Newlywed On "Homewrecking" Times Wedding Feature

Divorce cake, via Holly Crap That's Funny

So, you know that now-controversial NY Times Weddings "Vows column" about the couple who met each other at their kids' pre-kindergarten class while they were married to other people? The Times even opened up commenting for a while, but then had to stop accepting them (example: "If the couple had a sense of decency and wished to truly respect the feelings of their ex-spouses, they would have denied themselves the pleasure of having their 15 minutes of fame in the New York Times. Their choice to satisfy their own vanity is very telling."). Well, now the bride, former WNBC 4 reporter Carol Anne Riddell, is explaining why she and new hubby advertising executive John Partilla told their story.

Riddell spoke to Forbes' Jeff Bercovici, “We did this because we just wanted one honest account of how this happened for our sakes and for our kids’ sakes. We are really proud of our family and proud of the way we’ve handled this situation over the past year. There was nothing in the story we were ashamed of.” And of the backlash, it's "sort of surprising to me. I think people are focusing a lot on the negative, but there was a lot of positive... we’ve had a lot of people say to us how brave we are to do this, how commendable it was that we were as honest as we were." Yeah, it's honest to say, "I didn’t believe in the word soul mate before, but now I do," which is what Partilla, who has three kids with his previous wife, said of marrying Riddell. But it depresses the rest of us.

Fun fact: The Times ran Riddell's first wedding announcement in 1995... and it also ran Partilla's first wedding announcement in 1994. The only way the Vows column can make it better is if the jilted spouses get married and wants their story featured—sorta like how Shania Twain is now engaged to the husband of the woman who allegedly had an affair with Twain's husband (diagram to come).

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By Jen Chung in News on December 20, 2010 6:09 PM

Comments [rss]

JimboGold853OKG

Like all of you, I found the Partilla-RIddel "Vows" story annoying, self-absorbed and reflective of the worst of NYC's privileged class.

Still, I wouldn't indict "Vows." You don't always have to be "top-tier" to get in there. My wife and I are hardly running in those circles, yet I got our wedding story into "Vows" three years ago by crafting a simple, moving story from skills acquired over 20 years in PR.

It had no talk of difficult previous relationships, narcisstic obsessions and emotional devastation, mainly because there wasn't, and that wouldn't be anyone's business anyway. Perhaps that's why we didn't get a picture or as much space as I'd hoped!

kc2slg

Remind me again--_gays_ are a threat to heterosexual marriage?

Matt Scott

This is what the "Vows" column is all about - spinning the courtships of privileged, narcissistic white people as simple, everyman fables. It's unreal and maddening.

Polite New Yorker

I guess this answers my question: What does an all-white, non-Jewish, heterosexual couple have to do to get their wedding covered by the Times?

FU Boy

Way to teach your kids that it's okay to just abandon people, no matter what you've gone through in life. And for what? "The new model is so much better. I can't believe I've suffered with Wife 1.0 for so damn long."

I'd love to meet these kids in a few years.

etypical

can we get DADT to apply just to these two?

BJ

This bitch is the worst kind of narcissist. Her and her botoxed cheeks and fake lips are repellent. Whats more, their kids are damaged for life.

Justin Kerr Sheckler

Well, now I feel awful for all those remarried couples who'll never be able to "be honest with their children" because they couldn't get their wedding announcement in the NYT!

mike kane

I got news for her. After she's been married to this guy for a few years every time he walks into a room bells aren't going to ring and horns aren't going to go off. He'll just be a guy who isher husband, and hopefully he's a nice decent caring person. She sounds like a self-absorbed drama queen who wants every moment of life to be some spectacular reality show moment and the hell with anyone who doesn't dig it. She'll move on to another guy in 3 years when this guy's magic wears off.

brianf

"....We are really proud of our family and proud of the way we’ve handled this situation over the past year. There was nothing in the story we were ashamed of."

nothing we are ashamed of? sigh. that there is the problem. imho

Rocknrope

"If the couple had a sense of decency and wished to truly respect the feelings of their ex-spouses, they would have denied themselves the pleasure of having their 15 minutes of fame in the New York Times. Their choice to satisfy their own vanity is very telling."

This quote hit the nail on the head.