TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" star Michelle Duggar took to the family's blog last week to give advice on courtship and chaperones, and to reminisce about her wedding to Jim Bob nearly 30 years ago.
The Duggars recently celebrated the wedding of their daughter, Jill, and Jim Bob and Michelle will celebrate their anniversary on July 21. Michelle reflected on these milestones as she shared tips and anecdotes with her fans.
A "19 Kids and Counting" viewer asked: "How do you pick chaperones for each couple? Does it change depending on who is free that day or is there a designated chaperone for each couple?"
Michelle answered that any of her children over the age of 10 can accompany a courting couple. She also added that her daughters Jill and Jessa wrote courtship agreements and shared them with their chaperones for greater accountability.
"The chaperones then have clear guidelines for what is acceptable and what's not," Michelle shared. "They're the accountability. What that means is they're allowed to say, 'Hey, are you supposed to be doing that?'"
She also said that adult family members and friends of the family have served as chaperones.
"When Jill and Derick were courting, everyone went on a trip and Jill had to stay back for her midwifery work. But she still wanted to see Derick when he got off work," she recounted.
"So she called Ginny, a family friend, who was able to meet her and Derick at a restaurant and then they could all eat together.
"Grandma Duggar has also taken a few turns chaperoning, which is extra special for the girls. After a recent visit with Grandma as a chaperone Jill told me, 'Grandma gave me some amazing advice. Derick and I were just so encouraged by her wisdom.'
"So you see, chaperones can take lots of forms and are quite helpful in many ways! "
Jill and Derick were married on June 21.
On a blog post published July 3, Michelle described her own wedding day.
"My wedding to Jim Bob almost 30 years ago was sweet and simple," she began.
"I wanted to do as much as I could myself as a way to save money and keep the expenses reasonable. We didn't buy flowers and barely even decorated the hall. Our backdrop was a lattice that we had woven through with crepe paper.
"For the wedding cake, I made it myself and froze it. A friend decorated it for me using icing that she made with ingredients I bought for her. Another special touch was wearing Jim Bob's mother's wedding dress as my dress. Everything we did for our wedding was so inexpensive, but perfect for us."
