Jinder's Dresses: A Very Subjective Rundown/Review of all Duggar Wedding Gowns

[likejana86]

i would like to see one of the duggar or bates with a dress like this or similar...they are soooooooo young to get marry ,,i see them with something that look younger and more fun,,,even if it need to be modest..

[VeryNikeSeamstress]

I think with just a touch of lace for a 'country' feel, the dress above could've been great for Joy. She's not a fussy girly type, and should have been allowed a more casual dress. I see her wearing it with cowboy boots instead of heels.

Edited October 2, 2017 by VeryNikeSeamstress

[cascarones]

I was expecting cowboy boots for Joy @VeryNikeSeamstress, but then I remembered how much they cost. Yes, they'll last forever, but for a wear once event, it'd be far more than the bridesmaids dresses. I wouldn't be surprised if Joy has a pair, given Austin seems to regularly sport Ariats. 

[likejana86]

even with converse shoes goes well that dress,,,,she had to choose that dress to the filming at the shop right???

[JMO]

On 9/17/2017 at 2:01 AM, just_ordinary said:

Bleach please!!!!! Haven't seen Michelle's dress before! This is what nightmares are made of.

I did NOT read "Bleach please!!!" the first 3 times I read this comment. 

(Forgive the late comment, I'm just now reading this thread.)

[SassyPants]

This is my favorite thread on FJ... and I hate weddings. Love looking at all the dresses.

[Queen]

My list...

1. Amy because fuck modesty! I mean, as individuals we sholuld have the right to dress however we want and not feel pressured to wear something we would be uncomfortable in for example because it shows (what we consider) too much skin. This standard is of course also  different for everyone.

But the culture that women would have to cover up their bodies so that men won't assault them, that is enabling rape culture and putting the blame on the victim. Go Amy!

2. Jinger. Closest to what I would wear myself (although I'd prefer a shorter train!). She looked really great in it (it also helps that she is my pet fundie ) and I liked her bridesmaid's dresses too!

3. Joy and Jill. Not a fan of the alternations, but I like lace.

4. Jessa and Kendra. Really not my style, but they both looked great in their dresses.

5. Anna. Not a disaster or anything, but it looked very fundy which is a bad thing in my book.

 

Edited November 2, 2017 by Queen

[HOTW]

I find its so hard to predict what a bride will like plus she has to find what she wants..then you have the dress shops volunteering themselves for the show so the girls have to pick from their selection which is totally unfair! Esp with the short order time they literally have to pick off the racks for their gown becaise most wedding gowns have at least a 4.month order time. I wish I had a pic of my cousins dress. She torally wowed everyone at hee wedding. Put up her hair and she had incredible cheekbones noone had noticed before. Her wedding really made her rethink her look!

I think Jana would look stunnning in this dress. She is petitie so a sheath would really work for her but it jas such fine details. And its modest!!

[artdecades]

ok ill add my 2 cents

1. Jessa. I just loved it. I loved that she picked a dress that was already modest and not a franken dress.

2. Jinger. I liked it a lot. It was traditional and classic and fit perfectly. I can't help but be a little disappointed with it though. She is the only duggar with any personal style identity and I wish she embraced it more with something more like this, complete with flower crown:

Spoiler

3. Kendra. Cute, young, fun. No complaints

4. Jill. Yes it was a frankendress. Yes the sash was a mess. Yes her barefoot thing did not go with the dress, but I still think its better than the ones below it. I also want to give her a little bit of of a slide since she was the first duggar daughter to get married and she didn't have much of an example to go off of. Also, 

5. Amy. boooooring. It just seemed like it was missing something. Like it was a blank canvas. Amy was so tacky and over the top I expected something more from her. Beading, ruffles, floof. We got nothing. She took what she could get for free/cheap and that was it.

6. Anna. I wonder if Anna feels cheated out of the whole fancy wedding TLC thing. I would.

7. Joy. Wow did I hate this. It didn't fit, the mesh sleeves were outdated and matronly. The dress did nothing to showcase her personality. Her hair looked dry and damaged. I really liked the swiss dot dress she tried on but decided against. I also think she would have looked great in a shorter dress, though I am sure no duggar would go for that. 

how cute would this have been on joy

Spoiler

8. Michelle's renewal monstrosity. If I were Kleinfeld, I would have buried that episode. What a terrible ad for that store.

 

As for bridesmaids I don't think I liked any of them enough to rank other than Kendra's. Joy and Jessa's were too casual. Jinger's colors were too clashing. Amy and Anna's were both tacky in different ways. Jill's were just atrocious.

Edited November 14, 2017 by artdecades

[Lurker]

Of all the dresses we have seen so far I really like Jinger’s the best.  Her bridesmaids looked good too, with the  exception of Jill who was in a color that didn’t meld with the other harvest colors.

I think one reason I liked Jinger’s dress and bridesmaids the best was that it looked like she put some thought into the presentation.  Her dress was stylish and appropriate for a November wedding as well as modest without looking frumpy.  The train was a bit much but overall she carried off the dress well as she was confortable with her vision.  She took time on hair and makeup, veil and shoes, it all worked for her.  The odd thing about her wedding were her brothers not in the wedding party, they were dressed inappropriately for the occasion with dirty shoes to go with their suspenders.

One of the things that always surprises me about the other girls was that they “are waiting their whole life for marriage” yet don’t have any direction or plan for their day except getting into any white-ish dresses as quickly as possible.

Jill looked awful, her bridesmaids looked worse.  For all the modest alterations they called more attention to themselves than leaving well enough alone.

Jessa’s dress, while the color was a little daring, was they best choice for her skin tone and it didn't really fit that well.  Her bridesmaid looked like they bought the cheapest dress available and the coral clashed with the pink of Jessa’s dress.  

Joy’s dress was frumpy and did not fit her well.  The sleeves looked patched in and pulled and sagged at the same time.   Bridesmaids looked great, simple and classic.

Kendra’s dress just accented how young she is.  What a child imagines a wedding dress to look like, puffy and princessy, it was too much dress to her.   Bridesmaids were decent.

Amy’s  dress did not fit her properly.  I get that she wanted a different look from the Duggars but way too much boob was on display.  It was a simple and  elegant dress but the fit made it look tacky.

Michelles renewal  dress was incredibly hideous. 

Jim Bob wore that grey suit to how many weddings?  It didn’t fit the first time and it was never altered to shorten the dragging pants.

Anna’s dress was plain, probably better plain when inexpensive than too much trimming.

And one thing that was a negative across the weddings is that no woman  had decent shoes that coordinated or worked with the dresses they were wearing. 

They only thing they seem to do socially is go to wedding and related festivities. They all need to buy  a pair of decent neutral shoes,  try a nude or metallic for the most milage.

The men in the wedding parties actually had better shoes, maybe they were rented along with the suits.

 

[thinandfit]

Unpopular opinion - I really liked Annas dress- a lot of the dresses of the time were super simple (and strapless), so she had to add the sleeves etc, and considering she made it with her sisters I think it looks pretty good (and a hell of a lot better than anything my siblings and I could create!)

I love Jessas dress, and tbh would probably pick something similar for my own wedding if it had a longer train.

[eveandadam]

On 17.11.2017 at 2:53 PM, thinandfit said:

Unpopular opinion - I really liked Annas dress- a lot of the dresses of the time were super simple (and strapless), so she had to add the sleeves etc, and considering she made it with her sisters I think it looks pretty good (and a hell of a lot better than anything my siblings and I could create!)

 

I'm with you on Anna's dress. It was very simple but really nice and timeless! Plus I loved her bridesmaid dresses. There were soo pretty!

All in all I liked the look of Anna's wedding very much! The over the top, pastel, poofy flowery thing the Duggar's do is sometimes a bit much!

 

Dear Anna: In about 5 years time, a lot of brides will wear satin dresses again :-)

[LurkerOverThePond]

I liked that Anna (or more likely her church ladies) served some real food to her guests, not just ice cream and candy.

[nastyhobbitses]

6 hours ago, eveandadam said:

I'm with you on Anna's dress. It was very simple but really nice and timeless! Plus I loved her bridesmaid dresses. There were soo pretty!

All in all I liked the look of Anna's wedding very much! The over the top, pastel, poofy flowery thing the Duggar's do is sometimes a bit much!

 

Dear Anna: In about 5 years time, a lot of brides will wear satin dresses again :-)

I honestly didn't find it timeless. It screams "early 2000s, Mormon fashion bloggers haven't really taken off yet" bridal wear. It looked like a satin t-shirt and did nothing for her. She's such a pretty woman and her whole look was very...Maxwellian. Bland, limp, seemingly purposefully doing nothing to let her natural beauty shine.

[nausicaa]

1 hour ago, nastyhobbitses said:

I honestly didn't find it timeless. It screams "early 2000s, Mormon fashion bloggers haven't really taken off yet" bridal wear. It looked like a satin t-shirt and did nothing for her. She's such a pretty woman and her whole look was very...Maxwellian. Bland, limp, seemingly purposefully doing nothing to let her natural beauty shine.

Yeah, I'm struggling to see timeless in the crunchy curls, crooked craft store veil, and poorly fitting poly satin.

And did Anna make her dress with her sisters? I could have sworn she borrowed it from one of her sisters (who I assumed had bought it?) I suppose if they sewed it that explains the fit. It's hard to fit poly satin correctly.

[neurogirl]

I guess this would be the best place to start this discussion- did anyone else have a hard time picking out their dress? I have bought my wedding dress but am having dress regret because I never had that TLC SYTTD crying moment, it's not as lacy as/doesn't have the back I thought I wanted, and pictures on my phone do not do it justice! I have tried on over 50 dresses (including some since I bought the dress) and many of them are beautiful, but I just never got that feeling. Is this normal?? I think I need a reminder that TLC lies, and not just about the Duggars!

(The dress I got is verrrry sparkly, lace appliqué over silk, and a fit and flare. It will look much better once it is altered to me. I guess I'm just wrapped up in this idea of THE most-perfect wedding dress and it's really getting to me!)

[Botkinetti]

@neurogirl TLC lies.

I got married in 1983. We had bridal magazines but no tv shows about dresses. Within my circle of friends/ coworkers I don't remember the massive hype about having the perfect dress. We wanted to look pretty but spending hundreds of dollars ( the equivalent now of thousands ) on one dress would have been seen as insane.

 I tried on a few dresses and was talking about it in the lunch room at work. One of my coworkers said the style I was trying on sounded like her dress and asked if I wanted to try hers on. She brought it in . Fit me perfectly. I was worried about ruining it but she was so calm I ended up borrowing it. I have never regretted it. Felt beautiful on my wedding day. I hope you feel beautiful on yours.

[catlady]

yes, the whole "perfect dress, perfect [everything]" has always seemed like a marketing ploy to me.  i went to David's Bridal one time, tried on about 5 or 6 dresses, liked one, and bought it.  then in the weeks leading up to my wedding, i frequently felt like i didn't have much to do, and was i missing something?  nope, and my wedding turned out just fine.  then, after it was over, i was kind of glad it was done.  we had a video made, and i watched it (willingly*) exactly one time, and then after about 2 years, i was even tired of looking at the photos.  disclaimer--i've never been much of a picture person, so i'm probably an oddity there.  

in short, if you don't feel the giddy, extreme "OMG, this is the best thing ever, eleventy!", don't panic.  all that matters is that you love your partner.  

*over the span of some 15 years, my in-laws kept bringing out their copy of that damn video whenever company came over.  a few times was fine, but after a while, i just kept thinking, "it's not 1995 anymore; can we move on?"  but like the photos, that's probably just me.  if i got married now, i'd go small-and-simple and skip a lot of things.

[cascarones]

On 11/19/2017 at 12:44 PM, neurogirl said:

I guess this would be the best place to start this discussion- did anyone else have a hard time picking out their dress? I have bought my wedding dress but am having dress regret because I never had that TLC SYTTD crying moment,

I didn't have the TLC moment, but to be honest I wasn't looking for it. I knew I wanted to buy my dress from a specific store since they do free dresses for military and first responder brides. I love the show, but it looks rather exhausting and having gone wedding dress shopping with friends before in the TLC style. We wound up standing around mid afternoon looking at each other trying to figure out if she'd already tried that particular dress on, because they were all blurring together.

My dress isn't what I was looking for style wise, but it caught my eye, is beautiful and is more in line with what my parents always imagined. I'm okay with that. We're not an emotional bunch, so to see them get emotional over it was enough for me. I think I tried on around ten, some to humor my mother and since I was buying and taking home the same day some to figure out what size I needed. 

[Sky with diamonds]

Jinger's dress surprised me in a good way. I think it suited her perfectly. That was class, not too little, not too much but just right. Not only her dress, but the entire wedding. 

I would have liked to have been a fly on the way at Amy's wedding. You do you, Amy. 

[BundleofJoy]

On 19-11-2017 at 9:44 PM, neurogirl said:

I never had that TLC SYTTD crying moment

Lori from SYTTD: Atlanta actually quite often says on the show that not every bride will have that emotional bridal moment. And that expecting such a moment usually leads to putting pressure on yourself and trying to force a moment, which on the show leads to brides shooting down a lot of nice dresses and leaving the store empty-handed. I think the most important question to ask yourself is: Can I see myself getting married in the dress? 

[catlady]

yep; if you can say it's pretty, it's comfortable, and you like it, then you have a contender/winner.  i had a general idea of what i wanted, found a few that met the criteria, and pretty much said, "i like this one best."  no tears/weeping or anything, but still happy with my choice.  

FTR, my dress was classic mid-90s:  shiny satin, beading, long sleeves, full skirt, and 3' train.  i've considered donating it, but it's hopelessly out of style.

[CreationMuseumSeasonPass]

I went to a local boutique in Des Moines. I tried on five dresses, but only because my mom convinced me to try on two more than the original three I picked out.

I didn't have a SYTTD crying moment, but I do remember turning sideways to look at my reflection in the mirror. I always told myself I didn't want to look like a poofy princess on my wedding day. But, the first thought that came to my mind when I looked in the mirror was "I look like a queen. I look REGAL."

And, that was the moment I knew I had found the dress. It was pretty, it was comfy and I felt good with how I looked in it. 

In fact, the process of dress shopping was over so quickly that my mom started complaining. She had taken the entire afternoon off and didn't want to go home to help clean the house with my dad.

We decided to go to David's Bridal to check out ideas for accessories.

Edited November 22, 2017 by CreationMuseumSeasonPass

[Quiver Full of Kittens]

I had a generic idea of what I wanted for my wedding dress. I had seen one in the window of a dress shop about six months before Mr. Kittens proposed, but unfortunately it was discontinued by the time he proposed and I was actively shopping for a dress. I loved the lace and color, and showed it to the consultant I ended up working with. She listened to what drew me to that dress and showed me a few in the same vein.  When I tried on the dress I ended up buying, I knew it was the one, but there wasn't a super emotional moment. It was more of "Yay! Not white! Lace! Bonus: sparkles!" The back and shape were different than I had anticipated, and that wasn't a bad thing.  

[MarbleRainbow]

I really didn't want to spend more than $200 on my wedding dress - that's not the part of my wedding I wanted to invest a ton of money into. I searched on Etsy and ended up getting a custom made dress somewhat similar in style to Princess Kate's for $225. I was happy with it, felt comfortable, thought it fit my style, and felt beautiful wearing it. I wore comfy red sneakers under my dress and definitely had less foot pain at the end of the day than my husband!

Where we spent the most money was on our rings. It was really important to me to have something custom made and Art Nouveau in style. My husband's ring actually cost more than mine, because it was cast from a mold and the jeweler used a custom metal blend for it. His ring has a lot of deep engraving on it, whereas mine has more inlay and subtle engraving which took less work. 

And when I say we spent "a lot" on rings, it's not that much compared to usual wedding ring prices. I think we spent around $3500 for both rings total. I was very happy to find a local jeweler and master engraver who had a one-man operation and didn't have much overhead, so his prices were very reasonable. I think our whole wedding (including rings) cost around $8,000. We got some good rates due to skilled friends offering services for reasonable rates, but we also just didn't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money on what is really just a fancy party. People still tell us five years later that we had the best food they've ever eaten at a wedding and had a great time, so we feel pretty happy with how everything turned out.