On TLC’s Counting On Monday night, Jinger Duggar’s wedding day finally arrived, but did everything go off without a hitch down in Arkansas?
You don’t typically think of them as a bickering bunch, but there was plenty of Duggar family drama as the big day drew closer for JinJer.
If you watch Counting On online regularly, you know that the buildup to Jinger’s wedding has been … well, almost interminable by now.
Some might even say anticlimactic or boring, considering that we know they’re married and have seen a deluge of photos and stories.
Anyway, on Counting On Season 2 Episode 19, the big day finally arrived and we got our TLC-produced behind-the-scenes look at last.
In a two-hour (!) special, Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo diligently marched toward the altar, with Duggar fans along for every step of the journey.
We saw Jinger’s wedding dress, which she deemed “just right.”
We saw her sisters in their (floor-length) bridesmaid dresses.
We saw Jessa break down over Jinger’s move to Texas.
It was an emotional period for the family. Said Jessa:
“You and I have been super close ever since you were born. I was probably not the best influence on you when we were really young.”
“Even though you’re younger than me,” she told her little sibling, “I’ve always thought of you as one of my greatest role models.”
Jinger then broke down in tears herself.
“Give us a couple months, and then come visit us,” Jinger told her, before everyone gathered for the rehearsal – and unexpected drama.
Fortunately, the issues surrounding the flowers turned out to be moot, as they looked beautiful, and it was all about the couple anyway.
Or Jessa. It was also all about Jessa.
Jessa said in her speech that night:
“I don’t think we fully calculated all the ramifications of how it was going to play out that you were going take her 12 hours away from us.”
“I think it’s starting to sink in more and more how much we’re going to miss Jinger when she moves away,” added the mother of two.
Fortunately, she ended it on a high note with this: “We love you both, and we’re really excited for what God has in your future.”
As for Jinger Duggar breaking courtship rules, we may never know how that went down, but she and Jeremy did break from one tradition:
They saw each other pre-wedding.
Why? Jeremy said they prayed and did devotions together each day, so they did so here, before heading off to the church and separating.
As the wedding drew near, her father Jim Bob got especially emotional, crying before it was time to walk his daughter down the aisle.
When they did, beaming groom Jeremy began to cry.
“I’m was just overwhelmed with joy,” he said.
“I have never seen something so beautiful.”
The couple struggled to light their unity candle, but had no trouble enjoying their first kiss or telling each other “I love you” 476 times.
It was one very long and passionate kiss BTW.
“It was incredible,” Jeremy said of that moment.
“The first kiss was out of this world,” Jinger said.
“It was as if her and I were in the room alone,” Jeremy added, while her little sister Joy-Anna noted that it was very much “on point.”
Indeed it was. Very much so.
Several dozen more kisses followed, making us wonder how long it’ll take before we see Jinger Duggar pregnant with her first child.
A few months tops.