Happiest Night of His Life: Drunk in a Ditch

'We are fighting for equality here,' bride says

(NEWSER) - They met while looking for a place to pray amid the tents and protesters in Zuccotti Park. A month later, the two lovebirds said "I do" in the very same park, surrounded by friends and fellow Occupiers, the New York Daily News reports. Emery Abdel-Latif, 24, and Micha Balon, 19, tied the knot this morning in a tradition Muslim wedding on a small bench. "This is a good way not to make the marriage about ourselves,” says Balon. “We are fighting for equality here." More»

They have been making vows since 1984

(NEWSER) - No 15-year itch for this couple: Two Tennessee lovebirds have renewed their wedding vows a 99th time, setting a world record once again, the Huffington Post reports. Lauren and David Blair fell in love when they met in 1982. They were married—for the first time—in California in 1984. Ever since their 66th renewal, the couple have been upping a Guinness World Record for “Most Marriage Vow Renewals by the Same Couple.” More»

Critics descend on couple who met while married to other people

(NEWSER) - The New York Times’ normally genteel “Vows” column hit a nerve on Sunday, with its tale of John Partilla and Carol Riddell—who each left spouses to get hitched. It’s “part Brady Bunch, part The Scarlet Letter,” the paper cooed . Bloggers and commenters tore the paper a new one. “These things happen,” says New York magazine, “but we do question the decision to celebrate it in the face of your exes and children.” Now Partilla tells the New York Post he regrets the whole thing. More»

Benedict thinks pessimism about lasting marriage is driving trend

(NEWSER) - Pope Benedict wants Catholic Church tribunals to make marriage annulments more difficult to get. “We run the risk of falling into an anthropological pessimism which, in the light of today's cultural situation, considers it almost impossible to marry,” he said today. Marriage is stronger than people think, he said, and tougher annulment standards would reflect that, reports the Catholic News Service . More»

(NEWSER) - Researchers have discovered the secret of a happy marriage—at least for the husband: a younger, smarter wife. Such marriages are likely to last, particularly when neither spouse has been previously divorced. Marriages involving women at least five years younger than a husband and with a higher educational level fared the best in the European study. But cougars, beware. Marriages with older wives are three times more likely to fail than marriages between same-age couples. More»