Starring: Taylor Cole, Jack Turner, Rukiya Bernard, and Dewshane Williams
Released: 2021
Summary: A longtime engaged couple decides to do away with plans for a grandiose ceremony and instead books a small venue for friends and family to attend.
Ben & Cara return to where their love began in One Perfect Wedding. Image: Crown Media
"One Perfect Wedding" Is Part Of A Trilogy
In 2018, Hallmark brought us One Winter Weekend where best friends Cara and Megan head to a ski getaway. Once there, they learn their room has been double booked with two other eligible men--Ben and Sean--which leads to romance.
The second installment, One Winter Proposal, aired in 2019. Although Megan and Sean didn't have the traction they needed in the first movie to get their relationship off the ground, they find another chance. Ben has two proposals to make, one to Cara and one for a business venture.
It only makes sense that One Perfect Wedding would take place at the same lodge where love began.
Between Ben's snowboard business and Cara's new book tour, the two are barely going to see each other. They only have a matter of days to throw together a wedding, after deciding a courthouse ceremony doesn't feel right.
Organization and attention to detail is Megan's super power, so she does the heavyweight planning for the Clara Lake Resort wedding. In fact, she misses Sean so much that the work and the planning provide a much needed distraction.
Multiple Mysteries To Solve In "One Perfect Wedding"
Mystery #1: Cara catches Ben speaking privately to a resort employee, and he doesn't share the secret. Execs from Weatherly Hotels have plans to buy the Clara Lake Resort, but they will make some bad changes, like axing the Camp Snow program--a program that helped Ben immensely when he was a kid. Ben decides to buy the resort, but it's complicated.
Mystery #2: There are three investors in Clara Lake Resort. One investor owns 45% and will sell to Ben, but the other 45% shareholder will sell to Weatherly Hotels. No one can track down the third party who owns the remaining 10% and is operating under the name Aldera Creek.
Mystery #3: The original owners of Clara Creek Resort were a married couple, Max and Clara, but as Daniel, the front desk employee, rifles through old boxes of photos and letters to curate them on the walls of the resort, Cara concludes the happy couple's marriage ultimately ended in divorce after the war. No further pictures of the two together could be found.
Mystery #4: Sean is conspiring with Ben on how he can propose to Megan even though he can't join them at the lodge, and once Ben finally shares the good news with Cara, the two of them coordinate their efforts to make it happen. Their antics raise Megan's suspicions.
Mystery #5: Before Cara can leave on her book tour, her publisher wants a pitch on the next installment of her mystery series, but what will happen with her characters is a mystery to Cara, too. Her weekend at Clara Lake Resort gives her the inspiration she needs to hatch her next plot line.
Turns out, Aldera Creek is an anagram. Goldie, the resort pianist, is also named Clara, and her parents are Max and Clara--the original owners. She is the mysterious 10% shareholder, and she agrees to sell to Ben.
Goldie loves Agatha Christie novels. Image: Crown Media
Although Cara assumes an old letter she discovers on the resort's wall was written by Max in 1948, regarding his divorce to Clara, she learns from Goldie the signature of "M" stands for "Mom," and it was written to her in 1978, when she was going through a divorce. Mystery solved!
Why were there no pictures, then, of Max and Clara? Goldie points out her parents were very much in love, but in those days, you didn't have to post a bunch of pictures on social media to prove you were happy. We could all take a lesson from that!
Sean virtually proposes to Megan at their favorite spot on the slopes, too, so all the loose ends are tied up nicely.
Lucky for Megan, her career is portable so she can move to marry Sean. Image: Crown Media
Your Career Often Directs Your Perspective
Cara is a mystery writer, so she seems to see the mystery in everything around her. Don't we all do that to some degree?
Pastors see situations as material for their next sermon; crafters look at odds and ends and envision how they could be used for their next DIY project; gardeners imagine the possibilities in an empty backyard; police quickly hone in on suspicious behavior; engineers always have ideas for efficient improvements on existing designs; chefs are inspired by different foods and concoct unique recipes that blend flavors in new ways.
The training and expertise you have in your field often influences your perspective.
Best Movie Line In "One Perfect Wedding"
My favorite line from the movie is this:
Flaws can turn out to be virtues--it just depends on how you look at it.
Do you agree with that statement?
One could argue that Megan is almost manic with her wedding planning and perfectionism, but her organizational skills and attention to detail are virtuous.
People who always focus on the silver lining in bad situations might be considered unrealistic by some but as eternal optimists by others.
Think of the people closest to you. Their flaws might be glaringly obvious to you, but how could you flip the script and see their apparent vices in a better light?
A Lesson In Flexibility
When life doesn't go as we plan, many of us get stressed; however, One Perfect Wedding teaches us the key to letting go of stress is learning to be flexible.
Cara and Ben plan to have a magnificent wedding in Rome, but when they realize their schedules aren't going to jive, they scale down their plans considerably, understanding the most important thing is simply being together. Even when they head for the Justice of the Peace to tie the knot and it doesn't feel right to Cara, no one flips out when she pivots.
The scene where Sean initiates a proposal, only to learn Ben and Cara have the box with cuff links rather than Megan's engagement ring, forces the three of them to ad-lib and wait until another opportunity.
Can you imagine pulling your wedding dress out of the garment bag and experiencing the horror of having it be purple? Zoey makes one doozy of a mistake with the dresses, and Cara and Megan almost panic, but it all works out because Cara's dad brought her mother's wedding dress with him.
Megan & her mom do most of the work for Cara's wedding. Image: Crown Media
Finally, an unexpected snowstorm hits, meaning no DJ, surf & turf, wedding cake, and more, but necessity is the mother of invention. Megan's mom officiates the ceremony and DJ's, brats (the bride and groom's favorite food) is served in place of the surf & turf, and plain cakes are transformed into something spectacular by the lodge's chef. "Things" aren't as important as sharing life's best moments with your friends and family. We worry too much!
Which "Look" Is Better On Jack Turner?
In the first two installments of the trilogy, Jack Turner sports some great hair, but in One Perfect Wedding, he's bald. Hair gives him a boyish charm, but the bald look lends his character a certain, sexy maturity. Which look do you like better?
Do you prefer Jack Turner with hair.....
Image: Crown Media
....or without?
Image: Crown Media
bike trails
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One Perfect Wedding is a love story tucked into fun mystery. Image: Crown Media
So why 25 mins into the movie…on the sky slopes they’re discussing how they met and they put in the F word? So not ever gonna but this movie. It’s not acceptable to have to use that word to make conversation. Really? I love Hallmark movies but that’s just not very nice at all. CD
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