Recap: 'The Jinger Gown'

Counting On "The Jinger Gown"

• Jinger is taking her mom, her four oldest sisters, Ben, Derick, Spurgeon, and Israel on a three-day trip to Fredericksburg, Virginia, so she can choose her wedding dress. Jeremy’s parents, Chuck and Diana, live on the East Coast and will meet them there to join in the festivities.
• “As far as looking forward to the wedding, I don’t think I could be more excited,” says Jeremy.
• Jana, Jill, Jessa, Jinger, and Joy are in the girls’ room preparing for the trip and talking about what Jinger wants in a dress. Jinger also tells her sisters who she has chosen to stand up with her in the wedding. “I don’t think she really even asked us,” says Joy, laughing. “She kind of told us.”
• Jinger’s family refers to her style as “the Jinger style.” They say she is classy and trendy.
• Everyone arrives in Virginia. Chuck Vuolo, Derick, Ben, Israel, and Spurgeon hang out together while the gals go wedding dress shopping. "I'm excited that Jinger has chosen to include my mother and father," says Jeremy, who is back in Laredo, where he pastors a small church.  
• "Any opportunity to visit with Jinger is a joy...and we were looking forward to meeting the family," says Chuck.
• The girls arrive at Ava Laurenne Bride, where Jill bought her dress, and reunite with co-owner Wendy. They also meet Renee Miller, the dress designer from Pensacola, Florida, to whom Wendy introduced Jinger. 
• "I cannot believe that Jinger is going to be getting married!" says Michelle. "Getting to spend this time with Jinger and the sisters is such a precious thing."
• Everyone is stunned when Jinger walks out in the first of three dresses designed by Renee. "It was just amazing being in a wedding dress," says Jinger. Jinger likes the first gown, but it is very basic, and she is wanting more details.
• The second dress is very lacy, and Jinger loves it. The other women also agree it's more "Jinger" than the first one. "I think all my sisters have an opinion...and so I really appreciate their advice because I've never done this before," says Jinger.  
• Jinger falls in love with the third dress the minute she looks at herself in the mirror. "This is like everything and more," says Jinger. "I love everything about this dress."
• "I just overwhelmingly thought that this was her," says Renee Miller. "I just knew that dress #3 would be the dress that we would be able to name The Jinger."
• "There's a lot of dress in this beautiful train, but it doesn't overpower her at all," says Diana Vuolo. "She just radiates, and I think she is going to bring my son to tears." 
• While the girls shop, the guys go out for ice cream. Derick and Ben ask Chuck Vuolo for advice on transitioning from one child to two.
• The Seewalds, Duggars, and Dillards say Spurgeon is laid back, happy, and interactive, while Israel is strong-willed but a sweetheart. 
• After dress shopping, everyone heads to a local art shop to create canvas paintings for Jinger and Jeremy's home. Jill and Derick paint a faceless picture of Jinger and Jeremy; Ben (while Jessa takes care of the kids) paints an artistic coffee cup; Jana and Joy paint a girl holding an umbrella; Michelle and Jinger paint a city skyline; and the Vuolos paint a picture of a jewel that says "she is far more precious than jewels," signed Mom and Dad.
• Jill and Derick have been home from Central America for a few weeks and are glad to be with family.

Designing Jinger Duggar's Wedding Dress

I (Ellie) had the pleasure of chatting with Renee Miller, owner of Renee's Bridal and Special Occasions and designer of Jinger Duggar Vuolo's wedding gown.

We had a lovely conversation, and she told me all about her experience creating Jinger's dress. She also answered the questions that you submitted to our blog a couple weeks ago. Here are the first three Q&As. More great content and pictures coming soon.


Ellie: How did the Duggars find out about your bridal shop? 
Renee: I have watched the Duggars on TV with great admiration and respect for years. When Jill and Jessa got engaged and married, I started thinking how wonderful it would be if I could design a wedding dress for one of the Duggar women.

I have served clients with similar modesty standards, and I believe that every bride should have a gown that makes her feel beautiful. Modesty doesn’t have to look tacky. Just because you have certain standards doesn’t mean you should have to take a dress that you don’t feel comfortable in and haphazardly add pieces. My heart’s desire is for all brides to look fashionably correct, regardless of the style of their dress.

One month before Jinger’s July 2016 engagement, I met a woman named Wendy through mutual friends from my alma mater, Pensacola Christian College. She co-owns Ava Laurenne Bride in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and I soon found out that Jill Duggar Dillard had purchased her wedding dress from Wendy's shop in 2014. Wendy and I agreed that if Jinger chose me as her dress designer, I would use Ava Laurenne Bride as the meeting place.

Wendy made a phone call, and Jinger and Michelle looked at pictures of my work on my website and Facebook page. They liked what they saw, so Jinger and I began laying the groundwork for her bridal gown.

Ellie: How did you start the design process?
Renee: Before Jinger and I met, we exchanged many texts and phone calls. I tried to listen to her heart, which was difficult because we hadn’t yet met face-to-face. I prayed that I would be able to create a unique dress that would fulfill her dreams.

I made three protype gowns, packed them up, and flew to Virginia to unveil them to Jinger. That meeting will air on the season three premiere episode of Counting On (Monday, January 16th at 9pm ET/8pm CT). After spending five minutes with Jinger, I told the producer that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt which of the three dresses she would choose. Jinger tried each of them on and ended up choosing the one I had predicted. That kind of thing happens ever day in my store, and I believe it’s the result of prayer and God’s guidance.

Ellie: Did Jinger know exactly what she wanted, or did you help her envision the completed dress?
Renee: I asked Jinger to scroll through pictures and give me five pictures of looks that she liked, and through those five pictures, I was able to start designing. She knew she wanted lace. She knew she wanted an A-line skirt, not a ball gown. She didn’t want it to be too princess-y. And she knew she wanted sleeves, and of course, modest.

After meeting Jinger, I was able to make changes and add embellishments to the dress. Jinger didn’t know all the details of what I was doing. She shared her heart with me and then cut me loose to let my creative juices flow.

Both Jinger and Jeremy desired for the dress to have what I call a 'train fit for royalty,' based on a Bible verse that Jeremy had quoted to his wife-to-be. That verse was Isaiah 6:1 (...I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple). When Jinger tried on the three prototype dresses, she always looked at the train before she looked at the front, so I knew that was her heart. I wanted the train to be the center of attention.

The dress that Jinger chose had a long train, but I knew I could really hit it out of the ballpark if I could extend that train even longer. The extension actually didn’t come together until a couple weeks before the wedding.

Photos courtesy Renee Miller

Photos: Wedding Dress Shopping with Jill

Take a look at the various dresses Jill Duggar (now Jill Dillard) modeled while shopping for her wedding dress at Ava Laurenne Bride on this week's episode of 19 Kids and Counting. Jill received the bridal shop's Princess Treatment package, which costs $500.

Image credit: DCL

Duggar Girls' Day Out at the Bridal Shop

Check out this video clip from Jill's bridal party at Ava Laurenne Bride, featured in last night's episode:

Reaction to Jill Dillard's Wedding Dress

After Jill and Derick Dillard's wedding, the Duggars invited a few hundred of their closest friends over for a cookout. At the party, Wendy Rivers, co-owner of Ava Laurenne Bride, filmed one of the guest's reactions to Jill's Ava Laurenne wedding dress. The YouTube video is embedded below.

Jill Duggar Dillard's Wedding Dress

We have the details of Jill Duggar's bridal gown! After Jill and Derick got engaged this spring, Jill and several of the Duggars traveled to Fredericksburg, Virginia, to try on wedding dresses at Ava Laurenne Bride.

"We were so excited to offer Jill a package that we regularly provide to brides, called a 'Princess Treatment,' said Christy Stutzman, co-owner of Ava Laurenne Bride. "It's a very girly, special and sweet time every time we do it."

Christy and her sister, Wendy Rivera, also a co-owner, had to keep the details of Jill's dress under wraps until the wedding. "The secret was safe with us!" said Wendy. 

The dress was an Allure Romance gown with Swarovski crystals and a chapel length train. Rivera and seamstress Moni Reeise added lace from a veil to create straps and to fit Jill's vision of a dress that was modest but elegant. 

"She wanted something modest, but not predictable," said Wendy. "It fits like a glove. It is perfection."

In addition to altering Jill's dress, Rivera also performed the song "The Prayer" at Derick and Jill's wedding, accompanied by her husband Gabe. 

See footage of Jill's experience at Ava Laurenne Bride on the next season of 19 Kids and Counting. 

In the following YouTube video, Michelle Duggar discusses Jill's bridal gown with Wendy. Keep an eye out for Josie, who is featured in the video wearing her own princess dress for her role as flower girl. 

"She has been begging to put it on since she got it," Michelle Duggar told PEOPLE Magazine.