'Finding Joy's Dress' Recap

Counting On "Finding Joy's Dress"

• It’s early May, and Michelle and the girls are packing for their trip to Mount Sterling, Kentucky. The Seewalds are also coming along, and Ben will entertain the boys while Jessa goes dress shopping with the ladies.
• The next morning, the group flies to Dallas to meet up with Jinger. “Duggar time is…we’re always late,” says Joy. “It’s very weird for us to ever be early anywhere. Ya, it’s really bad.”
• This will be Jinger and Jeremy’s first night apart since their wedding six months ago. “I think I’ll survive okay without Jinger,” says Jeremy. “I know it’s going to be tough without her being here, but I should be able to manage.”
• Dwayne, a contractor who knows both the Duggars and the Forsyths, meets Austin at the fixer-upper house that he and Joy have purchased. Some of the Duggar guys come over to help create a vaulted ceiling.
• Later, Austin, Jim Bob, Pastor Caldwell, and the Duggar brothers go skeet shooting. It’s a great opportunity for Joseph to connect with his future father-in-law. “Being Kendra’s father and being out here shooting with Joe, having a shotgun that looks like a machine gun is very advantageous,” says Pastor Caldwell. “I think every father should own at least one or two.”
• “Now that I’ve seen Mr. Jim Bob shoot, I’m going to make sure that I stay on his good side,” says Austin. He admits that he has stayed up talking with Joy past curfew and that he and Joy have gone over their 3-second sidehug rule.
• Joy, Michelle, Grandma, Jana, Jessa, Jinger, Ben, Spurgeon, Henry, Johannah, Jennifer, Jordyn, and Josie arrive in Mount Sterling. They gather for lunch at Spoonful of Sugar before heading next door to Renee’s bridal.
• Renee has designed six dresses for Joy to try on. When asked what he wants to see in the dress that Joy chooses, Austin responds: “Her in it coming down the aisle towards me on our wedding day.”
• The first dress is fitted with white lace over tan fabric. Everyone agrees that it’s beautiful, but Joy wants a different style.
• In the dressing room, Joy is overwhelmed and isn’t sure what she wants. “I called Austin and was like, ‘I don’t know what I want, and I feel bad because I don’t think any of these dresses are going to work, and Miss Renee has been working for such a long time,’” she says, admitting that shopping is not her thing. Austin encourages his bride-to-be and tells her that she will look beautiful in anything.
• Option #2 is a flowy, white, polka dot dress. Joy likes everything but the polka dots. “I was so thankful for my sisters’ input,” says Joy, who decides that she wants more of an A-line cut.
• Option #3 is a similar fit but with sleeves and all-over lace. It is very similar to Jinger’s wedding gown.
• Option #4 is similar but with less lace and more satin. While Joy is in the dressing room, Grandma spots a dress on the rack that has a skirt that she thinks Joy will like. The top is too revealing for the Duggars, so Renee puts the bottom with a different top, and Joy loves it.
• Renee fits Joy with a veil and hands her a bouquet of flowers. Dress shopping is complete!
• Joy changes back into her street clothes, and everyone gathers in a circle and shares memories and photos with the bride-to-be. “We knew your name long before you were born,” says Michelle. “Sandwiched in between all those boys was Joy, and really, you have lived up to your name.”
• “They each have a special personality and something about them that adds to the family, and when they leave, that’s missing,” says Jana. “And it’s really hard to adjust.”
• Jana tears up as she tells Joy how much she is going to miss her. When Jennifer’s turn comes around, she breaks down crying. “Jenny is the closest to Joy as far as the girls go,” says Jinger.  
• Down in Central America, Israel celebrates his second birthday by making a cake with Mom and Dad. They decorate it with OSU orange icing.