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

[VelociRapture]

15 hours ago, neurogirl said:

Hi everyone! I went home this weekend and tried on the first dress again. It had to be loosened in the hips or else I couldn’t sit down, and then I didn’t like the silouhette. It is a beautiful dress but it didn’t feel like mine and I was standing in the dress with this sweet old lady on her knees pinning the hem and I wanted to get. Out. Of that dress. I even started crying in the car with my mom after the fitting. So after days of going back and forth with confused parents and tears...I ordered the second dress from the lady selling it pre-owned for half off. The key argument was from a childhood friend who knows my anxiety and said “if you don’t feel good about the dress yet, at will convince you? I don’t want you to have a freak out on the wedding day about it.” Which was a possibility. My parents to their credit told me before I left that the second dress looked more like my grandmas dress (which I would’ve loved to wear but would have required destructive alterations to fit). So if anyone loves the first dress and is interested, message me! Lol (except it’s a for real option as I took the first dress back to my house with me). I will remove a layer or two of tulle in the second dress to get the right fluffiness. Thank you everyone for your support and feedback! I did feel much more comfortable in the second, flowier dress. 

My grandmas dress from 1956:

Congratulations! You’re going to be a stunning bride. I hope your wedding day is everything you’ve hoped for and more.  

[JordynDarby5]

11 hours ago, catlady said:

my nephew made leprechaun traps every St. Patricks Day for about 6 years.  most of them were the box/stick/trip-wire variety, and his mom would write notes "from" the leprechaun and leave little gifts in his room.  each year, nephew got more elaborate, so mom would follow along with the results; if the weather cooperated, his gifts were outside.  he'd hunt for things like gold dollar coins, green candy, small toys, etc. 

So does my nephew. His teachers every year do pranks in the classroom and other mischievous stuff while also leaving notes so the kids in the class can try to track the leprechauns to see if they can catch them or guess where they'll strike next.  

[neurogirl]

I would love if people on FJ shared info about their own weddings! Maybe here, or in a community thread or something. Like venue, dress, music/flowers/little things that made the day special to you. Anonymous wedding bragging (or just good/touching/tragic stories) that I think FJ people would love to hear! There's a reason SYTTD and A Wedding Story are/were so popular! Let me know if I should start a new thread somewhere if there's popular interest. 

[MathQueen]

I love when the thread drift goes to wedding dresses. I decided to join in and share mine. Actually, these are online photos of the same Gunne Sax dress I wore. Our wedding was in 1982. My soon to be husband and I found this dress when we were out window shopping. I just loved it, and so did he. He bought it for me that day. Our budget for the wedding was very limited, and this was a huge splurge. It was the most expensive dress I had ever owned. I couldn’t have felt more special and beautiful than on our wedding day. We had a garden wedding, and I wore this dress with a low veil attached to a shear cap that had a wreath of white flowers on it (think Romeo and Juliet style). I wore the dress with a crinoline petticoat underneath, and I wore high heels, just so that as little as possible would need to be taken off the length when altered. I’m super short (4’10”) and I was hopeful that by keeping as much length as possible it would be long enough, should I have someone to pass it down to. (The MathBoys have not shown any interest). My dress was only different than the photo in that I made sure that the bottom two ruffles would be the same length when the dress was altered.

[Shadoewolf]

First dress was in 1999. Long sleeve, white brocade satin. Very elegant, especially for me. I ended up donating it. Second time around was a simple sundress with some turquoise blue embroidery typical of island areas. Gave it to Oldest when I couldn't fit it anymore. Am in the process of finishing up my divorce papers so I can file them next week, and I think after this I'll just stay single. 

[VelociRapture]

My gown back in the fall of 2015:

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I decided against wearing a veil because the extra material would have bugged me - plus my mom and sister both opted against wearing one, so I like to think of it as a mini-family tradition now. I also chose to wear the train up for the ceremony because I didn’t want the bustling to cut into my eating time. I was absolutely that Bride who was chowing down on appetizers in between the formal photos. I may have had a little food still in my mouth for some of them actually. (I clearly had my priorities straight. Lol!)

Hair was half-up and curly, with a jeweled clip on the back where my hair was pinned. So I had Duggar hair with a fairly NIKE! dress. My only jewelry were my rings and a pair of simple man-made emerald earrings my husband gave me as a gift one year. And my shoes were low heels, open toed, with a bit of bejeweling at the toes, and we’re the same ivory color as my dress. 

I donated my dress to Brides Across America (http://bridesacrossamerica.com/) about two months after our wedding. I kept the earrings, hair clip, the shoes, and the stupid corset bra thing I wore that almost made me pass out during dinner. I ended up switching into a normal skin colored bra and covered the band in the back with a wedding themed sweatshirt for a while. I got too hot dancing though, so I ended up removing the sweatshirt and decided to just not give a shit if it showed after that. 

One thing I think we did really well was sticking with our list of priorities and ignoring the things that weren’t important to us. We really wanted good food, good drinks, and good entertainment and we ended up choosing vendors that helped us achieve those things. 

One little piece of advice @neurogirl- no matter what, something is bound to not go perfectly or as planned on your wedding day. It could be (and hopefully will be) something little or it could be something major, but something won’t go according to plan. My best suggestion is to try and laugh about it or, if you can’t, try to push through and focus on what’s important - that you and fiancé love one another.

[just_ordinary]

@neurogirl My summer wedding was 2009. We had the civil service on the Wednesday with just our parents, siblings and the two witnesses. I wore a white costume from the rack and a fascinator. While it was the legally binding event it didn’t and doesn’t hold much emotions for us.

The church service was the Saturday after, at around 10:00. Afterwards we had lunch, tea time and a cheeseboard (and schnaps) at midnight in a nice hotel were we and some guests stayed the night. We had about 80 guests in total. The food was one of the most important parts for us. There was a three course seated lunch, and for tea time a lot of my family members were happy to contribute homemade cakes. In between we had photos taken and everyone was just chatting and catching up, having a relaxed and good time.

Flowers were a mix of yellow roses and pink orchids (the attached picture is similar but I didn’t have other roses than yellow- I believe don’t have the pictures right now to check). The hotel had nice silver candlesticks to go with the table flower arrangement (same flowers).

My hair was half up (would definitely go with a full up do next time!) and the veil had a quarter arm length.

The dress was pretty standard for that time. White, strapless, lace, princess skirt (similar to Amy’s cut).

We played a classic jazz playlist.

People that brought gifts (other then things on our registry which were send to us a few weeks later) and cards put them on a gift table and we opened them a few days later.

 

[SweetJuly]

This is the dress I wore at our religious wedding. Originally my husband and I had only wanted a civil wedding because we are an interfaith couple, but after some discussion it turned out that it was important for him to have a Catholic ceremony after all. So our plans changed quite significantly.

Originally I had intended to have a dress with sleeves, but I have broad shoulders and even with alterations it would have been difficult to find an affordable dress that I liked with sleeves, so sleeve-less it was in the end. I did wear a mantilla veil to cover my hair and shoulders in the church. After the ceremony I wore a flower wreath which was made by the mother of a friend of mine who had passed away in a car crash when she was 18. When we were little we had been best friends and her mother (who is very involved in the local church and a goddess for handcrafts) used to make flower crowns for us to play that we were princesses. My friend's mother did all the church flower decorations and incorporated twigs from a bush growing on my friend's grave into the wreath I wore. It may sound morbid, but it touched me very much.

My husband actually had a suit tailored for the wedding. His complete outfit ended up being more expensive than mine And yes, I do like to remind him of this whenever I yearn for some sartorial excess.

We didn't really select any colours as such, but aimed for a scheme of natural colours that we loved - white, lilac, blue, purple, blush pink,.... I also insisted that the flowers I loved - lilies, freesia, carnation, cornflower - were used for the flower decoration, and that there were no calla lilies or roses anywhere I only had one bridesmaid, my sister (hiding behind me in a blue gown she picked), and little cousins from both my and my husband's side as ring bearer, candle bearer, and flower girls.

Our wedding was formal and elegant, but we did keep the atmosphere warm and relaxed. We had guests from all over the world and many different religious backgrounds (Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Hindu), so the food was a bit of a nightmare to organise Lots of people told us that they appreciated that our wedding felt genuine and loving, and not like an event to show off. This made me very happy because that was exactly what we had been aiming for.

I also include my favourite picture below - it was taken after a childhood friend of mine had caught my bouquet (she has indeed gotten married to her wife since then, and they are expecting a daughter at almost the same time as my husband and I!), and my husband's little cousin had asked if she could "take a photo with the princess" I just love her nervous little face

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As we still needed a civil wedding to make our marriage legal, we decided to do this on our honeymoon in the Pacific. I had spent a couple of months on the island before, and felt that this was a place with a lot of significance for me. It was a very simple ceremony, just with us, the Justice of the Peace and two witnesses. We are wearing the same clothes we wore when we met for the very first time

 

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[singsingsing]

I may or may not ever get married, but if I do, this is probably the dress I'll wear:

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I like that it's simple but not too simple, it has just enough embellishment, natural waist, scoop/sweetheart neckline, and sleeves. I like the lace pattern and the general shape of the dress. It all works. I feel like I should buy it now and store it just in case. Of course, I might try it on (if the day ever comes) and decide I actually hate it.  

[BlondeIdol]

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This is the dress I'll be wearing when I get married in September. I swear the pictures here don't do it justice. Decided I am going to wear my hair up but still on the fence about shoes. 

We're not having a theme outside of classy and elegant but the wedding/reception will be taking place in one of my favorite buildings in my hometown. Everything is in the process of being planned and it's a bit of a headache but I don't care, I am super excited. 

[Jinder Roles]

 I love all of you and your beautiful dresses! 

I'd be happy to start another thread for everyone's wedding dresses and dresses that people like (if that's something anybody's interested in).  

I can't imagine being married and despite fantasizing constantly of wedding extravaganzas, I really dislike attention. I couldn't pull off these dresses, but here are some of my favorites:

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As you can tell, I don't understand the concept of subtle. 

Anybody know where I can find a rich husband and a instagram model whose body I can borrow for a day? 

Edited April 21, 2018 by Jinder Roles

[Ivycoveredtower]

1 hour ago, Jinder Roles said:

 I love all of you and your beautiful dresses! 

I'd be happy to start another thread for everyone's wedding dresses and dresses that people like (if that's something anybody's interested in).  

I can't imagine being married and despite fantasizing constantly of wedding extravaganzas, I really dislike attention. I couldn't pull off these dresses, but here are some of my favorites:

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As you can tell, I don't understand the concept of subtle. 

Anybody know where I can find a rich husband and a instagram model whose body I can borrow for a day? 

I love that last dress. so pretty. 

[CrazyCatLady]

I just got married last month. Small and informal and COLD.

 

 

 

 

[nastyhobbitses]

Not getting married anytime soon, but THIS is my dream dress:

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I'd want to make sure I can bustle it for dancing (or I'd just buy a less expensive cocktail dress for dancing), but I'd never want to take this dress off. Soft wavy updo for hair (maybe a jeweled Art Deco headpiece instead of a veil), some extra af heels, and an elegant but still fairly rollicking wedding. If I end up marrying my Godly Special Friend, I'll push for secular-but-incorporates-traditions ceremony, since between our two families, we rep all three Abrahamic religions, but neither of us are particularly religious despite feeling strong connections to our respective heritages. 

[catlady]

@CrazyCatLady, i love your dress and your shoes!  

[missaudrey]

Ah, my favourite topic - wedding dresses!! I am very much a single pringle, but I found this dress a few years ago while looking at modest mormon wedding dresses for the Duggar brides. It's my perfect dress. I adore the beading and have always wanted a dress that had sleeves. I'm not a fan of white dresses either, so I like that this is more of a blush colour.

 

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[Nargus]

On 4/20/2018 at 3:49 PM, singsingsing said:

I may or may not ever get married, but if I do, this is probably the dress I'll wear:

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I like that it's simple but not too simple, it has just enough embellishment, natural waist, scoop/sweetheart neckline, and sleeves. I like the lace pattern and the general shape of the dress. It all works. I feel like I should buy it now and store it just in case. Of course, I might try it on (if the day ever comes) and decide I actually hate it.  

I feel like you would really enjoy Naomi Neoh dresses.  

[neurogirl]

http://www.freejinger.org/topic/30982-fj-weddings/

I started a thread about weddings in Are You There FJ? (for members with 75+ posts). If I should move this thread to somewhere else (or delete it because it's not needed), please let me know. Otherwise, please head over there to discuss all things wedding!

On a different note, I found this blog post from a guest of Jill and Derick's wedding posted. Holy crowded reception, batman!

https://thecountrymuffin.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/dillard-duggar-wedding-pictures/

Edited May 1, 2018 by neurogirl

[VelociRapture]

4 hours ago, neurogirl said:

http://www.freejinger.org/topic/30982-fj-weddings/

I started a thread about weddings in Are You There FJ? (for members with 75+ posts). If I should move this thread to somewhere else (or delete it because it's not needed), please let me know. Otherwise, please head over there to discuss all things wedding!

On a different note, I found this blog post from a guest of Jill and Derick's wedding posted. Holy crowded reception, batman!

https://thecountrymuffin.wordpress.com/2014/08/17/dillard-duggar-wedding-pictures/

It was crowded, but at least it was outside so people could move around easily. Can you imagine cramming that many people inside for the reception? That’d be a nightmare.

(And more importantly, they had way too much cake for their guests. Too much cake is always a good thing.)

[freethemall]

Have we started predicting Lauren's dress? I'm sorry if I'm late to the game, but the predictions in the Bates thread about Carlin and Josie's dresses made me think about Lauren's. I don't have a good feel for her personality and style, but I would love to see her in something like this:

Though more realistically she'd pick something like:

(doesn't the last girl have a similar smile to Lauren?)

Generally I'm imagining lace, A-line skirt, maybe some tulle, some understated bling, and a fun detail like an illusion neckline.

[singsingsing]

I think I posted my predictions for Lauren a while back, but it kind of got buried, and as the wedding is now imminent I may as well share again! For whatever reason, I picture her in something like one of these dresses:

But like I said before, it'll probably be whatever Mz. Renee patches together. 

[Screamapillar]

47 minutes ago, freethemall said:

Have we started predicting Lauren's dress? I'm sorry if I'm late to the game, but the predictions in the Bates thread about Carlin and Josie's dresses made me think about Lauren's. I don't have a good feel for her personality and style, but I would love to see her in something like this:

 

I tried on this gown when I was shopping at BHLDN for my wedding! I felt like Grace Kelly. But ultimately decided it wasn't the best choice for an outdoor September wedding in Nashville. I actually went with the first dress I tried on but then put on about a dozen more because I was having the god damn time of my life.

BHLDN frequently has gowns that could almost maybe fit in the Duggars modesty standards. They usually show too much sinful lower back though.

[CrazyCatLady]

On 02/05/2018 at 7:50 PM, Screamapillar said:

I tried on this gown when I was shopping at BHLDN for my wedding! I felt like Grace Kelly. But ultimately decided it wasn't the best choice for an outdoor September wedding in Nashville. I actually went with the first dress I tried on but then put on about a dozen more because I was having the god damn time of my life.

BHLDN frequently has gowns that could almost maybe fit in the Duggars modesty standards. They usually show too much sinful lower back though.

That dress is stunning. Lauren would look great in that style.

[Pecansforeveryone]

1 hour ago, singsingsing said:

I think I posted my predictions for Lauren a while back, but it kind of got buried, and as the wedding is now imminent I may as well share again! For whatever reason, I picture her in something like one of these dresses:

But like I said before, it'll probably be whatever Mz. Renee patches together. 

I could see Lauren in one of those styles. For sure, I absolutely could have seen Joy in one of those dresses. Flowy and soft and outdoorsy.  Its one of the reasons I have said I don't "like" Joys wedding dress. It's an ok dress. It just didn't make Joy happy. All of the perks of fame and fortune and their ability to pick the "most important" dress of their life is so limited. Big sigh. 

[viii]

These dresses that every one have shared are absolutely beautiful! I'm kind of thankful I'll probably never wear one, because I don't think I could flatteringly pull off any of these dresses! (Or any wedding dress in general, tbh)