, I’m not going to let my future husband’s family “make all the calls” in the final days of the wedding. I’m doing that myself. But she just blithely sat at the kitchen counter drinking coffee at Leah’s house while they were all out and about changing THE ENTIRE WEDDING without her knowledge.

The wedding was on Christmas Eve. In Chicago. With a reception held outdoors. And my girl Leah had on a spaghetti strap bridesmaid dress and nothing else. No shawl, no jacket, no scarf. Now, the reception tent DID have portable heaters (you could see them in the background in some shots), but that should have been a CLOSED TENT or else those heaters are not doing much good during a Chicago winter.

And yes, there were other things I took issue with. They were watching football during the day but the shot of the TV showed a game being played at night. Where was that game being played? The bride’s missing luggage ended up “in storage in Edinburgh.” Um…what?

Feelgoods

Drew’s response to the kiss was terrible – had someone said/done that to me I’d have been HORRIFIED and MORTIFIED. Thankfully, at the rehearsal dinner Leah addressed that elephant in the room and handled it. I’m not so sure I would have. I appreciated that Leah was an adult about it in order to not have their friendship be awkward.

Re-watchability of “A Very Merry Bridesmaid”

I did watch this twice already, because I loved Emily Osment so much. I don’t know that I’ll actively seek it out, but if I see it’s on again, I can see tuning in to watch a bit of it here and there while I’m channel surfing.

The Ranking

“A Very Merry Bridesmaid” will probably end up in the upper third for the year, which is decent. If there were so many issues with the storytelling, this likely would have ranked higher.

An Unexpected Christmas (air date: Nov 26) – 736 pts – weighted score: 123 (86.3%)
The Santa Stakeout (air date: Oct 24) – 730 pts – weighted score: 122.3 (85.8%)
A Christmas Family Tree (air date: Nov 14) – 730 pts – weighted score: 121.9 (85.5%)
You, Me and The Christmas Trees (air date: Oct 22) – 716 pts – weighted score: 121.3 (85.1%)
Crashing Through The Snow (air date: July 10) – 705 pts – weighted score: 118.1 (82.8%)
The Nine Kittens of Christmas (air date: Nov 25) – 690 pts – weighted score: 116.5 (81.8%)
One December Night (air date: Nov 13) – 695 pts – weighted score: 116.3 (81.6%)
A Mrs. Miracle Christmas (air date: Nov 6) – 688 pts – weighted score: 116.2 (81.5%)
Boyfriends of Christmas Past (air date: Oct 23) – 673 pts – weighted score: 116.1 (81.5%)
Next Stop, Christmas (air date: Nov 6) – 682 pts – weighted score: 114.7 (80.5%)
It Was Always You (air date: Feb 27) – 668 pts – weighted score: 114.2 (80.1%)
The Christmas Promise (air date: Oct 30) – 675 pts – weighted score: 114.1 (80.0%)
Gingerbread Miracle (air date: Nov 5) – 671 pts – weighted score: 114.0 (80.0%)
Christmas In My Heart (air date: Oct 23) – 675 pts – weighted score: 113.9 (79.9%)
A Kiss Before Christmas (air date: Nov 21) – 671 pts – weighted score: 111.9 (78.5%)
Open at Christmas (air date: Nov 12) – 658 pts – weighted score: 111.6 (78.3%)
You Had Me At Aloha (air date: June 5) – 675 pts – weighted score: 111.4 (78.1%)
A Christmas Together With You (air date: Nov 20) – 645 pts – weighed score: 110.9 (77.8%)
Five More Minutes (air date: Nov 21) – 645 pts – weighted score: 110.8 (77.7%)
Sweet Carolina (air date: May 15) – 648 pts – weighted score: 110.1 (77.2%)
A Very Merry Bridesmaid (air date: Dec 4) – 644 pts – weighted score: 109.5 (76.8%)
Taking a Shot at Love (air date: Jan 2) – 641 pts – weighted score: 108.9 (76.4%)
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (air date: Mar 27) – 636 pts – weighted score: 108.5 (76.1%)
Christmas at Castle Hart (air date: Nov 27) – 639 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
Right in Front of Me (air date: Apr 18) – 637 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
As Luck Would Have It (air date: Apr 10) – 638 pts – weighted score: 107.7 (75.5%)
Her Pen Pal (air date: June 19) – 636 pts – weighted score: 107.1 (75.1%)
The Baker’s Son (air date: June 13) – 637 pts – weighted score: 106.3 (74.6%)
South Beach Love (air date: Oct 9) – 615 pts – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
Love Strikes Twice (air date: Oct 2) – 608 pts – weighted score: 105.2 (73.8%)
A Holiday in Harlem (air date: Nov 7) – 628 pts – weighted score: 105.1 (73.7%)
Christmas Sail (air date: Oct 31) – 606 pts – weighted score: 105.1 (73.7%)
Christmas in Harmony (air date: Oct 29) – 605 pts – weighted score: 104.8 (73.5%)
A Christmas Treasure (air date: Nov 7) – 625 pts – weighted score: 104.6 (73.4%)
A Winter Getaway (air date: Jan 23) – 620 pts – weighted score: 104.4 (73.3%)
Coyote Creek Christmas (air date: Oct 30) – 614 pts – weighted score: 104.3 (73.2%)
Love, For Real (air date: July 31) – 607 pts – weighted score: 103.6 (72.7%)
Christmas CEO (air date: Nov 26) – 596 pts – weighted score: 103.5 (72.6%)
Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone (air date: Oct 1) – 595 pts – weighted score: 103.0 (72.2%)
Mix Up in the Mediterranean (air date: Feb 20) – 590 pts – weighted score: 102.5 (71.9%)
Advice to Love By (air date: Oct 16) – 599 pts – weighted score: 102.2 (71.7)
Two For The Win (air date: Jan 16) – 603 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
Taking the Reins (air date: Sept 28) – 574 pts – weighted score: 101.2 (71.0%)
Raise a Glass to Love (air date: Sept 18) – 590 pts – weighted score: 100.7 (70.7%)
Nantucket Noel (air date: Nov 18) – 585 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
Chasing Waterfalls (air date: Mar 20) – 570 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
Roadhouse Romance (air date: Sept 11) – 571 pts – weighted score: 100.2 (70.3%)
Sweet Pecan Summer (air date: ) – 576 pts – weighted score: 97.3 (68.3%)
Sand Dollar Cove (air date: June 26) – 557 pts – weighted score: 96.8 (67.9%)
Hearts Down Under (air date: Apr 24) – 547 pts – weighted score: 95.2 (66.8%)
Fit for a Prince (air date: Mar 6) – 546 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
A New Year’s Resolution (air date: Jan 9) – 516 pts – weighted score: 90.5 (63.5%)
Finding Love in Mountain View (air date: ) – 504 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
A Little Daytime Drama (air date: Aug 21) – 511 pts – weighted score: 87.7 (61.5%)
Baby, It’s Cold Inside (air date: May 8) – 495 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.0%)
Playing Cupid (air date: Feb 13) – 466 pts – weighted score: 82.6 (58.0%)
Beverly Hills Wedding (air date: Feb 6) – 431 pts – weighted score: 80.6 (56.5%)
Journey of my Heart (air date: ) – 450 pts – weighted score: 76.0 (53.3%)
Snowkissed (air date: Jan 31) – 402 pts – weighted score: 76.0 (53.3%)