Maxwell 57: Planning Mary's Wedding

[HermioneSparrow]

41 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Chelsy described sam and Mary’s wedding as a chill and happy day. And that  as a couple they are chill and happy. So if that’s there vibe, I say go for it. Chill and happy equals a casual wedding to me. And I admit, I like weddings like that because I hate stressful weddings with a bunch of rules and stuffiness. It just stresses me out.

Steve is anything but chill and happy so kudos to Mary and Sam 😂

[Sops2]

Thank you Chelsy, that was just lovely!

We didn't mind waiting for the photos- we knew you would be a great host and play a big part in making it a happy day for Mary and Sam.

[Bluebirdbluebell]

Wedding pictures! 

I love Mary's dress. I think it is very pretty and not fundie.

It's a pretty color for the bridesmaid dresses and they all seem to be different. Anna Craig Maxwell was a bridesmaid.

I'm not surprised Anna Marie is pregnant. I thought she was pregnant based on Teri's photos of the sons at Easter (daughters weren't home). She was hiding in the back.  Anna Marie strikes me as being fanatical as Steve so I'm not surprised they want a bigger quiver.

It also explains why Teri and Steve are over there so much helping out.

[danvillebelle]

I cannot get over how beautiful Mary looks.  Completely different person from even just 3-4 years ago.  

Sarah and Elyssa's above-the-knee dresses.  YES.  

May Steve continue to suck it. 

[MamaJunebug]

8 hours ago, ClareDeLune said:

Yes, @JermajestyDuggar I agree, I was just imagining an in-joke if they are all pregnant at once but with only a couple of them showing!

Hahaha I am going through the photos guessing which ones Christopher took. There is no creepy lighting but maybe he persuaded Sam to hold the bouquet over almost all Mary's entire upper body to spare his big brother blushes for this pic. 😂

NO KIDDING! Why else would a manly man be holding frilly feminine flowers!!!???

[mango_fandango]

It’s difficult to tell because they’re sitting down, but I think Ruthie, Lydia and Elizabeth are wearing sleeved maxi dresses. And they look a little more relaxed and modern than the fancy, old-fashioned type of dresses they wore for Sarah and Kory’s wedding. But then Sarah and Kory’s may have been a bit more formal. 

[Tenyari]

Mary and Samuel match so well together. I'm pleasantly surprised by their wedding fashion. I absolutely love his outfit. She's beautiful, he's handsome. Her dress has a beautiful back. The dress is simple and pretty. I'm enjoying the color scheme too. 

[hoipolloi]

Thank you, Chelsy! 

So nice to see so many people in Maxwell-land looking genuinely happy -- Teri is positively beaming in that family photo & I really like her hair style. Steve does seem to be gritting his teeth but he *was* there & walked his daughter down the aisle. Did he attend either of the backyard get-togethers? It looks like Gigi was at the shower. Now, if Steve and Teri can just refrain from using their advice columns to take potshots and throw shade...

I really like Mary's and the bridesmaids' dresses. Anna's is not only sleeveless but has a deep vee to the back:

Chelsy says that both Sarah & Christopher did the professional photos so maybe Christopher took the ones of the ceremony since Sarah was a bridesmaid. 

 

Edited June 12, 2023 by hoipolloi
Formatting

[Coconut Flan]

Did we ever, ever, ever expect to see that photo of Anna and Mary before the wedding in those dresses?  When the daughters fell off Steve's wagon they took off running and apparently haven't given his ideas a single backward glance.  

[MamaJunebug]

Out to breakfast between appointments and finally could really peruse Chelsy’s photos. 
 

I startled the kitchen staff when I whooped out loud to see Sarah look like (IMHO) a truly happy woman!!! No-body-shaming-zone here: She looks like she’s getting (a) enough food (b) tasty food and (c) the love of her husband, no matter her shape NOR his!

Big Daddy Junebug was a Great Insect but had his foibles, like most species. He was terribly judgmental about anyone he deemed overweight - sorry to say, Steve has reminded me of my beloved da more than once on this score. 
 

But to paraphrase a ‘90s reference, “Big gal, don’t care!” No, let me rephrase that: 

WOMANLY.  Hope Steve is able to console himself sufficiently that his own wife remains very slim. Let Sarah live her life her way. ❤️ 
 

Even Anna Marie smiles much more relaxed, less forced, in the 3-sister selfie.  I personally think her arm is across her belly because she’s a little conscious of its size. Very common to subconsciously try to cover up something that you’re self-conscious about.  
 

The ABCDes are growing like happy li’l weeds!  Chelsy, lots about your beliefs & attitudes don’t jive with my own but I love you anyway.  SO Many Thanks for sharing the joy of humans unchained!

 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

We do all realize that Mary's and Anna's dresses required low back, strapless bras or else built-in boning in the dresses.

Not that I think Stevehovah has ever considered his daughters "unmentionables", but the underwear required by those dresses is NOT something he would approve. I suspect it's not something Teri would approve.

Alyssa's dress is above the knee and shows her collarbone (suck it Stevhovah).

The days of t-shirts under long sleeve shirts and the obsession with eye-traps seems long gone (praise Rufus)

Except for Christopher who seems to have doubled/ tripled down on Maxhellian rules. In the photo with Anna he looks exactly like Steve, including the smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

Fearless speculation -- Christopher is beyond angry that his siblings have loosened the Maxhell strictures.  But his deep seated anger at Stevehovah for ruining his childhood/teen years/career makes him cling even tighter to the Maxhell rules.  Because if he ever acknowledges that anger he will explode at Steve.

He can't just loosen up because that means Stevehovah was wrong, completely wrong, very very very wrong. And that everything he did hurt all of his children in so many ways.  Stevehovah deliberately worked so so so hard to stunt his children. To forever trap them in a world in which they would be less than they could be. To remove all choices. To control their every thought and action. To instill fear and self-doubt and anxiety and depression and unhappiness.

Stevehovah did all this deliberately -- perhaps not out of cruelty (although I have serious doubts about that) -- but he did it.  He's still trying to control their lives, but with somewhat less success. The steel vice grip on his daughters has sprung open.

The only person still in that steel grip is Christopher.  I believe his anger is so intense it makes it impossible for him to do anything except remain in place. Forever trapped in Maxhell.

 

 

 

[freethemall]

If you had shown me these pictures about 5 years ago, or even 2 or 3, I would think they were fake created by some AI or some Maxwell lookalikes because this is just so different than anything we ever saw on Titus2. Shoulders! Knees! Pants! A backless dress! 2 Maxwell daughters married! 2 Maxwell daughters in college! No Maxwell daughters at home! Doing things other than cleaning ceiling fans! Every bit of it blows my mind.

But the parts that don't surprise me are the ones that remind you they're all still in a fertility cult. Of course Anna Marie and Anna Patricia (was that dropped?) are pregnant, AM will never stop until she dies or goes through menopause, like the rest of them. But then, I know a non-fundie who went through chemo and cancer and even a stem cell transplant and eagerly did IVF to be pregnant with her 2nd within a year of post-transplant maintenance chemo. Many people who have had cancer go on to have healthy pregnancies.

So I guess Mary will likely be preggo within a year, unless *gasp* there is a chance their seeming modernization also comes with even light family planning (I wouldn't hold out hope for actual birth control). I do wonder with Sarah too, she's not fully outside her fertile years. I agree with others too she looks happy and healthy and womanly, the extra weight adds to her inner and outer beauty. I would feel bad for Anna being the last unmarried one except she is living her life too. Good for all of them, may everyone be having a good time except Steve!

[ClareDeLune]

3 hours ago, hoipolloi said:

Thank you, Chelsy! 

So nice to see so many people in Maxwell-land looking genuinely happy -- Teri is positively beaming in that family photo & I really like her hair style. Steve does seem to be gritting his teeth but he *was* there & walked his daughter down the aisle. Did he attend either of the backyard get-togethers? It looks like Gigi was at the shower. Now, if Steve and Teri can just refrain from using their advice columns to take potshots and throw shade...

I really like Mary's and the bridesmaids' dresses. Anna's is not only sleeveless but has a deep vee to the back:

Chelsy says that both Sarah & Christopher did the professional photos so maybe Christopher took the ones of the ceremony since Sarah was a bridesmaid. 

 

I think Anna wore the standout best dress of the wedding, aside from the bride. All the sport (that Steve forbade) has given her an amazing figure (wonderfully eye trapping in that dress!)

Teri looks so happy and, however Steve felt, she would probably have had an amazing weekend with all her family around, and probably her sister and BIL staying over. And having Sarah home for a visit must have been lovely too. They must have really missed Sarah who practically managed the home and business for decades and then moved too far away to drop in on them very often at all.

I hope the 'girls' moving away has made everyone appreciate what the DILs gave up and the sacrifices they made when they left their families behind to join the Max Church in the bad old days.

 

 

I think Mary and Sam are staying in the US for 2 years training (was this in a newsletter or request for cash gifts, not sure?)

But if they want children, then given the horrendous birth stories from some of the sister in laws, it would probably be reassuring (or instructive at least) to have their first child in a familiar country, so that by the time they go overseas they will have an idea about Mary's health needs and can make decisions about where/how to give birth in future.

[hoipolloi]

41 minutes ago, ClareDeLune said:

I hope the 'girls' moving away has made everyone appreciate what the DILs gave up and the sacrifices they made when they left their families behind to join the Max Church in the bad old days.

Maybe Steve and/or Teri could actually express that appreciation in one of their columns.

41 minutes ago, ClareDeLune said:

I think Mary and Sam are staying in the US for 2 years training (was this in a newsletter or request for cash gifts, not sure?)

Yes, they will be in the Leavenworth, KS area because Sam is going to be the missions minister at that church.

ETA: Like her sister, Mary seems to have a close connection to the church. She & Sam invited the congregation to attend the wedding:

Edited June 12, 2023 by hoipolloi

[Zee]

Oh that was worth the wait. That dress is so cute and she looks radiantly happy. I love the relaxed vibe and I agree that it was really nice of Chelsey to host all those get togethers. 
 

thank you Chelsey for the recap. 

[RachelDM]

When Chelsey shows us joyous events like this, I like to go back to the blog five years prior and see what was going on. It's fun to compare just how much things have changed visually. From May 30th, 2018:

Spoiler

And from May 21st. This is why Sarah's gained such a gorgeous amount of weight when lunch used to consist of this:

'Cheese crisp for lunch.'

 

Edited June 12, 2023 by RachelDM

[Black Aliss]

Prettiest fundy wedding dress ever! And Anna3 has a real talent for floral design. I wonder if she studied it or if she just has "the knack".

Chris looks creepier than ever these days. And I am appalled that he got Anna2 pregnant. They already had enough kids to get them into heaven.

[caitrona]

That is the most sparsely decorated church I've ever seen.  Goodness.

It sounds a lot like the weddings of friends right out of college.  I'm glad Mary & Sam had a wedding that matched their vibe, they look very cute together. 

[DJ1234]

Popping in to say that while there is a great deal about the fundie life I have issues with, I appreciate how they do weddings.  I like the fact that the emphasis is on the marriage, not the party.  I like the fact that they keep things modest so there's no worry about how many people they can afford to invite.  I like the casual cake and punch gathering or in some cases a large casual meal/pot luck with everyone including their church family included.

[ksuheather]

First off the Max girls all loom radiant and Stevo looks like he sucked on a lemon. His hands in photos look like typical formal military who doesn't know what to do with his hands so holds them at attention. But I have 2 issues.

1. Of Christopher Anna, Wtf are you wearing white to a wedding? Rude

2. Teri and Steve, you all did more planning, decor and food for your son's rehearsal dinners than your daughters weddings! Shameful 

[MamaJunebug]

5 hours ago, Red Hair, Black Dress said:

We do all realize that Mary's and Anna's dresses required low back, strapless bras or else built-in boning in the dresses.

Not that I think Stevehovah has ever considered his daughters "unmentionables", but the underwear required by those dresses is NOT something he would approve. I suspect it's not something Teri would approve.

Alyssa's dress is above the knee and shows her collarbone (suck it Stevhovah).

The days of t-shirts under long sleeve shirts and the obsession with eye-traps seems long gone (praise Rufus)

Except for Christopher who seems to have doubled/ tripled down on Maxhellian rules. In the photo with Anna he looks exactly like Steve, including the smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

Fearless speculation -- Christopher is beyond angry that his siblings have loosened the Maxhell strictures.  But his deep seated anger at Stevehovah for ruining his childhood/teen years/career makes him cling even tighter to the Maxhell rules.  Because if he ever acknowledges that anger he will explode at Steve.

He can't just loosen up because that means Stevehovah was wrong, completely wrong, very very very wrong. And that everything he did hurt all of his children in so many ways.  Stevehovah deliberately worked so so so hard to stunt his children. To forever trap them in a world in which they would be less than they could be. To remove all choices. To control their every thought and action. To instill fear and self-doubt and anxiety and depression and unhappiness.

Stevehovah did all this deliberately -- perhaps not out of cruelty (although I have serious doubts about that) -- but he did it.  He's still trying to control their lives, but with somewhat less success. The steel vice grip on his daughters has sprung open.

The only person still in that steel grip is Christopher.  I believe his anger is so intense it makes it impossible for him to do anything except remain in place. Forever trapped in Maxhell.

 

 

 

Sobering thoughts about Of Anna Marie (I had to!  )

Ever the optimist, I’m gonna hold out hope for Chris. We never in decades of watching thought any of the other 7 children’s breakaways would happen, did we?  Keep the snarky faith, friends! 

[Formerlyjeansonly17]

Well I'm happy for Mary and her sisters appear to be happy also.  Anna is just gorgeous!

I'm rather disgusted to see NR Anna pregnant.  I mean, I hope she has a healthy baby, but it pisses me off to see the disregard for her health, all because of their twisted beliefs.

[mango_fandango]

Anna3 (as in Jesse’s wife) is referred to as Tia Anna in Chelsy’s post. I wonder if all the Maxwell grandchildren use that nickname or if some do and others use another term. I remember that was one of the possibilities mentioned on the blog when it was still active.

[Xan]

30 minutes ago, Formerlyjeansonly17 said:

I'm rather disgusted to see NR Anna pregnant.  I mean, I hope she has a healthy baby, but it pisses me off to see the disregard for her health, all because of their twisted beliefs.

I agree.  She really should have waited for the 5 year clearance mark before attempting another pregnancy.  She's got young children still.  They need their mother.  It's foolhardy to put your body through another pregnancy when you were recently doing chemotherapy.  Further, those increased pregnancy hormones could stimulate growth in any hormonally driven breast cancers.

I get that they're Quiverfull and she probably wants to return to what she considers a normal life.  However, you just don't risk your life if you can help it when you've got little kids depending on you.

[HoneyBunny]

21 hours ago, ClareDeLune said:

Yes, @JermajestyDuggar I agree, I was just imagining an in-joke if they are all pregnant at once but with only a couple of them showing!

I tend to think that might be what is going on. All of them might be pregnant except Melanie. Time will tell, and hopefully Chelsy will too.