Are Hallmark Channel movies cheesy? Absolutely. Are they an accurate reflection of real life? Absolutely not. Do we plan on spending all of December watching Hallmark's Christmas movies [1] and falling in love with their small-town charm, good-natured characters, and never-failing happily ever afters? You bet we are. If you can't get enough of rom-coms [2], then Hallmark is the place to go for the sappiest, sweetest Christmastime flicks [3] out there (and the best potential for drinking games [4]). With adorable Hallmark all-stars Candace Cameron Bure and Lacey Chabert and all of their hunky love interests, there's no shortage of eye candy and swoon-worthy storylines. Here are the 10 best Hallmark Christmas flicks of all time — be sure to keep your tissues handy.
Christmas Under Wraps
Starring Candace Cameron Bure — also known as Full House and Fuller House's D.J. Tanner — and the handsome David O'Donnell, this movie follows an ambitious doctor who reluctantly accepts a residency in Alaska after losing her dream job and her boyfriend on the same day. However, just as she begins to embrace the simpler life in Alaska, the job she originally vied for becomes available, forcing her to choose between small town life (and the town's cute handyman) and the life she always wanted back in Boston. Sure, it's a little heavy-handed (O'Donnell's character is named Andy Holliday, after all), but it's too sweet not to love.
The Mistletoe Promise
Based on the bestselling book by Richard Paul Evans, this movie stars Hart of Dixie's Jaime King and Brothers & Sister's Luke Macfarlane as two Grinches who make a pact to pretend to be a couple over the holidays to avoid annoying questions from their colleagues and families. However, as the two spend increasingly more time together, they discover that there may actually be a real spark between them. Think To All the Boys I've Loved Before [6], but the version where you avoid your relatives asking you why you're still single.
My Christmas Love
In this movie, soap star Meredith Hagner plays a single lady and hopeless romantic who begins receiving anonymous gifts during the holiday season, each gift inspired by the "12 Days of Christmas." As she attempts to figure out who the mysterious gift giver could be, she realised that her unrealistic expectations about her true love might actually be met. Be warned that this film might end up giving you some unrealistic expectations about Christmas romance yourself.
A Royal Christmas
Fans of A Christmas Prince, this one's for you. Lacey Chabert — i.e., Mean Girl's Gretchen Wieners — stars in this movie as a seamstress working for her family's modest business in Philadelphia whose European boyfriend unexpectedly reveals himself to be heir to the throne of a small sovereign country called Cordinia. In a classic rags-to-riches tale, seamstress Emily must decide whether she's ready for royalty or if she's better suited for her quiet life back home.
A Very Merry Mix-Up
In this movie, Hallmark movie regular Alicia Witt plays an antique store owner who plans on spending the holidays with her fiancé's family for the first time, but when she accidentally ends up at the wrong house, she ends up bonding with the older couple who live there — and developing a major crush on the couple's son, Matt. By the time she learns that Matt is not, in fact, her fiancé's brother and that she's been at the wrong house all along, she's so smitten that she wonders whether her mistake was actually agreeing to marry her fiancé. If you're dreading spending the holidays with your in-laws, this movie won't help, but it's still adorable.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered For Christmas
Ever wonder what happens to all of those letters written to Santa each year? This flick is centreed around four postal sleuths who run a dead letter office, attempting to redirect lost letters to their proper recipients (and fielding thousands of letters to ol' Saint Nicholas). When the Postables discover an urgent letter written by a little girl asking God to help her mother, they ditch their own holiday plans to help the girl, whose mother's life hangs in the balance on Christmas Eve. Cheesy, yes. Heartwarming, definitely.
The Christmas Secret
Starring One Tree Hill's Bethany Joy Lenz and Canadian cutie John Reardon, this movie revolves around Christine, a struggling single mother who attempts to find a lost family heirloom — a star-shaped locket handed down from her father — believing that it may give her good luck (and perhaps even true love) in time for the holidays. However, when Christine lands a new job at a bakery and a new romance with the grandson of local shop owners, she realises her luck might just be turning around all on its own. If you're looking for a little Christmas magic, then this one's definitely for you.
A Bramble House Christmas
Starring Autumn Reeser — better known as The O.C.'s peppy Taylor Townsend — and Supernatural's David Haydn-Jones, this movie follows a man named Finn who tries to uncover the truth as to why his father left his nurse of two months, Willa, a large sum in his will before he died. When Finn going undercover to investigate the bed and breakfast the nurse has recently taken over, he discovers that Willa is not a scheming gold digger, but rather someone who put the money to good use. Taylor Townsend may not have been a good match for Ryan Atwood, but you'll definitely be feeling the chemistry between Finn and Willa.
A Wish For Christmas
In another Lacey Chabert film, she plays a timid employee named Sara who, when her great idea for a Christmas initiative is stolen, makes a wish to Santa to gain the courage to speak her mind. Thanks to the magic of the holidays, Sara is granted 48 hours to act as bold as she'd like — and maybe even woo her hot boss Peter (played by fellow Hallmark movie regular Paul Greene). This movie is refreshing in the sense that, rather than wishing for love, Sara wishes for the confidence to succeed instead, which is way more practical in the long run.
Christmas at Cartwright's
Alicia Witt makes our list again in this film, where she plays Nicky, an unemployed single mother desperate to give her 8-year-old daughter the Christmas she deserves, even though she's strapped for cash. With a little help from a guardian angel (played by the iconic Wallace Shawn), Nicky lands a job as a department store Santa, where she also finds herself falling for the department store's sexy store manager (played by Heartland's Gabriel Hogan). Who ever thought that dressing up as Santa could get you the guy?