Michael Bates Brandon Keilen wedding

[bekahdimples]

So I'm a few pages back so sorry if we are talking about something different.

However I'd like to share that because of culture/ geographic location I'm terrified about my wedding.

I'm from the west coast and my bfs family is from the south.

Im worried because my bfs mom described my bfs brothers wedding as fancy( you know Jane, she had to have a super fancy wedding).

From seeing the location ( barn lookinh/ idk what hall in a park) to my bf telling me people were sitting in rocking chairs and not a full meal I can tell we have different definitions of fancy.

Personally I am to stage scared to have more than a few people watching me.

[usmcmom]

About 2-3 prior to my wedding, my newly-turned-fundie cousin got married and it was a dry wedding. No alcohol, no dancing, no music, just a bunch of the pastors kids getting up to the microphone and reciting Bible verses. It was the most boring wedding in my life.

We hosted a dry wedding for my daughter. The venue she chose is owned by a church and they don't allow alcohol. It really is a highly coveted party spot because it is beautiful and they provide a catering team, linens, clean up, everything. Anyway, the first thing she said when she started planning was that she wanted her reception there. We did have a DJ and dancing (no Bible verses :? ). Some people had commented that they assumed nobody would dance since there was no alcohol but the dance floor was full until the very end of the party.

Twenty years ago, members of our church would never have dreamed of having dancing at a reception. Thankfully, this generation is shaking things up a bit and going with a live band or DJ. Let me tell you, some of our church elders can really move when that music starts. It's like they were just waiting for the young people to give them permission to lighten up a bit.

I'm not sure if we would have had alcohol if she'd chosen a different venue. I don't mind a reception with a bar, but I have been to a few weddings where the wedding party was already drunk by the time the toasts began and things got really raunchy really fast. I remember seeing the heartbreak on the face of a father-of-the-bride as a best man became really crude about the bride during his toast. I had fears of that happening and, to be honest, was glad we didn't have to worry about it or about getting a bunch of young people safely back to their hotels after a night of drinking. Speaking for my husband the CPA...we also saved a TON of money by skipping the alcohol.

[nastyhobbitses]

Ok the flower girl dresses are ugly. And why do the pink bridesmaid dresses have no tiers and the beige ones do?

Also where'd the pic come from? I want to see more like that (and another angle if possible).

The pink dresses are lovely. The brown dresses are very Maria Von Trapp Couture. I don't get why they couldn't have gotten mini versions of the pink dresses for the girls (maybe with slightly fuller skirts), and then put all the bridesmaids in pink with different colored sashes. Those brown dresses are just tragic.

[RosyDaisy]

Those tiered dresses looks like something my great-grandmother wore as a young woman.

[RosyDaisy]

I'm pretty sure the wedding guests were just so giddy about being invited to a fundie royalty wedding that they would have eaten horse shit and drank horse piss.

[LurkerOverThePond]

Who is the young lady in the front of the picture in the black and pink dress? It's a beautiful outfit! I love the shoes and the dress.

Not sure but I think that's one of Brandon's sisters.

[VinieRozzz]

Not sure but I think that's one of Brandon's sisters.

Yes it's one of Brandon's sister : Amber

Her instagram : https://instagram.com/rainingsunbeams/?hl=fr

I thought Brandon's family was skirt only, but apparently it's not the case.

[Mama Mia]

Couple questions/observations:

We are on page 17 and no one has even mentioned whether or not "Mr. Gothard" was there. I am betting he was but all the good l'il ATI-ers were informed not to snap him

I think the tiered dresses would have been okay as midi-dresses. The tiers should have not gone to the ground. I just wonder if they were meant to be shorter but since the girls are so small, they didn't realize that and thought they were floor length?

Alyssa looks so much older than 19- I don't mean she looks old, but she looks more like mid-late 20s. I was like that as well, and looked about 25 from the time I was 16 until I was around 35. Oddly, I think Erin used to look older but the baby seems to have reverse-aged her - she looks about 16 now!

They definitely said Erin was playing piano but suddenly became a bridesmaid.

Michael looks so much like Erin in some of those shots- I never realized how much they look alike.

Yeah, Bradley is cute as hell.

.

So the bridesmaids were Kelly, Jana, and the Bates sisters down to Tori?

I am not seeing any pics of Jeb, who is the only fundie I really like.

I had exactly these same observations :)

I thought it was really strange they had baby Bradley, but not brother Jeb. Maybe he's known as a runner, or tends to freeze in that kind of situation ?

[formergothardite]

I'm wondering if Gothard was there too. Was he at Alyssa's wedding? I know they gave him his own cake at Erin's wedding.

[Peas n carrots]

Those.bridesmaids.dresses. These are in the running for the most fug yet. Especially the brown things on the flower girls. It's a brown nightmare!

[GeoBQn]

usmcmom, I'm with you on the fear of a wedding reception getting out of hand with the drinking. I was reading the book "Save the Date: The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest" because I'm at the tail-end of the time in my life when I'm going to multiple friend weddings a year. I thought it would have cute observations of wedding industry and culture. The book stopped being cute when I got the sense that the author had a drinking problem she wasn't willing to acknowledge. Every single story of something bad happening at a wedding began with her saying, "I drank too much."

[nokidsmom]

Those.bridesmaids.dresses. These are in the running for the most fug yet. Especially the brown things on the flower girls. It's a brown nightmare!

Seriously, I can't believe those things were chosen. The non-tiered version is better but those tiered ones? Just no.

Waiting to see a clearer pic of Michael's dress. I can't so far tell how they made this one more modest. Erin's modest alteration was a mess (it ruined a nice dress IMHO) and it was very obvious, Alyssa's was much better, it blended with her dress more.

[mango_fandango]

Those flower girl dresses.... eesh. Those are ugly as f. It's a bit of departure from tradition- in every other Bates/Duggar wedding the flower girls have been in white, either with a coloured sash or not, except with Zach and Whitney's where the flower girls were in light grey with black sashes. Slightly depressing colours, but the dresses were in a classy style. I liked the colour theme of that wedding.

But those dresses... seem worse to me than the pink 'n' blue psychedelia of Alyssa's nuptials. At least those dresses were in a simple style.

[nokidsmom]

This thread has me wondering in general about how many bridesmaid dresses sit in some fundie girl's closets. Especially given that a lot of them are some variation of plain, basic, homesewn short sleeved things. These from Michael's wedding are going to be an exception in terms of style but one that I hope will be not worn again.

[Jana814]

I'm wondering if Gothard was there too. Was he at Alyssa's wedding? I know they gave him his own cake at Erin's wedding.

Really they have him his own cake? Was he at Erin's wedding.

[BirthingGodsWarriors]

Really they have him his own cake? Was he at Erin's wedding.

He was at Erin's wedding, and iirc it was on or very near got hard's birthday.

[BirthingGodsWarriors]

I don't usually post back to back like this, but found another pic of the dresses to share. It appears that only Kelly and Erin wore the brown bridesmaid dresses.

This photo was found on the Bates tumblr.

[HarleyQuinn]

Those bridesmaid dresses (Especialy Kelly and Erin's, guessing they were different because they were maid/matron of honor?) are hideous. Those are even worse than Jill's bridesmaid dresses.

[19 cats and counting]

I will admit the pink dresses are growing on me. Vintage like style, but would have worked better if they weren't ankle length.

The brown ones are awful.

[slickcat79]

The pink bridesmaid dress is also available in both taupe and chocolate. I'm not sure why they wouldn't go that route :?

daintyjewells.com/a-night-in-paris-more-colors/?page_context=category&faceted_search=0

I still don't like the pink ones for a southern summer, but all of them look better at a knee or calf length.

ETA: I actually think the tiered dresses look better on the little girls. You can kind of get a pass on a skirt full of ruffles when you're like 6, although the color is still not good. I wonder how Carlin (and maybe one other girl?) lucked out with the navy dress. A basically sleeveless dress in a neutral color? Yes, please.

[thiscouldabeenme]

I find this thread interesting too! I think areas of the country (US) definitely play into the wedding "etiquette" and "culture". I'm laughing a bit as I read too. We are from the east coast. Our daughter got married in a much-ridiculed "pinteresty" barn wedding: very vintage, outdoors, mason jars, bunting, the whole nine yards. The wedding was at 6:30 p.m. We had an hors d'oeuvre and cake reception with a candy bar. We had about 140 guests and everyone was invited to the reception. We had MANY out of town guests as our SIL is from the midwest. I felt no compunction to feed them a meal or house them or anything else. They were invited and they had a choice to attend. I don't feel like a wedding invitation means we have to give them a meal, and I'm not sure where that comes from. We had people FLY in from California, Florida, New York and we didn't serve a meal. We also (gasp!) did not have seats for everyone. The barn doors were wide open and people were milling about dancing/eating/greeting one another. I didn't notice anyone looking about for a seat. In fact, most of the seats were empty because people were up and about, dancing, etc. Apparently, we broke a lot of rules (ha ha!) but the wedding was featured on the popular Style Me Pretty blog so we must have done something right. :-) We didn't serve alcohol either as neither the bride or groom was old enough to drink!

A friend's daughter got married a few months later in the midwest. It was a church wedding with not one flower other than the bridesmaids' bouquets. It featured several congregational hymns and the reception was cake and popcorn in the church fellowship hall. The wedding was at 1 p.m. It wasn't my style, but it was what they wanted and they were/are married and happy as clams! I think it was largely simple because they have five daughters and didn't want to set a precedent of lavish, expensive weddings (even though money is not an issue). Since then, another daughter has gotten married, and her wedding was even more simple than the first, if that's possible!

I think it boils down to what many have said above: if the couple is happy, the wedding shouldn't matter to anyone else! It would never occur to me to be offended by not being served a meal at someone's wedding. Nor would I care if there was alcohol! It isn't up to me! I think it's an honor to be considered close enough to the happy couple to be included on the guest list. I go to celebrate with them and witness their happy day. If I'd rather not give up my day or I feel the need for a plated meal that I'm not going to get, then I don't go. Simple as that!

[HarleyQuinn]

The pink bridesmaid dress is also available in both taupe and chocolate. I'm not sure why they wouldn't go that route :?

daintyjewells.com/a-night-in-paris-more-colors/?page_context=category&faceted_search=0

I still don't like the pink ones for a southern summer, but all of them look better at a knee or calf length.

They paid almost $100 for those things? Wow.

[for_the_Kitties]

They paid almost $100 for those things? Wow.

Even the dresses my bridesmaids wore were not $100... And they came from a specialty shop in a particular color. BM's picked out the style together after I chose the color. It was a winter wedding so we were stuck with a beautiful dark green as our color since the venue already had decorations out for Christmas and we saved a boatload of money by leaving them.

[Diana]

I love the bridesmaid dresses, the wedding dress on the other hand is even more ugly now that we have a full view. Shame because the ones she tried on the preview of next episode look really good.

[SassyPants]

usmcmom, I'm with you on the fear of a wedding reception getting out of hand with the drinking. I was reading the book "Save the Date: The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest" because I'm at the tail-end of the time in my life when I'm going to multiple friend weddings a year. I thought it would have cute observations of wedding industry and culture. The book stopped being cute when I got the sense that the author had a drinking problem she wasn't willing to acknowledge. Every single story of something bad happening at a wedding began with her saying, "I drank too much."

I have been to 9 weddings in the last 4 years- nieces, nephews, a daughter, a BIL... all of them very nice and upscale weddings, and there has been a drunk person, fall down. In most instances, a woman.