User Reviews

Another solid entry in the 2nd Wedding Veil trilogy. This time we revisit Emma and Paolo who now live in Chicago. I'm not sure what the passage of time has been since The Wedding Veil Unveiled but it's at least 2 years given that Avery's son is now standing in his crib. So Paolo is just now opening his high end lace shop. Is that even a thing?

This was the first Wedding Veil movie not written by the Berg sisters and it kind of showed. There was a lot more focus on the B couple, more so than on the 3 friends. And it also has much more serious undertones. I thought the issues Emma and Paolo dealt with were very realistic and they were handled well too. Good character growth for both of them.

However, I am not crazy about the fact that Paolo's dream was to expand the business to the US and he finally does that only to decide to move back to Italy, leaving said business in the hands of an inexperienced relative. Also, Emma leaving her job that she worked so hard for is a pretty sharp turn. I get giving up the promotion but also giving up the teaching job that she loved in favor of Paolo is an old school Hallmark move. And her new career choice doesn't seem like it would be satisfying in the long term. Once again, executives at this network don't seem to understand the audience. Viewers have seen that repeatedly since new leadership took over.

My other main issues with this one were that Paolo Bernardini was billed AFTER Carlo Marks. Come on Paolo is the lead character. And also that this one was so serious. It's Hallmark Channel and this trilogy is supposed to be a RomCom overall. This movie was definitely more of a drama.

This movie was written to have so many specific explanations, but it in the end she yields her ambitions to the those of her husband. She abandons her city and her country to save her marriage and yield to the wishes of her husband.

She could have stayed in Chicago and just turned down the promotion and continued on as an art professor. She will have to get an extended work visa to stay and teach long term in Italy and she will have to put the Atlantic Ocean between her and her best friends.

To me this seems like a complete sellout. He yields nothing and she yields significantly. I really don't like the message of this movie.

If this doesn't work out, she loses a marriage and goes back to America with nothing. She is risking too much.

I don't mind the spider storyline. Nor do I mind the B couple.

But I feel bad for Paulo. He gets caught between a rock and a hard place, trying to support the family business while keeping his marriage intact. And he goes the extra mile, by arranging the pizza delivery and the Skype date. Yet Emma still becomes resentful of him. It wasn't fair of her to just say that he was choosing his family over her, when she was the one who wouldn't wake up and realize that taking a permanent teaching post in Italy would be a win-win for everyone. I wish she had apologized to Paolo in the end.

Also, the boss should have been straight with her front the get-go. It's not a university head's job to play mind games and go all Mr. Miyagj on her successor.

Both of the leads are capable of so much more than this script offers them. That's the biggest takeaway of this movie.

I don't wholly agree with the other reviewers comments about Emma giving up her position "for her man." I agree that Paolo went back on what he said but that's also the potential reality of someone living abroad. Things are a lot different in theory than in practice and I say all of this as someone who is an expat living in Italy.

Beyond that, I felt that Emma was actually fighting for her own limitations. She was trying hard to impress a boss to get a promotion doing a job she actively hates... She also wasn't giving up a teaching position (from what I understood) because her only class was already taken away from her. Also is she even tenured?

My read on this situation is that Emma had set out on a path and had a plan and was refusing point blank to accept the reality of the situation that what she thought she wanted wasn't really all that she dreamed it would be. At that point isn't it normal to course correct and choose a new path and a new dream?

PS. As a Canadian in a relationship with an Italian man I can confirm that the pizza scenes are all 100% accurate! They don't always get cultural things right in these kinds of movies, but this time they're dead on.

This is "episode 5" of a loosely related series of RomComs united not by a thread but by an Italian wedding veil.

The familiar cast of favorite TV (and Hallmark) veterans is strong and likable. It is nice to see a G-rated movie with fun and respectful behavior and language throughout. There is an elegance present within the characters and throughout the story itself.

Life's journey has twists and turns. Husband Paolo's dad becomes ill in Italy and calls him to return to be with family. Wife Emma's college teaching job success is on a path toward moving into the administrative higher position of department chairperson.

Love involves sacrifice. We see such love expressed by the couple towards each other, by a child for a parent, by friends (and even co-workers) for one another.

I loved learning that 1. Croissant-like breads are called "cornettos" in Italian.

2. one can prevent wall damage when hanging a painting by "forking a nail."

3. "FOMO" is used beyond texting.

4. new words in Italian, explained throughout the two hours.

5. how a retiring chairperson prepares the protégé for the transition.

6. that there's a baby on the way.

I feel good after watching this flick.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with the other review thus far posted. I will not go into the sordid details that make this by far and away the most lame installment of this series, but suffice it to say that Emma's husband comes off as a wolf in sheep's clothing, and Emma is reduced to being yet another educated and talented woman with a dream of her own who gives everything up for her man. I mean, come on now, here we have a tenured university professor who loves teaching but is by the end of this travesty reduced to producing videos for free. All so that her husband, who by all accounts has lied about everything he agreed to do for her when they were in Italy, can return home permanently at the first sign of family problems. This disgusting reprobate even had the nerve to suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, announce that he was homesick for his family, having to be reminded by his wife that SHE was now his family. (BTW: He was going to leave a brand-new, multi-million dollar store in the hands of a novice?) It is shocking that both Lacey Chabert and Autumn Reeser, who executive produced this disaster, would allow a woman to be diminished so thoroughly. This is their idea of a marriage of equals?

The next installment of the Wedding Veil was wonderfully done. It ended making me feel happy. Some people have been disgusted with the writing concerning Emma.

Emma's story picks up where she and Paolo are now living in Chicago. She is becoming increasingly unhappy as she realizes what she thought was her dream to be department chair isn't what she thought it may be. It highlights how sometimes in life it's ok to change course and maybe new possibilities are there. Also I love Emma and Paolos relationship. They bend for each other. Love how the friends support each other in it too. Don't believe other reviews,

I love this movie series and seeing where everyone's life is now especially Emma. All of them had such happy endings from the first trip loft and it's nice to see how they get through the challenges of going from single independent women to now being married and being pulled by their career driven nature. Having said that I HATE the academic chair! She was sooo awful! And I hate that Emma was laughing when it's revealed she was purposefully making her life hell. Emma is now unemployed and wasted years and years of her life! She could have had kids a while ago, and might have even ended her marriage because of the lies and constant emotional abuse from this person. I've had deans and managers like this who constantly put me down, bring up my clothing, the way I present myself, their personal dislikes that are not university driven, and the whole "I'm doing this for your own good" gaslighting approach. It made me furious that it ended on a light hearted note and that walking away was the only option. I am glad she moved to Italy and started a family and has a life she deserves but I also wished her career would somehow be brought up. Like she became dean at the Italian university or something. Her friends are amazing and I loved how they showed up every time she needed them without needing to say so. They supported her like real friends should and I really liked the part where they ask what's keeping you in Chicago? No family- no friends- a dead end job is not enough. The dean did her zero favours and she should not be thankful for her. I like that the message at the end was they were finally taking control of their lives and not letting others dictate it. Can't wait to watch the next one!

I'm mad that I've had these three movies on my dvr since January bc both Expectations and Inspiration (Inspiration is better however) do not live up to the wonderfulness of the first three. If Tracy's movie "Journey," does knock it out of the park, then I won't go out of my way to watch any more in this series if they make them.

Emma and Paolo are my second fave couple in this series after Tracy and Nick. Their whirlwind romance in Italy was sweet, they have chemistry, and Italy is one of my favorite places ever so that movie could not lose as far as I was concerned. I love how Paolo teases her about pizza bc honestly, I felt the same way he does after my first visit there =)

I'm really not sure what to make of these couples as married people. As I mentioned in my Expectations review, Avery and Peter weren't that great of a couple and Emma and Paolo are only slightly better. Pardon the pun, but they all seem (so far, still have to watch Tracy and Nick) to expect and idyllic ideas about marriage as if it'll be a permanent honeymoon phase.

I did not understand Emma holding on to that job. It was stressing her out and affecting her marriage. The "twist" of her boss giving her a hard time just so she'd know she didn't want the job was silly even for Hallmark. It was lowkey creating a toxic and hostile workplace even if Emma "wanted" the job. If this was a drama, the boss would have been reported to HR and then what, she'd say "lol j/k?" What if Emma put up with it longer than she did? She couldn't have an honest conversation with Emma about her goals? Would not a true mentor do that? The career storyline was by far the weakest of the movie. She also seemed to clearly enjoy sharing art history at the store than her daily work at the university.

I really didn't like how Paolo essentially moved to Chicago FOR her, but she couldn't understand why he felt the need to be home. Just like Avery, Emma has problems of her own making. I do not agree with those who say she gave up her dreams for a man...she didn't want the job! She couldn't even handle budget cuts which would have been her job no matter how much she liked her colleagues. She wouldn't have been able to fire herself every time. And he's not just a man, he's her husband. Big difference. She also didn't update her life plan even though she had IDK a major life event take place. But even with that, it was pretty obvious that neither Paolo nor Emma really acknowledged that his family lived so far away and how they would handle him needing to go back there for any real period of time. It felt like to Emma, Italy is just family to visit. He was the only son, very involved in the business side of things(thus even being the one to open the Chicago store), I thought it was incredulous that she was frustrated that he was home spending time with a sick elderly father and helping out. And aside from when he first left, I don't recall her even contemplating going to support him. Also, where are her parents? Do her movies mean to make it seem like family isn't as important to her as it is to Paolo and that's why she can't understand? I think Occam's Razor (aka no need to spend the budget on casting her folks) is the simplest explanation, but I don't know.

The other thing for me (and I said this about Expectations), but the other two friends, depending on the movie, that just drop their own lives to travel for one day therapy sessions seemed more plausible when they were all single. Not when they're all in new marriages and one has a less than a year old child. It makes sense for planned events like the opening of the store or such events, but random visits? No. For all intents and purposes, they're all 40-ish and Emma lives across the country...it just gives dependency. If you and your friends can do that, then your problems likely aren't as big as you imagine.

Speaking of and I"m sure it was a budget thing, but I would have really preferred that Emma actually gone to Italy and Paolo actually had been the one packing to come back to the U. S. Flipping that would have said more to me given that he was trying to still work on their marriage while he was away.

By far, the best part of the movie for me was the love story of Lily and Matteo. I just love Carlo Marks, so seeing him was a welcomed surprise. They were sweet, even if Lily was too old to be so awkward. I did like how in the end, he was honest about his feelings and because of that she had to do the same and stop giving mixed signals. The older I get (30s), the more I prefer romances with less beating around the bush. I liked how the veil was involved but not overly so bc I think adding more "veil" relationships takes away from the creativity of how Avery, Emma, and Tracy had the veil work for them. In Expectations, I wasn't a fan of how Avery's MIL was absorbed into the legend of the veil mostly offscreen.

I don't know. I liked the movie ok, but I don't think I'll rewatch. I respect wanting to cash in on the success of the first trilogy...they were some of Hallmark's best ever, but these last two don't really seem like a progression to me. Tracy is my favorite and I find her and Nick's story to be sweet, realistic (even as a fantasy romance) and just an overall better story. I don't know, something about it seems more grounded. Fingers crossed I don't hate that one.

I do think Autumn and Paolo have wonderful chemistry, and I wish they had more scenes in each other's presence in the movie.

Why was this sequel trilogy made? They should have just left the first trilogy be it!! Like the first film in this trilogy, this film is a huge let down!! Moving back to Italy because his dad could not run the family business anymore! They could not do what many family owned businesses do and hire someone? Then the spider becomes a part of the storyline with her freaking out to go into her office!!

You knew from her reaction in the early stages of the film that show would not take the chair position at that school! Her reaction was very evident! Then you have a side story of her assistant and her husbands assistant falling in love with the veil present!! That throws the entire plot line of the veil out! The plot line is, the one who possesses the veil will find true love, not the one and the same exhibit space will find true love!! These are just ruining a decent trilogy that came out in 2022!!

Favorite scene with

Emma Di Stefano (Autumn Reeser) - Quitting and Hilariously Realizing that she had been Set-Up to Quit. Emma Di Stefano and Autumn Reeser Rock!!!

Tracy Serchio (Alison Sweeney) - A Surprise Visit to Emma with Avery and talking about Paolo and Italy. Tracy Serchio and Alison Sweeney Rock!!!

Avery Hastings (Lacey Chabert) - A Surprise Visit to Emma with Tracy and talking about Paolo and Italy. Avery Hastings and Lacey Chabert Rock!!!

BTW #1, I Loved, Loved, Loved this Movie! BTW #2, I'm So Glad that Avery No Longer Craves Pineapple Pizza. Yuck!!!

Set in Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York.