Thursday, December 14, 2017

3 Weddings in 1 Weekend

Last week, we shared photos from the Bontrager/Bowers double wedding that the Duggars attended on Friday, September 1st. After a busy day of festivities, the Bontragers woke up the next morning and did it all over again!

This time, the groom was Mitchell Bontrager, the second oldest of Marlin and Rebecca Bontrager's ten children. He married Bryn Leppert. Scroll down for pictures, some of which include the Duggars.

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar at Bontrager wedding

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar at Bontrager wedding

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar at Bontrager wedding

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar at Bontrager wedding

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar at Bontrager wedding
 The Bontrager family

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar at Bontrager wedding
 The three couples

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar at Bontrager wedding

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar at Bontrager wedding
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar congratulate the bride and groom


Photos are courtesy of the Bontrager family/Sarah Smith Studios

The ceremony is available for viewing on YouTube, and more photos can be found on the Bontragers' website.

36 comments:

  1. Nathan!Bates! second picture! (:

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    1. Congratulations who got married

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    2. Are you sure it's Nathan?

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    3. Yes, It's Nathan. He is sitting next to a young lady who is holding a baby. But the baby may not be hers. Plus, Nathan is sitting in the section reserved for the family. John David is there also and they not sitting together.

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  2. Congrations to Bryn & Mitchell on your wedding. Hope I get to see It on YouTube. Love the photo of Mr & Mrs D talking to the bride & Groom saying congrations. Wow the church is so big looks so beautiful. Have the best years of marriage ahead of you guys.

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  3. Sp, who was the third couple???

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  4. WHo was the woman being escorted down the isle dressed in dark gray? It looked as though she wore something on her head. Is she Amish? I saw other females with something on their head; definitely not Catholic; but what religion???

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    1. The white head cap looked Amish to me and the black head coverings are probably a Mennonite sect or maybe even an Amish group.

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    2. Actually they are conservative Mennonite. Depending upon the church some wear kapp coverings and some wear hanging veils. I wear hanging veils and often get mistaken for Amish or nun.

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    3. I would guess this wedding involves Mennonites. We have a Mennonite Community close to where I live. There are more several levels of involvement as far as rules and dress in the Mennonite community. Many wear prayer caps; some don't. The Amish are stricter in rules and dress. Bontrager is a common name in both the Amish and Mennonite societies.

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    4. Amish usually refuse to be photographed. May be Mennonite whom are more progressive than old Amish. I can't say for sure this is the case though.

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    5. 3:03 I get mistaken for Amish too which is funny because I have never seen an African-American Amish person. There some in Conservative Mennonite churches though.

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    6. i was brought up catholic & we used to have to wear a head covering to church. they were called chapel caps or chapel veils, which were longer. why they were called chapel caps i'll never know because they were really only a lace circle, like a doily and the veils were lace as well. at the time, you never went to mass without your head covered, and if you forgot your cap/veil, women would put a tissue (like a kleenex) on their heads! (had to do it myself several times) the head covering was only for mass/church though and then one day, !poof!, no one covered their heads anymore.
      thank you everyone for sharing the amish & mennonite practices. i find it interesting learning about different religions and their similarities

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    7. And thank you for sharing about what it was like growing up Catholic, 2:23. Interesting!

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  5. What a lovely wedding and family!!! Thanks for sharing the photos.

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  6. I think the Bontragers need their own blog or maybe even their own show.

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    1. They write on their own blog and have a separate blog for their music tours.

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    2. Having a large family is not in itself interesting or a good indicator of if they "need their own blog or... show."

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    3. I was being a bit sarcastic saying the Bontragers need their own blog. I don't want to offend Ellie because she does such a great job, but I read this blog for Duggar news not Bontrager news. Just seeing the Duggars in the picture was a stretch.

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  7. what is the whole point of everyone getting married in one whole weekend? why not have a nice wedding for just your close family members? close family members to not equal 1000 people? just hope they did not have cake and ice cream like the duggars did.

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    1. I don't understand your comment "nice" wedding? It looked very nice to me. My family on my mother's side is almost 100 people (just aunts and uncles & cousins & their kids) so if someone also marries into a big family and wants to invite even a few friends, then 250-300 people is average. So 1000 people is understandable to me. Plus, what a great idea to just ask people to travel once for a fun big weekend rather than travel for three different occasions.

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    2. 6:22Most of guests come from a conservative background and they are not concerned about the food being served. They are more concerned about the couple.

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    3. I agree that if a lot of people are coming from out of town that it would be very considerate to have the weddings all in one weekend. Traveling can get expensive!

      It looks like all of the weddings were beautiful!!!

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    4. @3:18 It could be surmised that you think that non-Conservatives only attend weddings because of the food. This is far from the truth. I have never been to a wedding where the guests actually cared about the food.

      Receptions, with meals, are held because the couple and the parents care about the guests and want to thank them for supporting the couple. It is all about the celebration. It is considered rude not to supply a meal, especially for out-of-town quests. In some weddings, because of the cost, local and not close friends and family may be invited only to the desert table.

      Although gifts are never expected or demanded, the rule of thumb is the gift should be at least equal in value to the cost for that guest's reception meal, to help offset the cost of the reception. Gift registry should reflect that. Having only crackers and cheese and ice cream floats would translate to at most a $25 gift for a very large family.

      There is a difference between friends and acquaintances, between close family and relatives. Most probably most of the guests of these mega weddings are acquaintances and relatives.

      However, if this is norm in their community, I see no reason to criticize as long as every participating in the wedding are happy with it.

      It is not my culture's norm for weddings. Our weddings tend to be intimate and focused on the couple and the two immediate families. Only close friends, who are currently in the couple's lives and family members are invited. I prefer our weddings.

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    5. That "rule of thumb" about giving a gift equal to your meal cost becomes less true the further away you get from New York/New Jersey. I always thought it was a crazy idea anyway. If you have to "offset" a guest's meal cost by counting on an expensive gift or a big check in return, you shouldn't be throwing that lavish of a reception in the first place. But the idea snowballed, and in some places around NY/NJ, it persists.

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  8. Mean comment! Bet you have tons of friends. What does it matter to you how they do things, it has no effect on your life. Try change lenses, maybe it will help as how you see others.

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    1. I don't understand the need to criticize someone for doing a wedding differently than one would do it themselves. Just because one doesn't understand why others do things certain ways doesn't mean the others are wrong. Live and let live.

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  9. Mennonite and Amish type head coverings defy what the Duggar family believe about a woman's hair. the Duggars grow it out and flaunt it; the longer the better for all to see. Hair IS quite sensual, so I don't understand their modest view there. The other groups COVER IT for those reasons and it's supposed to be only for their husbands' pleasure to see. So, who's pleasing God more...? The head coverers or the hair flaunters? See how it's all so strange?

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    1. Actually, both interpretations of hair (coverings and long hair) come from the same Bible passage, I Corinthians 11, which talks about the woman covering her head (which the Mennonites and Amish do with a head covering) and about how if a woman has long hair, it's a glory to her as her covering (which the Duggars do).

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    2. @6:19 I really don't mean any disrespect but your is inaccurate. Most pastors do not believe women don't need to cover. Women who dont cover are NOT flaunting their hair. Comments like yours make it sound like women like myself who cover our head appear" holier than thou" Also Mennonite and Amish women are not the only ones who cover.

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    3. I get your point, 6:19. Long hair kept covered or wound up in a bun is more modest than the Duggars' "look at all my hair" style.

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  10. I think all of us who love God, acknowledge Christ as our Savior, love one another, and strive to do God's will are pleasing God, whether we wear a hat or no hat; whether we have long hair, short hair, or are bald. God looks on the INSIDE - in our hearts not on our heads!!!

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    1. Derick needs to remember that God is looking on the inside of his heart.

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  11. I wonder what types of wedding gifts are customary in this social circle. The reason I ask is because if I went to as many weddings as they do and spent what I usually do on each gift, I would go broke in a hurry.

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    1. I was thinking the same thing! Not to mention the number of baby gifts!

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