Heavy
Just one week after starring in the movie “Wedding Season” on Hallmark Channel, actress Stephanie Bennett starred in her very own wedding on June 10, 2023. Bennett and fellow Hallmark actor Sebastian Gacki were actually married privately in April 2022, but longed to have a full wedding experience with their family and friends.
In fact, the couple “did things a little backwards,” Bennett admitted in a December Instagram post, when Gacki — who was technically already her husband — surprised her by proposing with a diamond ring, another tradition they had bypassed before tying the knot.
The Canadian couple got to work planning their big wedding day and exchanged vows again over the weekend, throwing a big reception in Vancouver, British Columbia. Here’s what you need to know:
Stephanie Bennett Got Decorating Tips for Her Wedding From Hallmark Set Designers
On April 19, in honor of their first anniversary, Bennett shared an Instagram photo of her and Gacki’s original 2022 wedding, revealing that it was such a laid-back event that she “went to the dentist in the morning and got married in the afternoon.” Gacki, who goes by the stage name Sebastian Stewart in some film projects, also shared a photo from the couple’s original wedding day, held on a deck overlooking a harbor, and wrote, “Forever.”
While her first wedding was very understated and quiet, Bennett immersed herself in planning and celebrating their June 10 nuptials, from enjoying a bachelorette party with a dozen girlfriends to having a rehearsal dinner with their wedding party.
As she filmed “Wedding Season” in April, Bennett said juggling all the details of her own wedding helped her relate to the character she was playing — a bridesmaid asked to be in three friends’ back-to-back weddings.
“I’m getting married in a few weeks, so I understand how chaotic it can be,” Bennett told TV Fanatic before the movie premiere. “It was also a lot of fun, wedding planning and trying to find those little fun moments in the chaos. I can relate to how crazy it can get.”
In early June, Bennett told the Hallmark Happenings podcast, “The timing couldn’t be more, you know, serendipitous, I guess you could say, because I am literally dealing with ‘Wedding Season’ and planning my wedding and all of this at the same time. It actually kind of made it more fun and enjoyable. During the movie, it all just felt like, you know, this is all happening at the same time and it was meant to work out this way.”
Bennett said on the podcast they were “definitely DIYing our wedding” and got great ideas from Hallmark’s set designers, who had to create scenes for three separate weddings in the movie.
She recalled, “I would walk onto set every morning and just be like ‘Wow, this is beautiful!’ So I definitely took some tips in terms of decor.”
Bennett, Gacki and their attendees shared lots of photos in their Instagram Stories from the wedding, held at The Wallace, a waterfront wedding venue in north Vancouver. The bride wore a sleeveless gown with long, lace gloves while Gacki wore a navy suit.
On the morning of June 11, Bennett shared a photo in her Stories of her and her husband sitting outside in casual clothes and wrote, “The morning after the best day of our lives.”
Late that night, Gacki — who goes by the last name Stewart on Instagram — uploaded their first wedding photos and wrote, “I married my best friend.” Bennett uploaded the same photos and wrote, “I love you I love you I love you ❤️”
Where to Find the Happy Couple on Hallmark
Though Bennett and Gacki may not be among the most well-known actors on Hallmark, both have been working for the network for years. “Wedding Season,” however, marked Bennett’s first leading role in a Hallmark film.
“I’ve been in the industry acting for 14 years and I’ve been lucky enough to work on a lot of Hallmark projects,” Bennett told the Hallmark Happenings podcast. “Here in Vancouver, we have a lot (of them) filming, so it’s a great opportunity for actors. But getting my first lead, especially in a wedding movie, it just feels really special.”
In late May, she also told the Hallmarkies Podcast, “This was a big deal for me and I’m very excited to hopefully keep doing more. I mean, I love it. I love working for Hallmark … You can’t watch a Hallmark movie and not feel good after it.”
Other Hallmark movies Bennett has appeared in include 2022’s “Christmas Class Reunion,” 2021’s “The Nine Kittens of Christmas,” and 2019’s “The Last Bridesmaid,” as well as episodes of “The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries” and “Signed, Sealed and Delivered.”
Meanwhile, Gacki’s had supporting roles in multiple Hallmark movies including 2022’s #Xmas, 2020’s “Cross Country Christmas” and “Wedding Every Weekend,” and 2019’s “Time For You to Come Home For Christmas.”
In addition to their Hallmark projects, both actors frequently star in rom-coms that air solely on Canadian TV networks.
Bennett told Hallmark Happenings, “I’ve been very, very fortunate to work on some incredible projects with some incredible people, and mostly in Canada, which I’m very proud to talk about because this is a great country and there’s a lot of opportunity here. So I am very proud to have worked here a lot.”
