When Josiah Duggar got engaged, fans of the show were quick to jump to conclusions. He and his new fiancee, Lauren Swanson, had only been courting for six weeks before the big announcement. Plus, Josiah had just recently gotten out of a different courtship.
The quick timing had some questioning the motives of the young couple. They assumed that they only have one thing on the brain.
"He's probably desperate to get some, he is 21 after all lol. Only so much side hugging those kids can take!"
"Wow. You don't even know someone well enough after 6 weeks to get engaged. They will get married in like 2 months now."
A little less than four months after their engagement, the couple wed on June 30th at John Brown University Cathedral of the Ozarks in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
The couple made sure to include their family in every element of the big day. The ceremony was officiated by Lauren's father Dwain Swanson, while her eight bridesmaids wore dresses handmade by Jana Duggar and Josh Duggar's wife Anna.
"What a joy it is to be husband and wife! Our wedding day was absolutely perfect," Josiah told People. "What was even more perfect was to see my beautiful bride walking down the aisle. We are so thankful the Lord has brought us to this place and we can't wait to begin our journey as husband and wife!"
One of the biggest moments in a Duggar wedding, and really any wedding for that matter. Since the Duggar children don't engage in kissing before marriage, the first kiss as a married couple is also the first kiss in general.
On a recent episode of Counting On, which was filmed at Josiah and Lauren's wedding, Josiah and his brother Joseph, who is also newly married, talked about the anticipated first kiss.
"As far as the first kiss goes, I mean, I'm sure you can figure it out," Joseph said. "It's not really that complicated."
"I asked her just to stay still...and then kind of go with it," Josiah admitted. "I was thinking, you know what? I wonder what it feels like. So I practiced on my hand."
"I think practicing on my hand was just to see what it felt like from her side "” you can't kiss a tree and expect to see what it's going to feel like for her," Josiah continued. "So if you kiss on your hand, you can feel...like, "˜Okay, maybe I should make my lips more full,' or whatever, and kind of think of it from that perspective. You've got to think about it!"
"It is interesting to think this is the first day in my life I get to kiss a girl, right smack dab on the lips," Josiah said. "I mean, it's special. It really is a special moment for us, and I'll try to make sure it's not just a peck "” I'll make sure it's good."
The Duggars have been open about their no-kissing rule, with sisters Jessa and Jill explaining the reasoning.
"We want to save the physical side of our relationship for our wedding day and not go further than we should," Jill Duggar (now Dillard) said during her engagement. "Obviously, you can kiss and not have sex. It's about setting a higher standard so you don't struggle [with temptation]."
"It's hard sometimes," Jessa echoed during her engagement. "I won't say there isn't a desire to kiss my man."
But once they're married? Kissing is totally fine. It's all about saving yourself for that one person you'll spend the rest of your life with.
We all understand the nervousness that comes with our first kiss, and I bet it's even more terrifying when it's in front of everyone you know.
Now that the couple is married we're bound to see a lot more smooching and PDA from the lovebirds. It seems as though once the Duggar kids get hitched they are more than happy to pose for some make-out session photos for all of us to see.
Even Michelle and Jim Bob are guilty of posting kissing photos.
I guess, can we really blame them? I can't imagine what it's like to only be allowed to 'side-hug' my future spouse until marriage.
Did you wait until marriage to kiss your spouse? What do you think of the Duggar's strict rules for their kids? Let us know!
[H/T: InTouchWeekly]
