He Can Finally Kiss The Bride! Jill Duggar Marries Derick Dillard In Hometown Christian Ceremony
June 22 2014, Published 10:25 a.m. ET
Last night, bride Jill Duggar had her long-awaited first kiss!
After a strict Christian courtship, the 19 Kids and Counting star, 23, married fiancé Derick Dillard, 25, at the Cross Church in her hometown of Springdale, Arkansas, on Saturday afternoon.
The ceremony was a giant family affair: The bride's proud parents Jim Bob, 48, and Michelle, 47, and her 18 siblings all attended, with five sisters serving as bridesmaids, two brothers supporting Dillard as groomsmen, five brothers pitching in as ushers, and a sister and niece playing flower girl.
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"I'm very excited at this wedding," Jill's brother Jackson, 10, told People at the nuptials. "Derick is like a brother already. He tells jokes and he plays around with us."
The couple famously experienced a very conservative five-month courtship - waiting until their engagement to hold hands and sharing their first kiss at the altar- after Jim Bob introduced them via Skype.
"I think it is safer and makes it more special to wait to kiss until your wedding day," Jill explained to People when she began dating Dillard. "To save the physical side of your marriage for your wedding day and not going further than you should - we want to have no regrets."