19 Kids and Counting star Jana Duggar has tied the knot two months after getting engaged to fiancé Stephan Wissmann.
The oldest daughter in the family of 19 children celebrated her wedding on Thursday, August 15, in Prairie Grove, Arkansas, in front of 500 guests, according to People.
“I think it is one of those things that all girls envision someday,” Duggar, 34, told the outlet, two days before the ceremony. “For me, it felt like, ‘Okay, it’s never coming.’ But now it’s starting to sink in. Reality is starting to set in. And I’m like, ‘Wow, this truly is something that I’ve dreamed of.’ And just to see it coming about is incredible and kind of hard to believe. It’s a dream come true.”
Members of her large family were all featured in the wedding, including her sister Jessa Duggar Seewald as her maid-of-honor. Her sister-in-law, Abbie Duggar, and sisters Joy-Anna Forsyth, Johannah Duggar, Jinger Duggar Vuolo, and Jordyn Duggar were all bridesmaids.
The bride added that because both her and her fiancé come from large families – Wissmann is one of 13 siblings – their goal throughout the planning process was to keep the wedding simple and accommodate both families.
“The venue is already so gorgeous and picturesque that I didn’t want to take too much from that. The guys will be in black suits, the girls in champagne-colored dresses, and then just white flowers and greenery,” Duggar said. “Coming from two bigger families, we love to be able to get together and celebrate moments like these. And so to have all of them there, it just means a lot.”
The now-married couple first met through their families years before getting together. “[The Wissmann’s] would travel and sing. I remember them coming to our home, probably 13 or so years ago and they ended up getting snowed-in here, which hardly ever happens in Arkansas,” Duggar recalled.
“I remember just playing games late into the night, doing puzzles together until the snow melted off, and they were able to travel back home. I don’t really remember Stephen that well because I’m older than him and so he was not at all on my radar.”
They went on to briefly date before ending the relationship, although they did keep in touch and “talked to each other on and off over the years.”
Duggar and Wissmann reconnected when they became in-laws. Her brother, Jeremiah Duggar, and his sister, Hannah Wissmann, got married in 2022, which led to the two of them reevaluating their relationship. “It was like, ‘What are we doing? We still enjoy each other. We still really appreciate each other,’” Duggar said.
She explained that despite taking extra time to open up to her now-husband, he proved to her that he was worth it.
“I had been a slower mover on it, but just over time, his character, his coming back, still loving me no matter what,” the oldest Duggar daughter said. “I know we have a big crazy family and still kind of putting up with a lot of things. I’m like, my goodness, there are not too many people that do that. He must really, genuinely care about me.”
“It takes me a bit to open up, but I think just his continuing to be there, no matter what, through ups and downs. He’s been a good friend over the years and has not pressured me in a lot of ways,” she added.
Duggar’s family came to fame on the TLC reality show, 19 Kids and Counting. The series followed her parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, as well as their 19 children – all of whom have names that begin with J – and the family’s devout Christian faith.
The show ran from 2008 until its cancellation in 2015, following allegations that Josh Duggar – the eldest son of the Duggar family – molested five girls, including some of his sisters. He is currently in prison after being convicted in 2021 of one count of receiving and one count of possessing child pornography. He had pleaded not guilty.