Almost a year ago exactly, Britney Spears’ little sister Jamie Lynn Spears announced her second engagement. She was only 21 years old then, and a single mother of daughter Maddie. One year later, Jamie Lynn got hitched. Maddie, just five-and-a-half years old, was her flower girl/bridesmaid, I think. Jamie Lynn married a man named Jamie Watson, who is nine years older than her. He looks older than that, I know. But they’ve apparently been together for a while and judging solely from JLS’s Instagram, he seems like a nice, normal dude and he spends a lot of time with Maddie, which is nice.
She’s a Southern bride – and couldn’t be more glowing. Jamie Lynn Spears wed businessman Jamie Watson on Friday in New Orleans. Celebrating at a reception at the Audubon Tea Room, the newlyweds – he in a dark suit with a silky tie, she in a v-neck Liancarlo gown – cut into a five-tiered cake dotted with sugared roses. Jamie Lynn’s 5½-year-old daughter Maddie stood next to the couple in her own white dress.
Guests – including NASCAR’s Ricky Carmichael and Fox Racing President and CEO Pete Fox – were gifted beer cozies emblazoned with “Jamie Lynn & Jamie March 14, 2014” as favors. A colorful assortment of roses decorated the tables, which were also glowing with candles from glass votives.
The 22-year-old bride’s gown was purchased at I Do Bridal Couture in Baton Rogue, the store confirmed on Instagram in January.
“Finally found my perfect dress,” she shared on Instagram in January along with a photo of herself holding both Maddie and a bag from the store as she stood next to mom Lynne. The wedding comes a year after Jamie Lynn excitedly shared her engagement news on Instagram. The duo had been dating on and off for three years, Watson, 31, told the New York Post last year.
The younger Spears sister made her mark as a teenager when she starred on Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101, but left the show after it was revealed she was pregnant at 16. She moved in and became engaged to Maddie’s father, Casey Aldridge, although the duo split in 2010 – the same year she began dating Watson.
Us Weekly says Britney and David Lucado were there and that Britney wore silver. The wedding was “intimate”. Oh, and Jamie included her nephews Sean Preston and Jayden James in the wedding party too, they followed Maddie down the aisle. Jamie Lynn carried a bouquet of white and pink peonies. I would imagine that Papa Spears would have given her away, but Us Weekly makes no mention of that, so I don’t know. Jamie Lynn cried during the vows and at the reception, there was a REAL CAKE. With five tiers and lots of sugar. HUZZAH.
Basically, I’m completely fine with all of this. I wish Jamie Lynn well, and all the happiness in the world. I think the Spears family sort of dealt with Jamie Lynn’s 16-and-pregnant stuff the right way: they took her home to Louisiana and let her figure it out in privacy. She seems to adore her daughter and she found a nice, steady man who will probably be a great stepfather to Maddie. This is as close as we’re going to come to a Southern fairy-tale ending. My only “WTF?” is that they’re both named Jamie. Not to mention Papa Spears is named Jamie too. THREE JAMIES.
Photos courtesy of Jamie Lynn Spears’ IG.
Look at the second photo of the groom. NFW he is 30.
The headline says he’s 31 😉
He looks 40 to me but I’m happy for her. He’s normal and loves her kid.
What gave it away? The double chin or the paunch?
Lots of men hit the wall at 30 and have double chin/paunch. We need to stop perpetuating the myth that they age well because most men don’t, actually.
@DJ-biggest surprise was my 10 year high school reunion-the girls looked amazing, and the guys already looked paunchy and balding. I’m getting ready to go to my 30 year (gulp) in the fall-should be interesting to see how everyone looks then.
@HappyMom
That’s because most dudes think they’re FINE. No matter what. I would love to have that kind of confidence.
If she has found a more normal, contented life, then good for her (and them). I think her older sister could benefit from the same approach (getting back to their roots and finding some normalcy away from a constant spotlight).
Congrats to both! I wish them a long, love filled and happy marriage.
I agree.
Good, kind Frida says: Oh, that’s really nice for her…I wish them well!
Evil, snarktastic Frida says: Well, my goodness. He sure does not look 31, does he? His chin is disappearing into his neck already…this isn’t going to end pretty at all, is it? … Bless their hearts.
I don’t have an issue with the age difference. Party because I feel she had to grow up fast when she had her daughter. As long as he’s good to her daughter and they’re solid then I wish them well.
Is it weird that from her perspective, I can understand being attracted (physically and emotionally) to an older, successful, sturdy guy but from his perspective, I sort of wonder what draws a 31 year old man to a 22 year old with a 5 year old child? Of course, I don’t know her from a whole in the wall. She’s likely pretty mature but I just wonder how it came to be that he figured that out. I guess the initial courting stage baffles me a bit.
Anyhow, is his name really James? Time to go by that, if it is.
I see your point, but I would be far more suspicious of a 22 year old who was interested in a woman with a 5 year old child. A 31 year old man I can actually believe is ready to settle down and have a family. And since she’s been raising a child all these years, she’s not a typical 21 year old, so this age difference seems appropriate to me.
Plus they might’ve known each other, or at least known each other’s families for years……so it might not’ve been like they just met a year ago…..
The idea that he knew her when she was even younger than 21 somehow doesn’t make me feel better about it but I can see what you mean.
@Marigold
Oooh, I didn’t even think about it like *that*. I was just thinking that they might’ve lived in a close, tight knit community, where everyone knows everyone–but I have no clue how true that is.
Does she look like Ashley Simpson in the 1st pic to anyone else?
And good for her. She seems quiet and stable.
No but her daughter looks like Harvey Weinstein in the face… especially the eyes.
Normally I’d say that she’s too young to be married, however she had a baby at 16 or 17 and seems pretty mature for her age. She probably had to grow up quickly seeing how dysfunctional her family is. Hopefully marriage will give her some stability.
I hope so, too. She looks sweet, and I hope he can bring some stability to both their lives. Was that sexist? I just meant her family doesn’t seem the most stable, and I hope he is.
I agree with you and it is a miracle that Jaime didn’t end up like her sister. I mean she was headed down that path but she must have a a strength beyond her years to have been able to turn that disastrous teen situation around and be able to cope and be a good mom despite having Hollywood famewhores for parents. I say that because I blame them for forcing Britney into all tat stuff as a little girl. Jaime looks amazing in that black blazer outfit.
He looks quite a bit like John-boy Walton so good on Jamie 🙂
She’s a country singer now. HML
She is such a beautiful girl. I wish them well.
All the best!
I like this story, and don’t care that he is a little older. She has been through more than most her age and probably relates really well with him. She is quiet and keeps Maddie out of the spotlight, like a good parent should. I have more respect for her than most celebrities.
I feel sad for her sister, she is so damaged.
We all thought Brit was the lucky sister but the industry ate her up. Jamie ended up the lucky one.
+1
I’d been reading on another site that Britney’s conservators were granted an emergency 6 million dollar loan last week, and rumors were that it was for a Brit wedding this weekend. Obviously not. Now I wonder what the 6 m was for.
This is a perfect example of how age is relative. This young woman has worked since childhood and raised her own child since her teen years. I don’t know much about Jamie Lynn, but I really respected that she disappeared from the spot light and left L.A. I think she was too young to have a baby, but the baby happened, that was her choice, and she had plenty of money to raise a child with.
She seems to have a good head on her shoulders and I think she probably knows what she wants out of a husband and marriage. Again, she doesn’t need the financial support of marriage, so she’s marrying for love and to create a family for her own child. Congrats to all three of them!
Jamie, Jamie (wtf) and Maddie all look very happy!!! I wish them the best!!! I wish Britney could find happiness! Her eyes always look dead, like there is nothing behind them….
Brit’s dad’s name is Jamie too.
ITAWY regarding Brittany.. but I don’ t think people on general realize how a mental break changes you. I see the same thing with Mariah Carey just on a different level. To me Mariah has never been the same. She just took on a different persona; all little girl thing. I find it very sad in some way. Something changes in you and I don’t think Brittany will ever be the Brittany of old. She just has to find the new person she will be from now on.
I never thought about Mariah in that light, but you’re absolutely right. Neither of these two need to be in the spotlight anymore. It would be nice if they could just enjoy their money and relax a little.
I love these pics of them. She looks so happy and so grown up. Wow! She’s always seemed so proud to be Britney’s lil sis. It’s cute!
I’m a bit confused with the ‘hardship” she has gone through. Yes she got pregnant as a teen. But she was not kicked out on the streets. She didnt’ have to quit school and work to support her baby. She was way more fortunate than most girls that have kids this young. She lived with her family and I’m sure she never had to worry one second about where she was going to sleep or if her child would go hungry or not. So yes it must have been a hard time to some degree; but hardly the hardship that comes with this situation on a whole
She seems very happy and in love. Good for her and congrats to them both.
I know a couple of girls who got pregnant during college ( older than Jamie, but they still haven’t finished their education, teenage mums are rare here) and not a single one had to leave school or worry where she would sleep. They all had parents who took care of them and their baby. Almost all of them had boyfriends who took responsibility too.
My parents told me that if, God forbid, something like that ever happened to me, they would be very disappointrd, but there is no way in hell I would give up my education.
So I would say that the way Jamie was treated was pretty standard given the situation.
Congratulations!
On another note… That’s a whole lot of Jamies.
Wish her happiness, but do all these girls have serious daddy issues or what?
‘let her figure it out in privacy’
they sold her pregnancy story to a tabloid and baby photos months later. how is that private? jamie lynn’s mom sold her out, just like she sold out britney. kris kardashian is very similar, fame and fortune over her kids well being
I feel bad for Jaime Lynn in the name department. Britney got an actual, individual name, but then for their second daughter the parents were like, “dad’s name is Jaime, mom’s name is Lynn, lets put them together because we’re too lazy to think up a real name and call the new girl Jaime Lynn!”
Egh, the age difference doesn’t bother me. Probably because I was 30 and my husband 39 when we got married. Maybe it seems weird now, because “22” seems super-young, but like other people have said, she is probably a bit more mature than your average early-twenty-something. For some reason, she seems more “stable” to me than the rest of her family, despite the teenage pregnancy.
I don’t know how mature you are when you are 22, with or without a 5 year old kid. But hopefully it will be a good marriage for both. How old was Britney when she got married?
They seem happy! How wonderful for Jamie. I’m not bothered by the age difference at all; it’s really not that big a gap objectively(nine years will be nothing in ten or twenty years…), and subjectively, she’s mature for her age because she’s been a mom for awhile and made big life decisions around that. Does he have a brother for Britney? LOL. This is the kind of life I wanted for Britney. Chill and quiet in Louisiana with a normal Southern guy and her kids, and maybe a country album and short tour every few years…
‘Guests…were gifted beer cozies emblazoned with “Jamie Lynn & Jamie March 14, 2014″ as favors.’
This is totally an aside, but I have to ask as this something I have never understood about this all too common part of weddings: Do people getting married actually believe that their guests want to be given a bunch stuff with YOUR names and wedding date written/inscribed on them?? The (seemingly obvious) truth is, we don’t. Just being honest.
Now yes, to be given a gift at all at the wedding is nice, but for those of us normal, non-celeb folk who are planning out weddings and don’t have unlimited budgets, why bother? Bride/groom/wedding date inscribed tokens are not something people really know what to do with but will probably feel bad for just tossing right away if they are close to you. This ‘tradition’ is just not something I have ever understood and seems like a huge waste of money to me. (Why not just give everyone unadorned versions of the favors you had in mind instead?) Idk. It’s just perplexing to me. That’s all…
Eh, when my uncle got married, he got all of the bridesmaids and groomsmen a beer mug with their names and the wedding date on it,……it was a glass mug with silver in the front–you can put it in the freezer. Honestly, I wouldn’t care. Free stuff is free stuff. If you don’t want it, you put it in a drawer away or in the corner of the basement. I think it’s a nice thing.
As I recall when Jamie Lynn there were (and remain) rumors about who the real father of Maddie was. There were stories that the age appropriate reported father was paid to say this. That would be her first fiancée. Don’t know if its true or not.
I will say that time massages history. She had a successful show, a burgeoning music career & always seemed more stable than Britney.
Yes-I remember the rumors. That she got pregnant from a much older “Hollywood” guy-like somebody involved with her show-and that they paid off that kid to say he was the father. Allegedly. So sad if true.
If the rumors are true I just hope that kid they paid off doesn’t have to pay child support on a kid that’s not his.
It’s like the Spears sisters age in dog years- both look far older than they are. Hollywood can be a rough place.
Funny how we’re so easy to accept a man being this much older than a woman, but if had been the other way around, the title for sure would have the tag “cougar” in it. The best to her though, seems like she has an old soul, so being with someone older will do her and daughter good.
“This is as close as we’re going to come to a Southern fairy-tale ending.” This came across as offensive. The Spears family isn’t so refined. Does it need to be said, however, that all Southerners aren’t country folk with rebel flags on their pickups and double first names?
I hope she’s finally truly happy.
They look like a nice couple. Hope they have a long and happy marriage.
Jamie Lynn Spears also has a surprisingly good country song out now called How Could I Want More. She cowrote it, and though it was originally self-released it’s actually getting good buzz and positive reviews. She would probably need to sign an official label deal to really make an impact on radio. There’s definitely interest and I’ve heard she may have chosen one, a big name independent label. If she does, odds are her country career lasts longer and goes more respectably than Jessica Simpson’s did, at least.
Congrats to the couple on their marriage.
Wonder if this means she’ll no longer be touring? She did a “Southern swing” back in late 2013 in smaller venues. Anyhoo, good luck to the happy couple.