Garage Sale Mystery: The Wedding Dress

I have watched all of the Garage Sale Mystery films so far and although I liked them all, this one was my favorite by far. I must have seen something these other reviewers didn't, but I really enjoyed watching The Wedding Dress. Lori Loughlin was great as Jennifer Shannon, and there was nothing cold or cruel about her, imo. And, I did not find her smile distracting, I thought it was nice. Also, I thought the secondary plot between her daughter and the boyfriend was a very welcome addition to the story. Yes, the ending was predictable, but come on, its Hallmark! All in all, a very enjoyable film, that IS worth watching. My grade: B+.

6.4 stars.

To me this story was quite forgettable. The movie itself is not bad, the main plot of murder and mystery and all that it's meant to represent is just very plain. The side stories of family and friends which are actually the aspect that makes this a good series, are entertaining enough for me to award this over 6.0. The mystery plot was bland, so I have nothing much to say but that I have made better use of my time on many occasions. It was difficult to stay interested, and I'm not sure I can point a finger at one specific reason. Give it a try if you want to be completest in your personal reviews of Hallmark mystery movies.

The Garage Sale Mysteries, like many Hallmark mysteries, are for light watching and mild entertainment. This is unlike, say, the Hallmark Christmas films, which are awful.

I love seeing the antiques and collectibles featured on the shows, and the cast is likable. These films also move a little better than others on the network.

In this one, Wedding Dress, the shop owners Jennifer and Dani (Lori Loughlin and Sarah Strange) find a vintage wedding dress from 1979 at an estate sale. Given the styles back then, I rather doubt it was a real vintage dress - guess the set dresser couldn't find one. On investigation, they learn the groom disappeared during the reception and was never seen again.

They meet the bride, Helen (Cheryl Ladd), and Jennifer becomes involved in the mystery.

These are usually easy to figure out - this one was slightly more intriguing.

The thing about anything Lifetime or Hallmark is you have to know what you're getting into and take it for what it is: made in Canada without big budgets and a mostly Canadian cast with one American TV or soap star, and not particularly well directed.

On that basis, Garage Sale Mysteries are a slight cut above the norm.

This mystery had me guessing until the end. It was sad but the truth all came out in a beautiful way.

A wedding groom goes missing on his wedding day and he is never to be seen again for some 30 years and no one seems to care anymore. That is until our antiques dealer/amateur sleuth Jennifer Shannon (Lori Loughlin) visits an estate sale and finds the brides wedding dress with some blood in one of the bride's dress pockets.

So the mystery begins with enough suspects to record a new Guinness Book record for the amount of people who can be stuffed into a Volkswagen car. So where was the missing bridegroom stuffed? Not in that Volkswagen that is for sure.

Jennifer's also dealing with two family matters. Her daughter's boyfriend is looking at a distance relationship and if it can survive their young love, and Jennifer's own marriage is near to another anniversary date but her workaholic husband seems to be distracted with his business to realize their wedding anniversary is just around the corner with no plan in site to celebrate their (not so?) memorable wedding date.

One of the suspects is the still very attractive 64 year old Cheryl Ladd (Charlie's Angels TV 1977-1981) who plays the stood up at the altar and wealthy bride Helen Whitney Carter, that fateful day some 30 years prior. Although the writing of this made for TV movie seems to take the long way around to find out what really happened to our missing bride groom the real mystery would be how sloppy the absent police department would have had to be if this story was even vaguely possible.

Mrs. Shullivan and I both liked the film and especially the recovery ending even though the story was quite winding and a bit troublesome to think that the police department could not have achieved what our amateur sleuth Jennifer Shannon accomplished all on her own with just her good looks and wholesome charm.

I give this chapter of the Garage Sale Mystery series a more than decent 7 out of 10. Just remember that this mystery film is not developed with a blockbuster Hollywood budget so manage your expectations and like Mrs. Shullivan and I, you will not be disappointed.