‘Counting On’: John David Duggar and Abbie Burnett’s First Wedding Kiss is Equally Awkward and Sweet
First kisses are usually a little bit awkward. After all, people need a little practice as they’re getting to know one another’s kissing styles. But in the case of John David Duggar and Abbie Burnett, their kiss was especially unique because it happened to be in front of all their family and friends.
John David Duggar, 28, is the eighth Duggar child to wed and the oldest groom so far. All his siblings have had similarly awkward – and public – first kiss experiences during their wedding ceremonies, which were viewed by hundreds of live guests and thousands of people watching TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting or Counting On. Still, the latest first kiss was especially intimate.
What was the kiss like?
When John David and his beautiful bride Abbie were pronounced man and wife, the groom took his time going in for the kiss. What followed was an extremely private yet public display of affection that left some people saying, “Awww!” and others thinking he should have saved the personal interaction for later.
John David very slowly kissed his bride on each hand, each shoulder, on the forehead, and on each cheek before finally planting a kiss on her lips. In all, he kissed her body seven times before the “real kiss” that sealed their marriage vows.
Did the couple plan their first kiss this way?
It’s clear that Abbie had no idea John David was planning to approach their first kiss in this unique way, which some Redditors described as, ‘foreplay.’ At one point during his slow and deliberate process, the camera catches Abbie saying, “You’re so silly.”
It’s obvious that Abbie expects him to kiss her on the lips right before he fakes her out and kisses her forehead instead.
How did the wedding guests react?
Family and friends who were watching this first kiss took it all as good fun and laughed enthusiastically as John David prolonged the moment until that long-awaited kiss on the lips. Once it finally happened, it lasted an appropriate 8 seconds – not too long and not too short.
It did fit with part of John David’s wedding vows, where he promised Abbie with these words: “I purpose to kiss you when you least expect it, at the most inopportune times, at the most random places we may be in the world. Just because I love you so much.”
This is how other Duggar first kisses happened
Other Duggars made headlines with their wedding kisses simply because it’s so rare for couples to wait until marriage for their first kiss in modern times. Some Duggar children opted for quick, chaste pecks on the lip, saving more intimate moments for later. Others – like Josiah Duggar and his wife Lauren – went all in on the first kiss moment. Josiah dipped his bride and kissed her deeply for a perfect photo-op moment.
Joy-Anna was pleased with her first kiss experience at her wedding. She said: “Austin and I’s first kiss was amazing. He did a good job — he put his hand up to my face just in case he missed and nobody could see. It felt very natural… It was amazing. Perfect.”
Who knows what the next Duggar family first kiss will be like!
