Happy 2023, everyone! New year, new us! I hope your 2022 was all that you hoped it would be, and that 2023 will be a great year for you – and me! My goal for this year is definitely write more synopses than I did in 2022 during my step back to recharge, and that I’ll be able to land a few more interviews to showcase some of the actors and creators that we know and love.
Now, I’m not much into the sequels that Hallmark Channel makes. I’m usually content with the single one-off story and don’t feel the need for subsequent movies that follow them on their next steps. So when I heard that they were making sequels to all three Wedding Veil movies, my initial feeling was a negative one. Not only that, but last year, the Lacey Chabert edition was my least favorite of the three. So my expectations, as it were, were low.
“The Wedding Veil Expectations” aired on Hallmark Channel on January 7, 2023 as part of their New Year New Movies series. Directed by Hallmark actor Peter Benson, two of the same screenwriters tackled this edition, Judith Berg and Sandra Berg, with Karen Berger joining them this time around.
Music (affiliate links): The opening credits featured These Are the Moments by SATV Music from their album entitled “Singer Songwriter.” The closing credits featured Forever by 5 Alarm from their album “Off the Charts: Ladies First.”
In a nutshell
You guys, I actually kind of liked this one. It was sadly almost completely trope-free, and I’m still not a fan of sequels, but the married vibe between Lacey Chabert and Kevin McGarry was on point and the highlight of the entire movie.
The Plot of “The Wedding Veil Expectations”
Avery and Peter try to keep the romance alive while renovating an old house and juggling work, but everything takes on a new perspective when Avery has a surprise for Peter.
Actors & Chemistry
While I didn’t feel the heat during The Wedding Veil, this time around I really appreciated the more familiar and intimate chemistry between married Avery and Peter. Every bedtime conversation felt real and I got a kick out of how many ways they were able to turn out the lights. I was also glad that the ladies got to share the screen more than in the previous movies when it was almost all phone calls.
I felt like this movie had too many stories: the museum exhibit, the home renovations, the pregnancy, and Peter’s mom dating. Because it tried to horn in four stories, none felt full fleshed out. Especially the story involving Peter’s mom. One scene she meets her old beau, the next they go to dinner and hold hands, then off-screen they go to Martha’s Vineyard, then they break up, then they get married. And I was not invested in that storyline AT ALL.
Find the Tropes!
Almost NO tropes. We already knew about the dead parents Avery and Peter have. Avery did wear the circle necklace at some point, though. I guess you could say a business was in trouble since the museum had low attendance numbers.
Did I Hear/See That Right?
Mason, the British museum director, was not wrong. A museum as small as Stanbridge cannot be successful on a lace exhibit and a single heirloom painting that is a sentimental favorite. They have to be open to bringing in new exhibits and paintings that will draw in visitors.
Peter’s back goes out, he’s incredibly sore, and his response is to fall asleep in 5 seconds? Nope. His response is to FIND A GOOD POSITION TO BE IN FOR HIS BACK TO NOT HURT. I have had moderate back pain and trust me, the urge to sleep was the last thing on my mind when any movement I made caused spasms of pain.
Feelgoods
I loved Avery’s laptop cover with the Van Gogh “Starry Night” painting. It was actually one I considered for my own laptop, but in the end, I chose a really delicate floral print. But “Starry Night” was almost it!
I empathized with Avery’s morning sickness. If I recall correctly, with my daughter I was nauseous from the moment I found out I was pregnant (6 weeks in?) until about week 24. It was awful. I never knew what was going to set me off – a smell, a movement (during my 2-hr long commute each way), the time of day. I was in constant fear of getting sick in public (and almost threw up on my commuter bus at least once – fortunately the bus pulled over just in time for me to jump off and save everyone from that horror).
Even the lace had me remembering the trip my husband and I took to The Netherlands and Belgium, and visiting a lace store in Brugges, Belgium. I’m not big into lace, but the stuff in that shop was gorgeous and it was fun to watch a lady in the back actually making lace while we were there.
Finishing the movie with a tribute to the “When Harry Met Sally” couples was a WIN for me. That’s one of my favorite movies. And I loved that she called out his accent (which was better this time around).
Re-watchability of “The Wedding Veil Expectations”
No, I won’t watch this again, but I’m not mad that Hallmark “forced” me to watch a sequel to a movie that didn’t need one. *lol*
The Rankings
So, let’s talk one more time about what my plans are for this year. There are always movies I feel bad about writing up, especially if I don’t care for them and they receive a really low score. And rather than write anything negative, I’ve decided to focus on writing only as-positive-as-possible reviews in 2023. Looking at my 2022 rankings, it looks like 73.5% is the score at which I either like a movie or don’t.
As such, while I will be ranking and rating every movie, with a few exceptions I will only write reviews for those that score 73.5% or higher. The main reason why I’d do a write-up for one that scores lower is if the main reason for the low score is a lack of tropes.
Having said that, the first movie of the year, “The Dog Lover’s Guide to Dating”? Woof. And I’ll leave it at that. “Expectations” does have a sub-70% score, BUT it is the highest scoring Veil movie thus far of the four that have aired. So that’s a plus. There was enough to like that it was worth reviewing, even though there were only 3-4 tropes at best, which lowered its score. It’s not a bad movie – I just know there will be better ones throughout the year.
- The Wedding Veil Expectations (air date: Jan 7) – 564 pts – weighted score: 94.8 (66.5%)
- The Dog Lover’s Guide to Dating (air date: Jan 1) – 407 pts – weighted score: 71.5 (50.1%)
To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!
What did you think of “The Wedding Veil Expectations”? Comment below and let me know!
