Jana Duggar is letting fans in on the early days of her romance with now-husband Stephen Wissman, where it’s clear that they opted against a traditional courtship.
Duggar, 34, uploaded a YouTube video titled “Surprising My Boyfriend at Work” on Saturday, August 24, in which she and two of her younger sisters road-tripped to Nebraska to meet up with Wissman, 31, when he was at work installing an irrigation system.
In the video, Duggar FaceTimed Wissman to figure out where on the job site he was. Once he realized that the Counting On alum was in town, he hopped in his truck to find her. “[It] made his whole day — and mine,” Duggar gushed in a caption.
When they first saw one another, Duggar and Wissman ran toward each other and embraced in a front-facing hug. Moments later, she joined him in his car and they held hands during the entire drive. Both actions were subtle ways that Duggar broke tradition.
Duggar’s family — she is the eldest daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, who are parents of 19 — typically dates in courtships. The romances are often categorized by certain rules, including going on dates with chaperones, no hand-holding or other forms of PDA and only greeting one another with side hugs.
Jana calling Wissman “[her] boyfriend,” embracing front hugs and holding hands — not to mention wearing jeans in public — are clear ways that the pair opted to break from her family’s tradition.
Jana and Wissman wed in Arkansas earlier this month, making her the 12th Duggar sibling to walk down the aisle.
“I think it is one of those things that all girls envision someday,” Jana recalled to People. “For me, it felt like, ‘OK, 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.”
Now that Jana and Wissman have said “I do,” she relocated to his native Nebraska. In Saturday’s YouTube video, Jana explained that her visit was set up to handle “some stuff for house projects.”
“Follow along for our house tour,” a caption at the end of the video read, teasing the next step in the pair’s marital journey. “Coming soon!”
Jana and Wissman had known one another for years as their parents are family friends — Jana’s brother Jeremiah Duggar is even married to Wissman’s sister Hannah Wissman — before their bond turned romantic. Eventually, Jana realized that Stephen was The One and they got engaged earlier this summer.
