Happy 14th Anniversary Melanie and Nathan Maxwell!

[princessmahina]

22 minutes ago, kpmom said:

I know we've had this discussion before, but whenever I read the wedding report I'm always so surprised how skimpy the amount of food at the reception.

I'm sure the wedding and reception took several hours and all they served was nuts and mints.

Some FJers said that was typical of some weddings in their neck of the woods.  I've never been to a wedding where there was less than a full meal.

It must be a regional thing.

Although now that I think of it I believe there was a full buffet at Christopher and Joseph's wedding, wasn't there?

If they did it traditionally, where the bride's family pays for the wedding food, the Mahers may not have been able/wanted to pay for a whole buffet. 

I imagine if Sarah, Anne, or Mary ever got married (lol), the Maxwells would put on a meagre spread. One burrito and a half a piece of wedding cake for everybody!

[nausicaa]

9 minutes ago, princessmahina said:

If they did it traditionally, where the bride's family pays for the wedding food, the Mahers may not have been able/wanted to pay for a whole buffet. 

I imagine if Sarah, Anne, or Mary ever got married (lol), the Maxwells would put on a meagre spread. One burrito and a half a piece of wedding cake for everybody!

That's a good point--we've never actually seen a wedding where the Maxwells were paying. God I want one of those girls to get married so badly, for so many varied snark reasons. 

Also, looking at all of these photos of a younger Melanie make me realize just how much she looks like Christina. 

[Toothfairy]

14 years of hell. Gee you would think Steve would let go. Unfortunately  Nathan is too brain washed. Steve is an asshole. And his poor grandkids have to live in a hell hole. 

 

What parent would allow her daughter  to marry into a hellhole? What's with Melanies  family?

[Rosie]

5 hours ago, Screamapillar said:

My favorite Maxwellian minutia from the wedding report:

 

I have tears in my eyes, I am laughing so hard!  No-pulp punch!  Yogurt!  Oil change and tune-up!

[salex]

5 hours ago, CyborgKin said:

I've heard an older lady tell the story of after exchanging three letters with a young man, he decided to travel internationally (Australia to Europe (he had previously emigrated from a different part of Europe)) to meet her and he bought two return tickets.  They got married within a couple of weeks of meeting in person, I think.  She says they "met on the spiritual Internet, decades before there was an Internet"   Anyhow, it was a cute story, and an example that you don't necessarily need months of courtship.  (OTOH, marriages can fail dismally after long courtships, leading me to conclude that how and how long you court or date or whatever has less bearing on marriage success than other factors.)

I met my husband on Sept 30 and married him early the following June.  We started talking about marriage the weekend we met, I broke up with the guy I'd been dating for a year and a half ish, and was engaged to husband to be by Thanksgiving, much to my parent's dismay.  We lived in different cities, ran up big phone bills (long distance was expensive in olden days) and have lived happily ever after.  

I NEVER would have believed in "love at first sight"--it ws alien to my personality and my goals at the time. I've read a few research pieces on it, and when it hits it can give a halo effect that lasts...whatever it was, it seems to have worked out well for me!. 

Love is a funny thing, LOL!

 

[Guest]

Quote

Here are some of the comments we heard after the wedding.

"It was so holy."
"We loved the ceremony."
"I can't believe it was really their first kiss."
"The bride and groom dismissing us by rows was great."
"The weather is unbelievable!"

LOL, I like to think that person was so freaked out by the Maxwells that this is the best they could come up with while still sounding polite.

[CyborgKin]

I hope love at first sight is real, cos I don't like my chances otherwise.

[Pretzel]

I'm amazed about Nathan's calm and warm voice in the Young Presenters videos. I expected him to have a more creepy and cold voice but his voice suggested that he's rather relaxed and , dare I say, likeable. 

[nokidsmom]

9 hours ago, Toothfairy said:

14 years of hell. Gee you would think Steve would let go. Unfortunately  Nathan is too brain washed. Steve is an asshole. And his poor grandkids have to live in a hell hole. 

 

What parent would allow her daughter  to marry into a hellhole? What's with Melanies  family?

Uber controlling parents a la Steveovah never let go.   I know.   It's up to the kids to force the issue however, Steveovah has prevented that possibility by brainwashing and undereducating them so they don't even think of it. 

As far as Melanie's family, it appears that Stevie wasn't so far down the rabbithole.   They probably thought the Maxwells were a nice Christian family at the time but over time I suspect Stevie got too crazy even for them.

[nellautumngirl]

I don't find Nathan creepy, not like his father or brother. I get a more relaxed vibe from him, or as relaxed as a Maxwell can be

[nelliebelle1197]

Nathan is the luckiest Maxwell. He had something of a childhood, has held (and, I believe, continues to hold based on his linked in) real jobs as an IT consultant with real people with whom he shares no genetic ties, has been out of Maxhell for a very long time and missed most of the crazy. Christopher stayed singled much longer and lived at home until his early 30s, giving him more Direct Cult Exposure (is that a thing? It should be a thing), making him a Creepy Minion of Maxhell, rather like we all are to Curious.

[Jana814]

11 hours ago, Toothfairy said:

 

 

What parent would allow her daughter  to marry into a hellhole? What's with Melanies  family?

I wondered the same thing about Melanie's family. I think when they first started courting he was not as crazy as he is right now. 

[johnhugh]

From what we can make out from the blog, he certainly seems less anal than his Frumper fetished younger brother. And maybe Mel's less fundie up bringing has 'softened' him.  However I can never think about him without remembering him trying to conduct the congregation in hymn singing at his brother's wedding as though he was a world famous conductor. What a tool!!   

[withaj]

3 hours ago, Jana814 said:

I wondered the same thing about Melanie's family. I think when they first started courting he was not as crazy as he is right now. 

What do we even know about the Mahers other than they attended the same church and had *gasp* more kids than the Maxwells?

[nausicaa]

14 hours ago, AbandonAllHope said:

LOL, I like to think that person was so freaked out by the Maxwells that this is the best they could come up with while still sounding polite.

Ha! That would totally be me trying to be nice at someone's terrible Fundie wedding. I can just see the t-shirted bride dismissing my row and me just blurting out "Wow this church is big!" or "The sun is really out!" as I passed her. 

Also, as for Melanie and Nathan's short courtship--they did know each other through church prior to the getting to know you period. I know the Maxwells didn't do youth groups but they would have talked every Sunday at least for a little bit, and spent time together at church picnics, fundraisers, and church clean ups (is that a thing? It seems like a Maxwell thing). So not the two to three years non-Fundies typically spend, but actually a fairly lengthy courtship compared to a lot of other Fundies. I definitely think Melanie and Nathan's meeting and courtship has a normalcy to it that we will not see again in the Maxwell family. 

[Handmaiden of Dog]

My god I hope Stevehovah is dead before the ABC girls are of age to start courting.  Maybe once he is dead some of the brainwashing will start to wear off and his remaining family members can become less focused on worrying about where they will go when they die and more focused on living and enjoying life.

[Dru]

2 hours ago, withaj said:

What do we even know about the Mahers other than they attended the same church and had *gasp* more kids than the Maxwells?

Here's a list of some of their scandalous behavior:

- They home schooled but apparently got a decent education because several of them went to college. Girls and boys alike.

- They all wear pants.

- Unmarried sisters working outside the home and living alone.

- Drinking and dancing.

-Dating.

 

So yeah, all going to hell by Steve's standards.

ETA- I've never seen Melanie wearing pants other than a single exercise photo, so she may be dresses only.

[withaj]

2 minutes ago, Dru said:

Here's a list of some of their scandalous behavior:

- They home schooled but apparently got a decent education because several of them went to college. Girls and boys alike.

- They all wear pants.

- Unmarried sisters working outside the home and living alone.

- Drinking and dancing.

-Dating.

 

So yeah, all going to hell by Steve's standards.

Aww, good for them! Going to hell by Steve's standards means you are on the right fucking track.

[Dru]

Just now, withaj said:

Aww, good for them! Going to hell by Steve's standards means you are on the right fucking track.

They definitely have more conservative views than most/all here but yeah, I could see spending time with them without wanting to hang myself. Largely because I don't discuss religion and politics IRL as a rule.

There has been evidence that the M&N's kids spend a decent amount of time with Melanie's family at events such as Anna's graduation, Noah's (I think) wedding which included dancing, and Easter at grandma and grandpa's complete with plastic Easter eggs.

[Justme]

Mel got the "transfer of ownership" at her wedding. I wonder if any of her other married sisters also had the pleasure of receiving this or if they had "grown out" of this lovely tradition.

[nelliebelle1197]

7 hours ago, Dru said:

Here's a list of some of their scandalous behavior:

- They home schooled but apparently got a decent education because several of them went to college. Girls and boys alike.

- They all wear pants.

- Unmarried sisters working outside the home and living alone.

- Drinking and dancing.

-Dating.

 

So yeah, all going to hell by Steve's standards.

ETA- I've never seen Melanie wearing pants other than a single exercise photo, so she may be dresses only.

Yeah, but I am pretty sure they were more fundie 15 years ago. They did the opposite of Stevie and loosened up. Or their kids just said fuckit and made them less nutbags.

[withaj]

9 hours ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

Yeah, but I am pretty sure they were more fundie 15 years ago. They did the opposite of Stevie and loosened up. Or their kids just said fuckit and made them less nutbags.

I understand. It's hard to compete with Maxwell-level crazy.

[nelliebelle1197]

20 hours ago, johnhugh said:

From what we can make out from the blog, he certainly seems less anal than his Frumper fetished younger brother. And maybe Mel's less fundie up bringing has 'softened' him.  However I can never think about him without remembering him trying to conduct the congregation in hymn singing at his brother's wedding as though he was a world famous conductor. What a tool!!   

Is there any evidence of the time when Maxhell livestreamed its weddings? Am I nuts or do I remember livestreams of at least Christopher's??

[princessmahina]

19 hours ago, Dru said:

Here's a list of some of their scandalous behavior:

- They home schooled but apparently got a decent education because several of them went to college. Girls and boys alike.

- They all wear pants.

- Unmarried sisters working outside the home and living alone.

- Drinking and dancing.

-Dating.

 

So yeah, all going to hell by Steve's standards.

ETA- I've never seen Melanie wearing pants other than a single exercise photo, so she may be dresses only.

I don't remember Melanie in pants. Do you have a link? I'm so excited to see Maxwoman in something other than a long skirt!

[Queen Of Hearts]

On 1/29/2016 at 7:07 AM, Pretzel said:

I'm amazed about Nathan's calm and warm voice in the Young Presenters videos. I expected him to have a more creepy and cold voice but his voice suggested that he's rather relaxed and , dare I say, likeable. 

He sounded patient and kind and generally amused by his daughters. I realize the Maxwell men don't set the bar real high, but I really think Nathan is the most normal of the bunch.  Getting out of the house at a younger age probably saved him!