Hallmark Actress Goes Viral With Touching Tribute at Best Friend’s Wedding

Heavy Couple dances at their wedding

When Hallmark newcomer and “American Idol” alum Grace Leer wrote a song for her best friend’s wedding, she had no idea it would help propel her to a new level of fame. The singer-songwriter has been blown away by the attention a TikTok video of her maid-of-honor performance, with 5.2 million views and counting.

Leer, an up-and-coming country artist recently appeared in her first Hallmark movie alongside Chris Carmack and Shenae Grimes-Beach in 2023’s “Time for Her to Come Home for Christmas.”

On January 14, 2024, Leer expressed disbelief in multiple Instagram Stories about the attention the video has received — including becoming the focus of a news story on Los Angeles TV station KCAL.

Here’s what you need to know:

How Grace Leer’s Viral Wedding Song Came to Be

In September, Leer served as maid-of-honor at the Denver wedding of her best friend, Stephanie Horner. On January 3, videographer Juan Sipion of Ollantay Films edited together and uploaded footage of the performance at their reception, featuring the first few sentences of the tune.

“A lot of you may know I sing and I write songs sometimes in Nashville,” Leer could be seen telling the attendees during her maid-of-honor speech. “Steph, being the very caring and selfless friend that she is said that she didn’t want me to sing on her wedding day because she wanted me to enjoy the day. Classic Steph being so selfless.”

“But Steph, since we were six years old, has also called herself my number one fan,” Leer continued. “And I would do anything for my number one fan, maybe even write her and her husband a song.”

Clearly thrilled, Horner could be seen saying, “Shut up! Shut up!” as Leer began to sing about them being kids, imagining their wedding days. After fans inundated Leer with requests to hear more of the song, Sipion posted another video of her singing the chorus, which has since gone viral.

In her Instagram Stories on January 13, Leer replied to a fan who asked how long it took to craft the touching tribute to her friend. She wrote that she teamed up with fellow songwriters Robyn Collins and Zarni Devette on the tune.

“It was really just girl talk about how amazing it is when your best friend finds their person,” Leer continued. “I told stories about Steph when we were kids, the day I met Gus and just the amazing relationship they have. In the end we found ourselves saying ‘My best friend found a best friend for life’ … it was such a special day.”

2023 Also Marked Grace Leer’s First Experience Filming a Movie

HallmarkGrace Leer in Hallmark’s “It’s Time For Her to Come Home For Christmas”

Fans are now hoping Leer will release the surprise hit as an official single as well as star in another Hallmark movie. Both are to-be-determined, she said in her Instagram Stories in recent days, mentioning that she’d love to release the song and is hoping for another Christmas movie in 2024.

Leer made it to the Top 10 on “American Idol” in 2020, when the show had to pivot during the COVID-19 lockdowns and have contestants compete virtually from their homes. Since then, she’s been busy songwriting, recording and touring.

That is, until the Hallmark offer came in, which required her to spend three weeks in Vancouver, British Columbia, filming her first-ever movie. She also wrote and performed a Christmas song for the movie, “Star on Top of the Tree.”

On November 13, Leer shared a clip from the film, which was executive produced by country superstar Blake Shelton, and said that being part of it was “such a dream.” Three days before, she also shared a montage of videos she made while she was packing and preparing for the adventure.

Playing the part of Riley Wheeler and filming with Hallmark, she said, was “one of the most exciting things I got to do this year.” On December 4, Leer shared a video of her watching the movie premiere with a group of friends who danced along to her song and cheered when she came on the screen.