Jana Duggar Says It Was ‘Disheartening At Times’ Not Marrying Sooner: ‘Is it Me? Do I Have a Problem?’ (Exclusive)

Jana Duggar is getting candid about her fears of never finding the right person before she tied the knot with her new husband Stephen Wissmann.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the former Counting On star, 34, opened up about her relationship with Wissmann, 31, whom she married in a “classic, elegant” ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 15. in Prairie Grove, Arkansas.

The couple first connected through their large families who have have been longtime friends. They dated briefly a few years ago before going their separate ways. Despite breaking things off, Jana says she and Wissmann remained in touch and “talked to each other on and off over the years.” Jana’s brother Jeremiah Duggar is married Wissmann’s sister Hannah.

It wasn’t until earlier this year, when they reconnected again and fell in love. “It was like, ‘What are we doing? We still enjoy each other. We still really appreciate each other,’ ” she recalls. Wissmann popped the question on June 15.

Over the years, Jana, who is the eldest daughter of Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar, says she worried that getting married might not be in the cards for her.

“I think as I got older, it definitely came on more and more and it felt like, ‘Okay, this isn’t happening. Let me figure out something else, maybe I’m supposed to be doing something else,’ ” she says.

Part of that “something else” included going to college. Last year Jana enrolled in nursing school.

That’s been another interest of mine. And I was like, ‘You know what? Maybe this is more of the calling that I would be doing, and let me just pour myself into something,’ ” she adds.

Over the years, Jana says she “dated around,” but nothing ever materialized. “I’m just like, ‘What is it? Is it me? Do I have a problem?’

Then during her second semester of nursing school, she reconnected with Wissmann. “I had been a slower mover on it, but just over time, his character, his coming back, still loving me no matter what,” she says. “I know we have a big crazy family and still kind of putting up with a lot of things. I’m like, my goodness, there are not too many people that do that. He must really, genuinely care about me.”

The journey to marriage, she adds, “looks different for everyone.”

I know I’ve prayed for this for years and years and yeah, definitely been like, ‘What’s the matter? Why can’t I just…’ All of my siblings, most of them have been married in their early 20s,” Jana says, noting that she is by far “the oldest” of her siblings to get married.