Bethany is finally getting hitched

[Hane]

Katie Morton washed Alan Smith's feet at their wedding to show her submission to him. Or, devotion, or whatever. Creepy shit.

mortonclan.blogspot.com/2006/04/katie-washed-alans-feet-at-their.html

Yeesh. I think that kind of thing is best left to the Roman Catholic Holy Thursday Mass, in which the priest often washes the feet of members of the congregation, to commemorate Jesus's having done the same for his apostles.

A bride doing it at a wedding? Why didn't she just break open a jar of scented oil and use it to wash her husband's feet with her hair? These guys have such a God complex they'd probably think it was their due.

[fundiefan]

That wedding was downright...almost normal looking. Of course, we haven't gotten a play-by-play with all the creepiness and stories, but from the pictures alone, you'd never know they were uber fundies. There was a bit of flare and personality there which was really surprising for a Smith wedding. It will be interesting to hear the Morton narrative.

[PBrooke]

Makes me wonder what the already-marrieds think, too. Were their weddings all the girls wanted, or, for example, was Kressant thinking "I wish I'd had more photobooth and less dad making an endless speech"?

[moreorlessnu]

If you follow the progression from Katie's wedding to Bethany's wedding, you see them getting more progressively relaxed. Katie was the only one w/ the foot washing. Kressant had that weird betrothal ceremony, but at least she had Edelweiss dancing at her wedding. There was very little information published about Rachel's wedding, Darthy took some control, and had her first kiss privately, and now Bethany's wedding looks positively mainstream.

That tells you that the older brides' experiences are influencing the younger sisters.

[lexiloumarie]

I think personality also had a lot to do with it. Katie was hopelessly brainwashed at that time, remember Pa Morton bragging that she didn't know if she wanted to get married to Alan or not because she'd never made her own decisions before. Kressant wasn't too far off from Katie in that regard. Rachel seems the shyest, and Dorothy seems to like simple and modest. Beth is the spunkiest, and by far the most normal seeming.

[Black Aliss]

WOW! They can put their arms around each other and I am guessing they can hold hands if they can put their arms around each other. That's sort of scandalous in the Fundie World. So, they must be Fundie Light? I don't follow them, so I am sort of in the dark.

I remember that once Noah and Dorothy were engaged they were given permission to hold hands. But wasn't that about a 3-day courtship? I think I remember Noah making discreet inquiries as to Dorothy's availability and/or purity, then asking Morton Pere for permission to court his daughter, then spending a weekend with the Mortons, at the end of which he whipped out the ring.

[PBrooke]

Yeah, it wasn't so much a courtship as a, "can I come ask your daughter to marry me?" "Well, let's make sure you guys like each other in person," then "GO TIME!" But the engagement was two or three months. I've always suspected, reading between the lines, that everyone expected they'd get together/knew they had a thing for each other.

[Grace]

I don't really find the foot washing TOO super weird from a religious perspective. As long as it wasn't JUST her washing his feet. We did foot washings fairly often growing in the liberal/mainstream end of the Church of the Brethren so I'm pretty used to it. I do, however, think it's totally gross. I HATE feet and do not want to look at them, touch them or have other people look at or touch mine. Which is why I about fell off the bench at my cousin's wedding when she and her husband washed each others feet. I was just looking everywhere else but up on the stage or whatever you call it. One Aunt and Uncle thought it was just the most moving thing ever and kept going on about how they want to do it at their 50th wedding anniversary. GAG

[PBrooke]

It was just her washing his feet.

I've been watching Downton Abbey (multiple times) lately and reading a thread about Downton Abbey, immediately followed by this one, led to a funny train of thought:

"Hmm, I wonder if the fundie girls have been watching this show, seems like it's up their alley but maybe they wouldn't be allowed... well, I'd wager Bethany has a greater range of stuff she can comfortably watch now..." And then that led to me wondering what goes through a fundie girl's mind when she knows she's about to marry a more fundie-lite guy than she was raised. Was she making lists of clothes to buy and movies to watch?

[moreorlessnu]

That picture of Bethany with her legs draped around Danny is shocking when you compare it to how uncomfortable Kristina looked holding hands w/her husband on their wedding day.

[MissNomer]

Wow...those after-wedding pictures are quite defrauding! I love her outfit though, doesn't look fundie at all. I remember feeling so sad for Bethany after I saw that video a while ago where she talked about how excited she was to court and get married some day. But actually, she and her guy look really happy and their wedding looks fun and normal.

Although, from the Smith blog:

"About a year ago Danny talked with my father about getting to know me better with the intention of marriage. He came over a lot and spent a great deal of time with my father. About a month ago my father asked me if I would be interested in getting to know Danny. I was very interested :)After a couple of weeks of getting to each others beliefs and thoughts on different subjects Danny called me up and asked me if I wanted to go flying." (And then he proposed)

I know this is pretty standard for these families, but...TWO WEEKS to get to know each other? I assume they had spent time together before that but still...

[PBrooke]

I assume over the course of that year, while Danny was "spending time with her father" he also spent at least some time with the rest of the family. Bethany is also friends with his sisters - I saw some pics somewhere where she went on a beach trip with them. I'm sure they were "exposed" to each other similar to Darth and Noah.

Speaking of, there's a new post up on the Morton's blog where Addie was feeling "down" today. I remember she also felt "down" shortly after Darth got married, only then she did specifically say she was impatient and waiting for her turn. I wonder if it's just a coincidence that Bethany just got married. It must be so hard on these girls.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Katie Morton washed Alan Smith's feet at their wedding to show her submission to him. Or, devotion, or whatever. Creepy shit.

mortonclan.blogspot.com/2006/04/katie-washed-alans-feet-at-their.html

Where's the barf bowl?

Public display of submission? Why not just drag out the whips and chains for your guests?

[moreorlessnu]

Wow...those after-wedding pictures are quite defrauding! I love her outfit though, doesn't look fundie at all.

Yes, the more I think about it, the more it seems so out of character for that family. Plus, they couldn't have been that eager to run off and be alone if they took the time to take those photos.

It reminds me of when someone emails an etiquette advice column and asks how long guests are obligated to stay at a wedding reception when the reception is continuing into the wee hours of the morning. The answer is usually something along the line of, "Well, it used to be that guests remained at the reception until the wedding couple departed. But that was back when the couple was in a hurry to be alone together for the first time as husband and wife...."

[MissNomer]

Could someone post a link to the "Captain's" courtship videos? I don't remember having seen them before.

ETA: nevermind, I found them. And they are crazy, as expected. Eeesh.

[MissNomer]

Where's the barf bowl?

Public display of submission? Why not just drag out the whips and chains for your guests?

Here's an additional weirdness about Katie's betrothal:

At the Smith family page about betrothal they start off with a description of her betrothal and wedding, using lots of flowery language trying to make it sound really dramatic and old fashioned. I noticed this particularly weird section:

"As they wait, the father regales his princess with stories of her beloved’s quest to earn the right to win her heart. He speaks of the day when the bridegroom’s father first approached him with a request that he consider a marriage between son and daughter. They speak of the days of courtship, and of the final decision to betroth. Her eyes dance with pleasure as she remembers the fifty shekels of silver her beloved had paid to her father at the betrothal ceremony, the exchange of vows and rings, and the public declaration that they both had made, before a host of witnesses, that neither of them had ever been kissed."

So I'm wondering, did Alan Smith really pay Papa Morton money at their betrothal ceremony?! Or was this tidbit just thrown in there to make it sound even more barbaric and like something from the Dark Ages? Either way these people are crazy.

[PBrooke]

You can get more detail about this in the betrothal video for Kressant. It was also mentioned in a rare blog post by Papa Morton on the Morton's original blog (knowing me, I'll rustle it up pretty soon). The short version is, I think it's meant to be symbolic-but-literal, just like so many ridiculous parts of the Smith/Morton marriages (such as, for example, the fact that they announced the day of the wedding, but the exact time was kept a secret until the father of the bride decided he was ready - because "only the Father knows the hour." Barf. I am so glad Darth and Bethany did away with at least some of that nonsense.

[PBrooke]

Yep, here it is: mortonclan.blogspot.com/2007/05/questions-and-answers.html

[ophelia]

I guess she is already knocked up and before easter they'll announce the pregnancy.