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

[Iamtheway]

We also spent the most money (not a huge amount compared to many) on the rings, but that might be because my parents payed for the food and I have no idea what it cost. It wasn’t fancy though and we baked the cakes ourselves.

We had our rings custom made too and I’m so happy we decided to do that. We got exactly what we wanted, they are one of a kind and I still feel happy every time I look at them. We also got away way cheaper then if we would have bought the ones I wanted before we thought to check with a jewler. They were a fancy brand and my engagement ring would have cost more then both our rings cost together and Mr Ways was pretty expensive just because it needed to be big to look good on his hand. I have an engagement ring and a weddingband and Mr Way has an engagement ring and big tattoo since he didn’t want two rings but also didn’t want to be left out of the crazy spending.

He didn’t get my name or something obvious but if we ever split up I’ll be sure to tell any new girlfriends that his upper thigh is covered in a celebration of our love. 

[CancerBomb]

Personally, I like the modest wedding dress look. As someone who is over the whole strapless thing, I'm hoping sleeves will come back in style just because I love the whole Kate Middleton look. That being said, here are my rankings for wedding dresses (complete with commentary on bridesmaid's dresses and Michelle's atrocious MOTB dresses)

1. Jinger. Beautiful girl, beautiful dress. I just wish the neckline didn't look like it was choking her. The entire thing was a unique take on weddings, and while I dislike the whole "country" wedding theme, Jinger pulled it off with grace. Those bridesmaids dresses, wow! She took steps to see everyone happy with the dress choices, and it made for some beautiful photographs. As per the usual, Michelle was wearing something that looked more like curtain fabric, or maybe a carpet. Can someone please teach this lady how to dress in a flattering way and not look like a frumpy poodle?

2. Jill. Unpopular opinion, but I love Jill's dress. I would've done the alterations differently, but overall, the dress was very beautiful. I just wish this girl had done something else with her hair. I get it the Duggars like curls, but I feel like that's all we see, and none of them know how to do other hairdos (like maybe a simple updo? Different curl types?). Jill's bridesmaid dresses look like nightmares though. They look like housedresses I find at Goodwill. And Michelle's silver monstrosity. Good lord. So much satin. So much sparkle. So much covering. Why.

3. Kendra. Such a beautiful dress. So elegant, so girly without being extra. I also love her hair here, she has great hair, I just hope it doesn't crunch curl. I love the subtle ruffles. The bridesmaids' dresses were nothing special, they just blended into the background, and she did a good job accommodating so many pregnant bridesmaids. Michelle's dress was not a monstrosity, but a simple navy and sequins number very appropriate for her. 

4. Jessa. The dress, was close, but didn't quite hit the mark. The neckline was so obviously Fundie, from a designer who usually does Fundie so well. The blush just wasn't pink enough to make it look like anything more than Ben just tried to do the laundry and stuck a red shirt in the washer with the dress and it bled. Jessa's hair was plain, the dress like a prom dress, and her poor bridesmaids, those pink ruffles look uncomfortable and unflattering on everyone. Michelle at least dressed sensibly in navy, but compared to the rest of this plainness, it was the least she could do. 

5. Amy. Dress was ugly. 'Nuff said. So plain. So boring. She's a gorgeous girl and she chooses something that seems to hide that. Her bridesmaids' dresses, ooohhh ee. Those were um, not my favorites as the neckline made them look more like museum exhibits, and that color does not really flatter anyone besides Kim Kardashian. 

6. Joy Anna. I expected something tomboy from her, something slim and simple, to accentuate her petite frame and adventure sense. Instead, she wears the "Jinger Toned Down" dress. While beautiful on Jinger, Joy Anna does not have the height nor grace to pull off this dress. I suspect her sisters and new husband pressured her into this girly thing, good lord knows how much pressuring her husband has done to her.....Bridesmaids' had nice, elegant dresses, and Michelle kept it classy. Proud of you, Michelle!

7. Anna. Sorry Anna. Your dress was the simplest Fundie thing ever. I do give you points for personality though. While your dress itself was nothing special, what you did with it was. You brought life and beauty to it by being a young woman excited about getting married. Unfortunately, your husband turned out to be a sick bastard. Anna, you deserve so much better. You deserve a guy who will treat you like the princess you are. At your next wedding, i'm sure whatever you wear you will make gorgeous, and keep your bridesmaid's dresses! I love them! They make your wedding party look like Disney princesses!

[SapphireSlytherin]

22 minutes ago, CancerBomb said:

subtle ruffles.

Whatttt???? She looked like a million flapping swans with all those ruffles. lol

[Helena Handbaket]

I know this is all about the dresses, but I keep thinking about the food. Josh and Anna had pizza for rehearsal dinner and actual food at the reception. All the other family members had elaborate rehearsal dinner and pickles, meatballs and pretzels for a wedding "dinner".  Why? .

 

And, is Mike Schadt who officiated at Ben and Jessa's wedding ordained?  They call him Mr. Schadt or Papa Schadt. SOS  Ministries refer to him as the President of the ministry and a missionary.  I am just wondering what the deal is.

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[jacduggar]

Okay, unpopular opinion here, but Jessa’s dress is hands-down my favorite. I love that she wore a colored dress. It was a touch prom-y, but these girls never had a prom and will never get the chance to wear formalwear like that ever again, so I love that she wore exactly what she wanted. I also loved her proposal because she talked a few times about wanting to get married at that chapel and not being able to due to size, and I think it was sweet that Ben included it so it could still be a special part of her marriage story. 

 

My least favorite dress dress so far was Joy. Not a bad dress, but it wasn’t great on her. 

 

I liked Anna’s dress for Anna. It was simple, but that’s sort of her personality. I don’t think she would have looked very good in a dress with beading, lace, etc.

 

Jill’s was pretty but totally ruined for me by those nasty ass bare feet. I actually really loved her dress when she was trying it on. It is a beautiful gown. But I can’t get over the bare feet, that’s too much for me. 

 

Unpopular opinion #2: while I absolutely adored Jinger’s bridesmaid dresses, and her veil, the dress itself I didn’t care for. It had a lot of drama, but the top and the sleeves paired with that huge skirt and train...she looked like she was drowning in fabric. Would have loved to see her in a fitted dress with that beautiful train. 

 

I loved the top of Kendra’s dress. The bottom looked like a tissue box. All the beading and embellishments looked lovely on her, though. 

[finnlassie]

11 hours ago, CancerBomb said:

Personally, I like the modest wedding dress look. As someone who is over the whole strapless thing, I'm hoping sleeves will come back in style just because I love the whole Kate Middleton look. That being said, here are my rankings for wedding dresses (complete with commentary on bridesmaid's dresses and Michelle's atrocious MOTB dresses)

7. Anna. Sorry Anna. Your dress was the simplest Fundie thing ever. I do give you points for personality though. While your dress itself was nothing special, what you did with it was. You brought life and beauty to it by being a young woman excited about getting married. Unfortunately, your husband turned out to be a sick bastard. Anna, you deserve so much better. You deserve a guy who will treat you like the princess you are. At your next wedding, i'm sure whatever you wear you will make gorgeous, and keep your bridesmaid's dresses! I love them! They make your wedding party look like Disney princesses!

I'm the same, I really like the more modest look, especially the sleeves. It's probably due to my fondness towards 70s and early 80s wedding dresses (the ones BEFORE Diana's monstrosity) which tend to have higher necklines and those really pretty looser sleeves! Can't wait for the day I get married - my mum's dress from 1982 is going to be perfect!

Being a recycling and reusing freak I have to say props for Anna using a used dress - it was her sister's. Definitely not the most appealing and they were definitely saving money with it, but it was nice enough in my opinion. Anna was a radient bride. We also gotta remember that they got married in the 2000s - the fashion in general was a bit different then when it comes to modest gowns... I remember, me and my bestie spent our teen years browsing and picking dream dresses, LOL.

[Caskett4ever]

1. Jessa: This dress was great. I love non white wedding dresses; I'll probably wear one myself someday if I get married (I tend to dislike the color white, especially when it comes to clothing or kitchen cabinets). I felt her dress was modest, but not so much that it was in a shove the modesty in everyone's face sort of way, and elegant. 

2. Jinger: I also really like this dress. The patterns on the dress work nicely. She looked great. My main problem with this dress is the train that went on forever.

3. Kendra: This was a pretty good dress. I liked the top of it. The bottom part was a bit out of control with poof, but I felt it worked since she was so young. Though honestly, if it weren't for the fact that the dress was white, I would have thought that she was wearing a prom dress.

4. Anna: So this dress wasn't the best. It probably would have been better if it had fit better. Yes, it was very simple but in my opinion, simplicity looks better than combining dresses into one single dress (especially if the combining is not done well). Which brings me to the next one on my list.

5. Jill: I find the patterns on both the top and bottom to be a little wild. I also don't like the look of the part in the middle where they are brought together. 

6. Joy: I'm not a fan of the patterns on her dress as well. The main reason she is ranked lower than Jill is because I really hate her sleeves. The switch from the fabric of the dress to the mesh of the sleeves does not look good.

[VelociRapture]

13 hours ago, Helena Handbaket said:

I know this is all about the dresses, but I keep thinking about the food. Josh and Anna had pizza for rehearsal dinner and actual food at the reception. All the other family members had elaborate rehearsal dinner and pickles, meatballs and pretzels for a wedding "dinner".  Why? .

 

And, is Mike Schadt who officiated at Ben and Jessa's wedding ordained?  They call him Mr. Schadt or Papa Schadt. SOS  Ministries refer to him as the President of the ministry and a missionary.  I am just wondering what the deal is.

 

I believe that the Bride’s family typically pays for the wedding in their culture. That means the Bride’s family typically has a lot of say in how the wedding is planned and what’s most important. I’m also not sure what time SmugAnna were sacrificed on the altar of Matrimony, but if it was around a normal mealtime then serving more substantial food would be normal. I don’t think most of the other weddings occurred around a mealtime*, so snack type foods were pretty acceptable for those. 

As for the rehearsal dinners, I’d guess they served actual food because those seem to have been held at dinner time. 

*I think Jill, Jessa, and Jinger opted for early/mid-afternoon weddings. Can’t remember about Joy or Joe.

[SapphireSlytherin]

Wedding reception food appropriateness discussion version 1,456.01 happens... NOW:

[Daisy0322]

6 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

Wedding reception food appropriateness discussion version 1,456.01 happens... NOW:

I was just thinking this and hoping we could put the conversation in the graveyard next to the bare feet/shoes debate haha 

[Georgiana]

5 hours ago, finnlassie said:

I'm the same, I really like the more modest look, especially the sleeves. It's probably due to my fondness towards 70s and early 80s wedding dresses (the ones BEFORE Diana's monstrosity) which tend to have higher necklines and those really pretty looser sleeves! Can't wait for the day I get married - my mum's dress from 1982 is going to be perfect!

Being a recycling and reusing freak I have to say props for Anna using a used dress - it was her sister's. Definitely not the most appealing and they were definitely saving money with it, but it was nice enough in my opinion. Anna was a radient bride. We also gotta remember that they got married in the 2000s - the fashion in general was a bit different then when it comes to modest gowns... I remember, me and my bestie spent our teen years browsing and picking dream dresses, LOL.

You lucky duck!  My mom got married in 84, and my god her sleeve puffs were bigger than her head!  Thank goodness my mother and I have completely different builds that makes sharing dresses impossible, because that thing is absolutely nuts.  

And it doesn't help that I'm very much a minimalist who favors clean lines ala Princess Margaret's wedding dress.  I will be going with something new when it comes to the dress, I believe.  

[finnlassie]

5 minutes ago, Georgiana said:

You lucky duck!  My mom got married in 84, and my god her sleeve puffs were bigger than her head!  Thank goodness my mother and I have completely different builds that makes sharing dresses impossible, because that thing is absolutely nuts.  

And it doesn't help that I'm very much a minimalist who favors clean lines ala Princess Margaret's wedding dress.  I will be going with something new when it comes to the dress, I believe.  

I'm kinda afraid about the dress in the sense that I have a way larger cup size than my mother had at that age (she was 20 when married, I'm now 25...) so the chest might be a bit snug. I haven't dared to try it on since I'm not even in a relationship, but I think it's time to face the reality. Either the full gown will be in my use, or possibly reconstruct a whole new top part saving the sleeves and skirt. Ugh!

Now I wanna see one of the Duggar girls marry in a Diana style dress. Lace, ballgown, puffy sleeves, ugly satin, just the whole sh'bang!

[snickers34]

34 minutes ago, Daisy0322 said:

I was just thinking this and hoping we could put the conversation in the graveyard next to the bare feet/shoes debate haha 

Ha - there are several conversations I wish we could do this to: 1) Is Jana a lesbian/forced to stay unmarried and care for her elderly parents; 2) Why does Derrick love murdering cats so much; 3) so many I can't think of them all.

 

[VeryNikeSeamstress]

On 03/12/2017 at 6:36 PM, CancerBomb said:

And Michelle's silver monstrosity. Good lord. So much satin. So much sparkle. So much covering. Why?

Her body requires the Josh Duggar camera glare treatment so that nobody is accidentally defrauded. Keep your eyes on her countenance, or risk going blind.

[CancerBomb]

@Helena Handbaket That food thing is really weird. Personally, I think the rehearsal dinner should be more lowkey and the reception more fancy, maybe that's just me though. The Duggar brides in my opinion didn't always choose the best post wedding food options in my opinion (Why so many pickles? I get it you like them but not everyone likes/wants to eat pickles like popcorn!)

[finnlassie]

51 minutes ago, CancerBomb said:

@Helena Handbaket That food thing is really weird. Personally, I think the rehearsal dinner should be more lowkey and the reception more fancy, maybe that's just me though. The Duggar brides in my opinion didn't always choose the best post wedding food options in my opinion (Why so many pickles? I get it you like them but not everyone likes/wants to eat pickles like popcorn!)

I guess they just want to get it over with quick by serving "fast" food. The bride and groom gotta go quick and consummate the marriage! Non-sinful sexytimes!

[SassyPants]

4 hours ago, finnlassie said:

I guess they just want to get it over with quick by serving "fast" food. The bride and groom gotta go quick and consummate the marriage! Non-sinful sexytimes!

IMO, the lack of normal, human, adult, physical contact that courtship endorses, is why these people rush everything to do with a relationship- Short courtships, engagements, ceremonies, receptions...it's all because they want to get to the physical because that's what adults in relationships eventually do. 

It's like children who are denied something (sugar, soda, chips) and once they find a little, they can not stop. We once had a neighbor family that did not allow soda (this was in the 90s).  We babysit their 3 school aged kids for a weekend, and took the girls to an event where soda was served. The youngest girl who was about 8, drank so much soda she peed her pants.

[Briefly]

On 12/4/2017 at 2:02 PM, Georgiana said:

You lucky duck!  My mom got married in 84, and my god her sleeve puffs were bigger than her head!  Thank goodness my mother and I have completely different builds that makes sharing dresses impossible, because that thing is absolutely nuts.  

And it doesn't help that I'm very much a minimalist who favors clean lines ala Princess Margaret's wedding dress.  I will be going with something new when it comes to the dress, I believe.  

I got married in 1985, when I found my dress in the bridal shop it had those huge sleeves.  I made sure that the shops. seamstress that made my dress took out as much as she possibly could because I hate those huge sleeves with a passion.  They were still bigger than I would have wanted, but not as big as they could have been.  I never liked Princess Diana's dress, by the way.  Too big, too "much" dress.  I'm Texan, we do big very well - and that dress was even too much for me!

[finnlassie]

14 hours ago, SassyPants said:

IMO, the lack of normal, human, adult, physical contact that courtship endorses, is why these people rush everything to do with a relationship- Short courtships, engagements, ceremonies, receptions...it's all because they want to get to the physical because that's what adults in relationships eventually do.

I totally agree. I know people young and old, mostly Finnish pentecostal (could be described as baptist), that date for 1-6 months, get engaged and the wedding is just months away from the engagement. It's sort of funny how sex is SO emphasised in these more conservative circles that it can become a very damaging thing.

An example of this is my ex's parents, and boy did they go to shit when me and him were still dating. They were the kind of people that got pressured by the surrounding culture to marry soon and they did so within 3 months of merely meeting each other. My ex recalled that he had never heard them fighting or arguing about anything during his lifetime. I assumed that he hadn't witnessed them because his parents thought they'd rather not do it in front of the children, but boy was I wrong. They literally had never fought or argued about the simplest thing. My ex had no concept of arguing and was feeling extremely violated when I wasn't satisfied with something. I'm from a big family and the youngest, so I had of course learnt to defend myself and that arguments can be a healthy thing as long as it's a dialogue.

8 months into us dating, my ex's mother had a total shitfit and announced to all of her three kids that his dad had cheated on her. Totally unnecessary and damaging to tell your kids immediately when finding out, but it made me think - they came from a background where you had to forgive everyone immediately or you bathed in sin, marriages had to be perfect and reflect God's will and love. It ended up with the two NEVER discussing each others needs in depth. And where did all this end up... ex's dad had so many pent up feelings in so many areas that he started to look for those things in other women. My immediate reaction was to reflect him to Josh, because shit, it's kinda what happened with the whole Ashley Madison thing, right?

Edited December 6, 2017 by finnlassie

[blackberry]

I hadn’t thought about how not witnessing healthy arguments could be detrimental. My husband and I have only been married for 5 years, but we have never fought/argued. We talk calmly and discuss things. My kids haven’t witnessed it from us, but I’m sure they will engage in plenty of their own arguments to learn about it. 

[finnlassie]

Thanks to this thread I've found myself browsing modest wedding dresses. Surprisingly entertaining!

 

18 minutes ago, blackberry said:

I hadn’t thought about how not witnessing healthy arguments could be detrimental. My husband and I have only been married for 5 years, but we have never fought/argued. We talk calmly and discuss things. My kids haven’t witnessed it from us, but I’m sure they will engage in plenty of their own arguments to learn about it. 

Probably the fact that everything being happy jolly was clearly emphasised in the household as he was growing up. Her parents never even got mad at him no matter what he did. Not that my ex was a wild child, but he was just never scolded or his parents didn't even bother telling that something went wrong.

It was really baffling to me hearing him say all this. He had no concept of what arguments were and he always assumed I was gonna dump him when I complained about something.

[blackberry]

@finnlassie Oh, wow. That is definitely not our household. We disagree sometimes, but we do it politely. We definitely discipline our children, and have yelled at them on a rare occasion. Yelling is almost always in regards to an immediate safety issues. We are also intentional in apologizing to them after the situation is secure and explaining why yelling is not appropriate and that we also mess up sometimes. 

[QuiverFullofBooks]

Billy Graham said that he and his wife chose to keep their disagreements away from their children, which worked fine when they were little, but he regretted it later, when his adult children felt that their perfectly normal marriages had too much conflict.

[VGL]

On 12/5/2017 at 8:57 PM, Briefly said:

I got married in 1985, when I found my dress in the bridal shop it had those huge sleeves.  I made sure that the shops. seamstress that made my dress took out as much as she possibly could because I hate those huge sleeves with a passion.  They were still bigger than I would have wanted, but not as big as they could have been.  I never liked Princess Diana's dress, by the way.  Too big, too "much" dress.  I'm Texan, we do big very well - and that dress was even too much for me!

My cousin was married in 1984.  Her dress was quite simple for the time with satiny fabric, some lace appliques and long sheer sleeves with a bit of puff at the top.   Her daughter is getting married in February and for her shower last month she had her mother's dress altered down to a top and skirt.  The seamstress removed the sleeves, rearranged the appliques on the bodice, cut off the train and made a hi-low skirt.  She looked amazing.

[freethemall]

Question: is there a Bates version of this thread? Especially now that Tori got married and in my opinion knocks all these dresses out of the park.

Also imagine how cute Whitney would have looked in Jessa's dress, I never liked hers with the bolero. And maybe Michael in Jinger's, her's was awful.