Counting On "Jinger's Wedding"
- The night before the wedding, Jinger sleeps at Jill and Derick's house (the Duggar "guesthouse," located next door). The next morning, Jeremy comes over to read the Bible and pray with Jinger.
- "It seems very surreal that we're at this moment in time when Jinger is going to get married and we're giving our daughter away," says Michelle. "And I just want today to be a time of joyfulness and happiness, and yes there's going to be some stressful, crazy moments to try to pull all this together, but at the end of the day, I want it to be about relationships and making sweet memories."
- Michelle's childhood friend Cindy is one of the wedding planners. "She's so dear, and her mom is so dear," says Cindy. "It's just a special day." Jer, Jed, and Jason help her wrap boutonnieres.
- All the girls head to the church to do their hair and makeup. Meanwhile, the guys meet in a different room to make final wardrobe preparations.
- Josie is the flower girl. Before the wedding, she receives a visit from Amy, the nurse who cared for her in the NICU.
- Jeremy says that having his dad officiate his wedding has been a dream of his since childhood. "It's just a great joy, one of the greatest joys that my wife and I have experienced," says Pastor Chuck Vuolo. "It's been a joy to see [his] friends come together to support him."
- After Michelle and the sisters help Jinger into her stunning wedding dress with a 13-foot train, Jim Bob arrives to give his daughter a hug. "Jinger!" exclaims the father of 19. "You're so beautiful. You've got to be one of the most beautiful brides ever. Wow. You're breathtaking."
- Jinger presents her father with a handkerchief with a sentimental message printed on it: "To my dad: You are the first man I ever loved. When you give me away today, know that I will always be your little girl. Your loving daughter, Jinger."
- Jim Bob tears up. "This is something we have prayed about your whole life, and today God has answered our prayer," he says, all choked up. He and Michelle take a few moments to pray with Jinger.
- Jim Bob says he expected weddings to get easier but that they are in fact becoming more difficult.
- The next item on the agenda is bridal party pictures (separately so the bride and groom don't see each other until Jinger walks down the aisle). Jinger and Jeremy each have 10 friends/siblings standing up with them.
- The guests arrive and are seated in the sanctuary, and the ceremony beings. Jinger's "middle" brothers usher family members down the aisle, and then Michelle and Diana (Jeremy's mom) light the candles.
- The guys walk out onto the stage, and each groomsman meets the bridesmaid he is paired up with as she arrives at the front of the church. Michael Duggar the ring bearer throws paper soccer balls, while Josie the flower girl throws flower petals.
- Jinger takes her father's arm, and the two walk down the aisle to meet Jeremy, whose eyes water the minute he sees his bride. Once Jim Bob sits down, the congregation joins in singing "How Deep the Father's Love For Us."
- Pastor Chuck Vuolo begins the sermon. He instructs Jeremy to love Jinger all the days of her life, even when she seems unlovable. And he encourages Jinger to give her husband wise counsel, saying that if he had a dollar for every wise word his wife has given him, he would be a wealthy man. Pastor Vuolo says that he knows Jinger will be a godly wife because of the example she has had in her own mother.
- The couple recites their vows, repeating after Jeremy's father:
- "I Jeremy take you Jinger to be my wife. I promise to be faithful, in suffering and in joy, in poverty and in wealth, in sickness and in health. I promise to love you and cherish you till death brings our separation."
- "I Jinger take you Jeremy, to be my husband. I promise to be faithful, in suffering and in joy, in poverty and in wealth, in sickness and in health, till death brings our separation."
- Jinger and Jeremy exchange rings and recite the following: "I give you this ring, as a perpetual reminder of my faithfulness."
- A beautiful version of "Come Thou Fount" is played as the couple lights the unity candle. The two smaller candles are stuck to the display, so they just grab a lighter.
- Everyone cheers as Jinger and Jeremy share their first kiss. "The first kiss was amazing, right on!" says Jinger.
- The couple spends a few minutes alone before returning to the sanctuary to take family pictures.
