After months of wedding rumors, Joy-Anna Duggar tied the knot with Austin Forsyth earlier this spring in the couple’s native Arkansas.
Despite false reports of a fall wedding (on Joy’s birthday), the Duggars sent out invites to relatives and friends like any family would.
Invitations that (obviously) include the date:
Why is this invite – sent to The Hollywood Gossip exclusively from a source lucky enough to receive one – significant, you ask?
In many ways, really most ways, it’s not at all.
We can see the Facebook comments now:
“Ooh, A wedding invitation was sent out that included the date and the names of the duo getting hitched. What a BOMBSHELL exclusive, THG!”
We concede the point. It is worth noting, however, that this was sent to hundreds of people, each of whom honored a request on the back:
Do not post this on social media.
If you watch Counting On online, you saw Joy-Anna and Austin’s road to the altar culminate in the season premiere early last month.
That’s barely two weeks after this wedding.
Which means the Duggars either kept TLC in the dark, or the network is equally good at keeping secrets, and either way … it’s impressive.
Up until the night Joy-Anna Duggar and Austin Forsyth married (and Joseph and Kendra Caldwell got engaged), we were in the dark.
So was the rest of the celebrity gossip world.
There were the aforementioned reports, complete with a fake registry, suggesting that the two would tie the knot later this year.
A week before the wedding took pace, an erroneous report indicated that Joy would become Mrs. Forsyth the previous Friday night.
Some critics, including our source (who wishes to remain anonymous), say this is just a classic example of deceit by Jim Bob Duggar.
We’re not sure we would go that far.
To be sure, Jim Bob knows that the courtships, weddings and pregnancies of his adult daughters are keeping his reality TV empire afloat.
(We won’t bother to point out the irony of a show about a deeply patriarchal family being rescued by a generation of young women.)
To be sure, JBD will shamelessly attempt to choreograph the release of details (most notably photos and videos) from such milestones.
Still, he’s hardly the first person to use public interest in his family to get paid … nor would he want to sabotage his daughter’s wedding.
If you were to give him the benefit of the doubt:
Do you really expect him to spread the word publicly, not only impeding efforts to control media coverage but inviting unwanted attention?
Controversial as they are, the Duggar family could easily become targets of unwanted paparazzi, even protesters or deranged fans.
Not exactly a dream come true for Joy, is it?
Some Jim Bob detractors believe he is motivated by riches, fame and public perception more than the religious views he vocally espouses.
That very well may be the case.
Many of his actions through the years would support that argument … we’re just not sure guarding Joy-Anna’s wedding date qualifies.
At the end of the day, we’re just surprised he was able to guard it so successfully, all while mailing invites out like any father of the bride.
Perhaps his biggest asset is Northwest Arkansas.
Living there, so far from New York or L.A., even such a famously huge family and community can remain relatively tight-knit and private.
(At least until 6-7 weeks go by and some lucky invitee finds theirs and tips us off after the fact … and for that, we thank them.)
Can you believe, though, that in the digital age, and given their popularity and the tabloid scrutiny surrounding them, that his plan worked?
Love him or loathe him, what a big win for JBD.
Maybe keeping all the kids off of Instagram and other social media platforms until they get engaged is even more diabolical than we thought …
