Jill Duggar married Derick Dillard at the Cross Church in her hometown of Springdale, Arkansas, with a full congregation of more than 1,000 family and friends present.
There has been a lot of anticipation leading up to the wedding due to the nature of the pairs relationship. Jill is the second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle of TLC’s hit reality show 19 Kids & Counting . The large family was thrust into the spotlight and frequently is the topic of debate due to their highly publicized faith. In fact, Jill followed a strict set of guidelines for “courtship” and saved her first kiss for the big wedding day. According to People Magazine , the ceremony did end when the couple sealed it with a kiss.
With such a large family, it is no surprise that Jill’s brothers and sisters filled the wedding stage. Five of her sisters were bridesmaids, two brothers were groomsmen, her sisters and a niece served as flower girls, five brothers were ushers and a brother and nephew shared ring-bearer responsibilities.
The couple has been busy for the past few weeks , but just 12 hours prior to the wedding, Derick Dillard tweeted:
Can’t wait to marry the most wonderful girl in the whole world in just 12 hrs!! Praise The Lord!! pic.twitter.com/K9I9mSVmVe
— Derick Dillard (@derick4Him) June 21, 2014
He wasn’t the only one excited about the nuptials. Jill’s brother Jackson, 10, told People Magazine:
I’m very excited at this wedding. Derick is like a brother already. He tells jokes [and] he plays around with us.
It didn’t take Jill long to make her new last name known. Jill’s Instagram account is already touting the Dillard name along with her official Twitter handle changing to @JillMDillard .
People Magazine posted the first photo of Jill Duggar-Dillard in her wedding dress. The dress has beautiful lace details with Derick sporting a light grey suit with peach boutonniere and tie to match the bouquet.
The couple first met in Nepal after Derick had worked in missions with Jim Bob. After communicating with each another via email and Skype, the pair began courting. The Duggar family adheres to strong Christian beliefs. Their set of beliefs mean that they wait for specific physical actions to take place during different stages of the relationship. Side-hugging is as close as the couple gets in the courtship phase. Hand holding is reserved for engagement and the kiss left for the wedding day.
Jill’s sister Jessa is also adhering to the guidelines with her current courtship with Ben Seewald.
The newlyweds plan to honeymoon at an undisclosed location.
[Photo Credit: People Magazine ]