A Bride for Christmas: Our Hallmark Movie Review

A Bride for Christmas came to us straight from the Girls Gone Hallmark Facebook group, and it was a great recommendation. This 2012 fan-favorite features Andrew Walker in a role that is genuinely against type, made even funnier by Peter Benson as his hilariously terrible best friend. Megan and Wendy dig in.

Listen to Girls Gone Hallmark Review “A Bride for Christmas”

What Is A Bride for Christmas About?

Jessie is a woman with a pattern: she keeps getting engaged and then calling it off. After ending her third engagement, she swears off relationships entirely and tries to get through Christmas without any romantic complications. Enter Aidan, a charming bachelor who makes a bet with his equally charming but deeply misguided best friend Matt that he can get Jessie to fall for him by Christmas. What he does not count on is actually falling for her himself. The movie premiered on December 12, 2012 as part of Hallmark Channel’s 3rd annual Countdown to Christmas.

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About A Bride for Christmas

Directed by Gary Yates. Gary has been a steady Hallmark director for many years with a long list of credits including Christmas by Starlight, On the 12th Date of Christmas, and Merry and Bright, among many others.

Written by Barbara Kymlicka. Barbara is a two-time nominee and one-time winner of the Canadian Screen Awards for best writing. We reviewed another of her scripts in our A Very Merry Mix-Up episode, which came out just a year after this one.

Arielle Kebbel plays runaway bride Jessie. This was Arielle’s first project for Hallmark. She went on to co-star with Andrew Walker again in Bridal Wave (2015) and returned to Hallmark most recently in Love in the Great Smoky Mountains: A National Park Romance. Outside of Hallmark, she has had a busy and varied career. Her television credits include The Vampire Diaries, Ballers opposite Dwayne Johnson, Midnight Texas, 90210, Gilmore Girls, and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector. In 2024 and 2025 she starred in the Fox drama Rescue: HI-Surf. In 2026 she joined the CBS crime drama Marshals as a series regular and appeared in the theatrical film I Can Only Imagine 2. She is one of those actors whose career outside of Hallmark is genuinely impressive and easy to miss if you only know her from Christmas movies.

Andrew Walker plays Aidan. Andrew is one of Hallmark’s most dependable leading men and has only gotten busier since this 2012 movie. He completed five Hallmark movies in 2025 alone including Three Wisest Men, the final installment of the beloved trio franchise with Tyler Hynes and Paul Campbell, and She’s Making a List opposite Lacey Chabert. His most recent Hallmark movie is Kentucky Roses (May 2026) costarring Odette Annable. He also continues to appear in the Curious Caterer mystery franchise with Nikki DeLoach. Seeing this earlier, against-type role is a fun contrast to the dependable leading man persona he has built over the years.

Kimberley Sustad plays Jessie’s sister Vivian. This was Kimberley’s first project for Hallmark and it was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship with the network. She has since appeared in over 20 Hallmark films and become one of its most beloved faces. Beyond acting she has also become a writer, co-writing Christmas by Starlight, Three Wise Men and a Baby, and Three Wiser Men and a Boy with Paul Campbell and Russell Hainline. Her most recent starring role was in Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper! (2025) opposite Robert Buckley, and she appeared as Dr. Sharon McLaren in all three Three Wise Men movies. She is also appearing in Christmas at Sea Season 2 on Hallmark+ this July.

Peter Benson plays best friend Matt Harper. Peter has one of the most extensive resumes of anyone in the Hallmark universe, working both in front of and behind the camera as an actor, writer, director, and producer. His most recent Hallmark acting credits include Christmas Above the Clouds (2025), Debbie Macomber’s Joyful Mrs. Miracle (2025), and The More the Merrier (2026). He appeared in The Cases of Mystery Lane: Death Is Listening (2024), which unfortunately has since been cancelled by Hallmark after two installments, much to fans’ frustration. As a director, his credits include Big Sky River: The Bridal Path, The Professional Bridesmaid, and Sweet Carolina among many others.

Karen Kruper plays mom Suzie. Karen has appeared alongside Kimberley Sustad before, most notably in To All a Good Night and Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Something New, both in 2023.

Sage Brocklebank plays ex-boyfriend Mike. Sage has appeared in a handful of Hallmark movies including Stop the Wedding and The Irresistible Blueberry Farm. If you are playing along with GGH Bingo, Sage also played Sir Gaston on Once Upon a Time.

Watch the Trailer for “A Bride for Christmas”

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