Maxwell 54: Sarah Married and Looking Joyful

[molecule]

It's interesting that Chelsy is the only sister-in-law in the bridal party. I've wondered if she encouraged Sarah to pursue a life outside Maxhell.

[ElizaB]

3 minutes ago, molecule said:

It's interesting that Chelsy is the only sister-in-law in the bridal party. I've wondered if she encouraged Sarah to pursue a life outside Maxhell.

Well- chelsy also makes the most sense. Melanie and Anna are older so they maybe don’t want to. Anna never lived near Sarah so she probably isn’t that close to her. Elissa maybe would have made sense but her and joe had moved away too so perhaps they weren’t as close

[Howl]

3 hours ago, Hane said:

And Mom Bollinger managed to get everybody launched and educated, while staying observant Christians. Take that, Jill!

What was very touching was that she saw each of her children as unique individuals, with their own personalities and interests -- interests that were to be supported and personalities that were to be respected. 

The best part? Sarah gets a whole new family, and they sound pretty emotionally healthy. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

4 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

No

i was looking up her husband’s name the other day and I saw this:

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LRN5-R5G/rex-lloyd-frazer-1931-2014

I hope it’s wrong. 

I don't think this is accurate. Gigi was still alive when Steve had his 70th birthday party last year. It's very suspicious that the website doesn't list a year when it would have happened very recently. There's no obit that I could find and I think Chelsy would have written a tribute to Gigi if she died.

I hope Gigi got to attend the wedding. I wouldn't be surprised if that played into the decision to have the wedding in Kansas.

[Melissa1977]

37 minutes ago, molecule said:

It's interesting that Chelsy is the only sister-in-law in the bridal party. I've wondered if she encouraged Sarah to pursue a life outside Maxhell.

Chelsy is very fundie! Her family is extreme and, apart from the jeans and make up, she has showed a very maxwellian way of life (including training a baby not to touch his food and setting very strict schedules since he was a newborn).

When she was single, Chelsy posted several posts in her blog about laundry. She's as maxwellian as Anna Marie, just with nicer outfits.

I doubt she was encouraging Sarah to do anything. By the time Sarah did changes, Chelsy was extremely busy and worried with Maddie.

 

[Triplet3]

5 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

I have sent you a PM.

(assume that’s within the rules?)

Please can you PM me as well? Thanks so much!

[petrushka]

37 minutes ago, molecule said:

It's interesting that Chelsy is the only sister-in-law in the bridal party. I've wondered if she encouraged Sarah to pursue a life outside Maxhell.

 Chelsy seems the most outgoing of the Maxwell wives, based solely on what I've read of her blog.  The Bontragers "trained" their family out of any shyness, not that I agree with their methods, mind you.  But I do believe Chelsy is quite sociable and energetic by nature.  She was the first sister in law to openly dress more fashionably and wear makeup and jewelry. Once she became part of the family, we started seeing Sarah occasionally pictured in more colorful attire and a smidge of makeup.  Coincidence? I think not.  We may never know how the relationship between Chelsy and Sarah evolved, but I do believe they share a closeness despite their age difference.  I also think Chelsy has a lot of emotional intelligence for a fundie, and she could have sensed Sarah being dissatisfied with the status quo in Maxhell and encouraged her to push the boundaries a bit.  

[hoipolloi]

3 hours ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

I don't think Teri was involved in the wedding, at least not in the dress choice.

Probably not, especially if she & Steve attempted to control aspects of the ceremony or the wedding party. 

In looking at their church (Church of the Open Door), it's striking that Steve does not seem to be involved in it any way. Other Maxwells -- Teri, Sarah, Abby -- crop up in the church bulletins or elsewhere but no Steve. You'd think he'd qualify to be a deacon or elder or something. 

OTOH, maybe Steve isn't interested in talking to the senior pastor-teacher since Pastor Efta did his Ph.D. dissertation on "an exegetical commentary on the book of Titus." 

 

[Loveday]

@Captain Obvious, I would really appreciate a PM of the photos as well, if you don't mind! I'm dying to see one of Steve and Teri. 😏😆

[0 kids n not countin]

5 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

If it’s OK to PM the wedding photos, I can do it, but not for a few hours as it’s 2.46am here and I need to get some sleep.

If it's not breaking the rules, I'd like to see the photos.  Thank you.

[Bethy]

1 hour ago, ElizaB said:

Well- chelsy also makes the most sense. Melanie and Anna are older so they maybe don’t want to. Anna never lived near Sarah so she probably isn’t that close to her. Elissa maybe would have made sense but her and joe had moved away too so perhaps they weren’t as close

Small point of detail: Anna is actually several years younger than Sarah. I believe she was 24 when she married Christopher, and Sarah was about to turn 29 at that point. There was some discussion about this back in the Yuku days, with someone claiming that Sarah had encouraged the match but then seemed visibly saddened in the months that followed, seeing someone so much younger be granted all the rights and privileges of fundie grownup-ness while she was still regarded as a teenager. It was a lot of ISB but it made sense. In the same way, I wonder if Joe's marriage was another slap in her face (the first of the reversals to marry - up to that point, the siblings that had married and joined the "extended family" were older than her) and if maybe that didn't help her form a close bond with Elissa. Or maybe their personalities just didn't mesh. Whatever the reason, she seemed to mesh well with Chelsy. And like others have said, Anna Craig never lived close and was SO much younger that a close friendship there seemed unlikely all the way around. Plus Chelsy seems to be the link that helped find Jesse a wife, and may have been a similar catalyst for Sarah.

It's a lot of ISB but interesting that Sarah would choose one SIL and not any of the others. If nothing else it tells me that she had some say in the matter and wasn't expected to line up all the sisters and SILs just because.

For those who have seen the pics - has anyone glimpsed Mary's friend in the background anywhere? Just curious whether he ended up in Kansas as Mary's date for the wedding to have a place to stay until the new school term since his parents are likely abroad.

[freejugar]

Is Ellie in the pics? ring bearing dog lol

[Hellothere]

With Kory wanting his 4 brothers to be his attendants, Sarah had to fill 4 slots so no pressure to include all the sister-in-laws.  Picking Anna and Mary as well as 2 other women she is close to (a good friend and chelsey) makes sense.

I would bet money that Steve walked Sarah down the aisle, but neither he, Terry, nor Korys Mom spoke at the wedding ceremony.

I wonder if Sarah will continue working for her brothers company? She is both Bookkeeper and Assistant.  With her living in OK now, Bookkeeper might be easy to continue with in a work from home capacity.  But she perhaps she’ll give both positions up and busy herself with being a newlywed and volunteering more in their church in OK?

Edited August 23, 2022 by Hellothere

[Bluebirdbluebell]

 

40 minutes ago, Bethy said:

Small point of detail: Anna is actually several years younger than Sarah. I believe she was 24 when she married Christopher, and Sarah was about to turn 29 at that point. There was some discussion about this back in the Yuku days, with someone claiming that Sarah had encouraged the match but then seemed visibly saddened in the months that followed, seeing someone so much younger be granted all the rights and privileges of fundie grownup-ness while she was still regarded as a teenager. It was a lot of ISB but it made sense. In the same way, I wonder if Joe's marriage was another slap in her face (the first of the reversals to marry - up to that point, the siblings that had married and joined the "extended family" were older than her) and if maybe that didn't help her form a close bond with Elissa. Or maybe their personalities just didn't mesh. Whatever the reason, she seemed to mesh well with Chelsy. And like others have said, Anna Craig never lived close and was SO much younger that a close friendship there seemed unlikely all the way around. Plus Chelsy seems to be the link that helped find Jesse a wife, and may have been a similar catalyst for Sarah.

It's a lot of ISB but interesting that Sarah would choose one SIL and not any of the others. If nothing else it tells me that she had some say in the matter and wasn't expected to line up all the sisters and SILs just because.

For those who have seen the pics - has anyone glimpsed Mary's friend in the background anywhere? Just curious whether he ended up in Kansas as Mary's date for the wedding to have a place to stay until the new school term since his parents are likely abroad.

Yes Anna Marie Maxwell is 36 and Anna Craig Maxwell is 22. 

I've never sensed particular closeness between Chelsy and the sisters although Chelsy and Sarah went to that concert. Maybe if Kory met Sarah at the concert....

I can't say that Chelsy impresses me as being mature or sensitive. She has very hateful beliefs with a love for fun. That don't impress me much. 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Bluebirdbluebell

[JermajestyDuggar]

I honestly see Marlin and Becky as just as bad as Teri and Steve. They are different in a lot of ways. But they both manipulated the hell out of their own children in order to get them to always do what they are told. Sure Steve and Teri are more science minded and Marlin and Becky are more conspiracy theory minded. But they both used religion to heavily control and manipulate their children. Let’s hope Kory’s mother is a lovely and welcoming woman (Kory’s dad died in February). 

[Bethy]

On 8/22/2022 at 4:26 PM, JermajestyDuggar said:

I looked for a wedding dress in 2009 that had sleeves. It was fucking impossible! Every shop I went to was like, “oh we don’t have anything with long sleeves.” Every single one. The closest they came to sleeves was cap sleeves. That’s it. Almost every single dress was strapless or spaghetti straps. I didn’t want cap sleeves either. So I was screwed. I ended up with a dress I didn’t like. It had spaghetti straps but it also came with a lace bolero with sleeves. That was the closest I could get to sleeves. So I understand all the fundie dresses from 2005-2014 that needed modifications. Because so many of those dresses were strapless. They didn’t have a lot of choice. However today is completely different. There are TONS of dresses with sleeves and they cover their shoulders. There are high neck options! That was completely unknown back in 2009. I think it’s a million times easier today to find a modest wedding dress. 

I was searching for a wedding gown with decent coverage around that same time. I was surprised to find (after Boundless, The Rebelution, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, et al shrieking for years about strapless gowns - "they give the illusion that with one tug, they'd be on the ground") that strapless gowns were about the most modest thing I could find on the rack. Anything that had a halter or straps relied on those parts of the garment to hold it up and plunged halfway to the belly button. The strapless gowns had to have more structure and coverage up top. I was thankful I was able to find one that had sleeves as a readily-available add-on. Other modest-minded friends ended up tacking or pinning various things on to take away that bare-shoulder look and frankly looked sort of tacky. And anyone who thinks a strapless, fitted bridal gown would be on the ground with one tug has clearly never been harnessed inside of one.

[Coconut Flan]

3 minutes ago, Bethy said:

And anyone who thinks a strapless, fitted bridal gown would be on the ground with one tug has clearly never been harnessed inside of one.

My daughter had a strapless corset back wedding gown that was fitted over a well boned fitted corset from Wizard of Bras.  That thing wasn't moving even a quarter of an inch.  The top actually went higher than some of the dresses with straps and sort of sleeves just as you said.  

[SPHASH]

I'd like to see the pics too @Captain Obvious

Remember when we did those anti fasts?  I think we should do one in honor of Sarah and Kory's wedding.

[filomena1815]

Oh, I'd love to see pics if it is ok @Captain Obvious!  Thanks!

[fundiewatch]

I would love to see the pics too! @Captain Obvious

[Johannah]

20 hours ago, SassyPants said:

Maybe even Steve and Teri realized that keeping a 39 YO, nearing middle aged woman at home under lock and key, and yoked to her 2, younger sisters was ridiculous. And Thank God they came to their bloody senses ! 
 

Sarah is 40 and up until last Saturday, her dad was seemingly controlling her life. 

Sarah is like the fundie Britney Spears…

[courtlylove]

Belatedly jumping on the bandwagon here - @Captain Obvious I'd like to see the photos, too, if it's not too much trouble.

[sleepygirl1]

9 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

I have sent you a PM.

(assume that’s within the rules?)

Please pm me as well!

[Bethy]

8 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

* Teri wore the same outfit she wore for Joe and Elissa’s wedding which - way to go and make an effort there, Teri

The same one she also wore to Jesse's wedding (the one with the contrasting buttons)? I gave her a pass on that one, even though with her weight loss it fit her horribly - there was a pandemic on, and it's not like she could freely go and shop for formalwear. But for your oldest daughter's wedding? At least freshen it up with a new blouse or scarf or something.

[AnnaSofia]

On 8/21/2022 at 2:57 PM, crunchycarrots said:

Lawd above, I found IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you sweet baby Jesus!

I'm late to the party, but OMG I love this dress! And Sarah looks so happy, relaxed and confident here! ❤️❤️❤️