Counting On fans were both surprised and thrilled for Jana Duggar when she said "I do" to Stephen Wissmann on August 15. The TLC star never formally announced she was courting before the nuptials. But now, Jana has shared behind-the-scenes videos of their relationship — including trying on gowns and saying yes to her wedding dress.
Before saying "I do," the eldest daughter of Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar remained single well beyond what is considered average for their fundamentalist Christian family. Jana watched many of her younger siblings walk down the aisle and start families of their own while she kept living with her parents. At 34, however, she married 31-year-old Stephen. Her wedding dress was simply stunning.
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Jana shared a video of herself picking out her wedding dress on her YouTube channel.
On September 7, Jana published a new YouTube video titled "Venue and Wedding Dress Shopping!" The soon-to-be bride's sisters Jessa and Joy-Anna and her sister-in-law Abbie accompanied her. (Jessa's youngest son, George, came along, too.)
In the video, the women started by touring the wedding venue Jana selected for her nuptials. They decided to pop into a bridal shop to look at gowns afterward.
The bride-to-be had an idea of what she wanted for her dress.
“I do have a Pinterest photo of a wedding gown that I absolutely love, but I’m trying not to be set on a particular style,” Jana said toward the beginning of the segment at the bridal shop. “I’ve heard from a few other people that they were kinda surprised by the dress they ended up loving the most in the end, so I’m trying to keep my options open and just planning to try on a couple styles.”
Abbie picked out Jana's gown.
Jana's sisters and sister-in-law helped her pull dresses from the rack to try on. It was Abbie, however, who made the winning selection.
"Abbie pulled this one off the rack that looked almost exactly like the one in my Pinterest photo," Jana said in the video. "So I'm super excited to try this one on."
When Jana walked out of the fitting room while wearing the gown, Joy-Anna's reaction said it all. "Oh my word, Jana! Are you kidding me?" the younger Duggar sibling declared.
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Ultimately, Jana decided to alter the sleeves slightly.
When all said and done, Jana showed off six wedding looks in the video. She said "Yes" to the dress (look number two) Abbie selected for her but altered the sleeves to match it more closely made the gown she saw on Pinterest.
"I cannot believe I found my dress so much faster than I expected. It seemed almost kinda too easy, I feel like," Jana said of her wedding dress shopping experience. "But I'm so happy to have this big item checked off my to-do list."
Fans in the comments shared their reactions to Jana's gorgeous dress.
One fan wrote, "Honestly, this was the classiest of all the girls(not to be negative because all girls had beautiful weddings and style), but this was just amazing. That dress was so age appropriate and stunning. She deserved her dream wedding."
Another person pointed out, "I love the fact that her twin's brother wife picked the dress out. It seems like they have the twin bond."
"The way just Jana knew exactly the kind of dress that she wanted and when she tried it on it looked PERFECT," someone else commented. "The other dresses were beautiful, too but this one looks like the perfect match for her. She knew what she wanted, that is for sure! Congrats, Jana."
