Most newlyweds might not want cameras following their every move.

But that’s what happened for the couples in Bravo’s new documentary series, “Newlyweds: The First Year.”

The show, which premieres Monday, follows four newlywed couples’ first year of marital life together, including Kimberly Cherebin and Alaska Gedeon, who live together in Manhattan when they are not working in Los Angeles.

Viewers will see the newlyweds searching for and decorating their Harlem apartment, with cross-reality-television events like shopping at Real Housewife of New York Jill Zarin’s furniture boutique.

Cherebin, a stylist, and Gedeon, who works in the music industry, told Metro about going through marital ups and downs with cameras watching.

Both said the show was ultimately “therapeutic,” even though Gedeon was initially hesitant.

“I’m really private, as ironic as it sounds,” he said.

The couple said knowing cameras were on them forced them to make better decisions – and perhaps watch their tongue.

“We wanted to hold ourselves accountable,” Gedeon said. “You know that someone else is watching, it really makes you think twice about what you say.”

Cherebin added that the show forced them to face issues they might not have addressed during the first year, “because you’re trying to wait everything out.”

“It felt really good, after the tears come out,” she said.

Next up? No cameras, and more time in Los Angeles – although they’re adamant about keeping their Harlem apartment.

“We don’t want to lose that New York City edge,” Gedeon said.

Follow Alison Bowen @reporteralison.

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When Ben Affleck accepted the Oscar for Best Picture, he thanked his wife Jennifer Garner and said that marriage is hard work, but it is the best kind of work. He’s right — it takes great effort to find the balance between each person’s needs and desires. Say football is your thing — it always has been, ever since you were a little kid watching at home with your dad. It’s hard for you to understand why your new partner has no interest in it. You want to go to games together, talk about plays and plan weekends around the tailgate parties. If the answer is “no,” what do you do? Ask for a compromise.

One couple I worked with had a basic problem: She wanted to stick to low-key staples like pizza and hot dogs, while he wanted to wine and dine on fancy, gourmet meals.  The difference in their tastes was a source of constant bickering and resentment in their relationship.

Compromising is key in any relationship, even if — as Ben Affleck pointed out rather awkwardly  — it takes work. In your relationship, you have to find a balance between your own pleasures and the things you love while respecting the things your partner is into, as well.  Is there a way to include your significant other but not force-feed them?

This is where a little bit can really go a long way. You remember when you were a child and your mother wanted you to eat broccoli, right? It looked awful, but you had to have some to appease her, so you took a small bite. With that taste, you showed her you respected her wishes enough to open your mind a little bit.

The same thing holds true in your relationship. Acknowledge to your partner that you understand and accept that football or pizza is not his or her cup of tea. When the playoffs roll around or a special event comes up, say that his or her company is important to you. Be clear that you know it is a sacrifice, but that a small portion — one game, or one slice of pizza — would mean a lot.

Doing this means you can share your passions and interests while respecting your partner’s desires. The key is to encourage them to be open and try to appreciate what it is that you find so fascinating. Who knows, your partner just might like it. Sharing pleasures and being open to each other helps to turn the wheels for more mutual passion. Doesn’t sound like such hard work, does it?

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Actor Josh Brolin and wife actress Diane Lane.
Credit: Reuters

Hollywood couple Diane Lane and Josh Brolin are divorcing after more than eight years, their representatives said on Thursday.

“I can confirm Diane Lane and Josh Brolin have decided to end their marriage,” said Lane’s spokeswoman, Kelly Bush.

A source close to the couple termed the split as “amicable” and said it was a mutual decision.

The divorce will be the second for both Lane and Brolin. They have no children together.

Lane, 48, who was Oscar-nominated for her role in the 2002 film “Unfaithful,” and Brolin, 45, married in August 2004 after being introduced by Barbra Streisand, the actor’s stepmother through her marriage to James Brolin.

Josh Brolin played a lead role in last summer’s sci-fi comedy franchise “Men in Black 3″ and his most recent film appearance was the January release “Gangster Squad.”

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If you’re looking to get high, Brad Pitt can hook you up. “It’s certainly true that I could probably land in any city, in any state, and get you whatever you wanted. I could find anything you’re looking for, give me 24 hours or so,” Pitt said, criticizing the U.S. war on drugs while introducing a screening of “the House I Live In,” a documentary about about drugs in America, according to Us Weekly. “And yet we still support this, I have to say, this charade called the drug war.” That being said, though, Pitt says he doesn’t currently imbibe himself. “My drug days are long since past,” he admits.

Lindsay Lohan back in Los Angeles and “at ease” after a tumultuous trip to New York that culminated with police intervening in an argument between the actress and her mother, according to People magazine. She even hit up an old haunt, the Chateau Marmont, despite being on the outs with management earlier this year. “Lindsay was very talkative and led much of the conversation,” the source says. “The group shared hot tea and late night salads. Lindsay definitely seemed at ease and in high spirits as they enjoyed a low-key night.”

Becoming famous has made Kristen Stewart become afraid for her life, she admits in a new e-book called “Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner — In Their Own Words” compiled by Talia Soghomonian. “Nowadays it’s harder because everyone is on Facebook and everyone knows where you are all the time, and everyone’s twittering,” Stewart says. “Like I’m going to die because somebody is going to say where I am and somebody is going to kill me. Someone’s going to twitter my location and then it’s going to be like, boom.”

Susan Sarandon is a well-respected, Oscar-winning actress, but she didn’t always have it so good. In fact, Sarandon admits that early in her career she was even exploited in a “casting couch” experience. “It was not successful — for either of us. I just went into a room, and a guy practically threw me on the desk,” Sarandon tells Elle magazine. “It was my early days in New York, and it was really disgusting. It wasn’t like I gave it a second though, it was so badly done.” The actress declined to offer specifics on the role for which she was auditioning at the time.

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At this point, Russell Brand has been talking about his marriage to and divorce from Katy Perry almost as long as they were actually wed. In a candid interview with Australia’s “60 Minutes,” the British comedian talks about why things didn’t work out between him and Perry. “Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it don’t, but if you sort of sense there’s an incompatibility, then in any relationship regardless of the status of the individual, it kind of is best to go separate ways,” he says. “I think if you’re someone who’s really into mountain biking, it would be good to go out with someone else who’s into mountain biking. If you’re really into Eastern mysticism, go out with someone else who is into Eastern mysticism. I think if you’re a devoted tennis professional and you get married to a crystal meth addict, you might have trouble. I’ve been in a lot of trouble.”

Lady Gaga has a lot of friends around the world, but Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro is definitely not one of them. “There’s Gaga. I would call her a slut. This slut is influencing many, many children,” Molinaro said at an anti-drug event earlier this week, criticizing Gaga’s recent actions at a concert in Amsterdam during which she smoked marijuana on stage. “She’s a slut in the pure word, in the pure meaning of the word,” he explained. “A slut is someone that’s immoral or uses improper conduct. So she’s using improper conduct. So she’s a slut. Anyone that would expose people that look up to them and who their idol is, to the use of narcotics, to me is a slut, male or female. It doesn’t matter.”

With three young kids already at home, Jennifer Garner says she’s not planning to have any more children despite husband Ben Affleck’s desire for a bigger family. But then that’s the thing about plans: “I am not pregnant now. I plan to be done,” Garner tells Ellen DeGeneres in an interview. “But my husband is kind of a wonder sperm kind of guy. You never don’t know. You just have to look at him.”

One Direction boy-bander Louis Tomlinson wants the world to know he’s a good boyfriend. The 20-year-old Brit, who has been dating model Eleanor Calder for nearly a year, tells the magazine Fabulous UK that he’s planning to remain faithful. “Sorry girls, I’ll never sleep around,” he says. “I’m a very loyal boyfriend. I’m a bit of a joker. I can be romantic, but not too sickly.”

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Did Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel pull a fast one on Hollywood and sneak off to tie the knot this past weekend? At least one gossip columnist says yes. Janet Charlton reports on her blog that the engaged stars were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, this weekend — the site of Timberlake’s proposal to Biel last December — for a rehearsal dinner Friday night followed by the wedding itself Saturday at a private estate. Their quests were staying at the Four Seasons resort nearby, according to Charlton’s source.

Speaking of secret weddings, Justin Theroux spurred speculation that he and Jennifer Aniston had already sealed the deal when he was spotted walking around New York City this weekend sporting a ring on his left hand, according to E! Online. Of course, he and Aniston have only been engaged a week, and she’s off in North Carolina shooting a movie — and hasn’t even unveiled her engagement ring yet. Plus, the ring Theroux was wearing — a large, gold item with lettering on it — didn’t look very much like a traditional wedding band. Maybe he was just trying to make it clear that he’s off the market.

With the London Olympics behind him, Prince Harry headed back to Las Vegas this weekend for some fun and relaxation, according to People magazine. The royal bachelor was able to enjoy himself at the MGM Grand’s poolside venue Wet Republic without drawing too much attention thanks to the presence of Jennifer Lopez, who was throwing a party a few bungalows away. He didn’t go entirely unnoticed, of course. “A few groups of women approached him throughout the day and he talked to them briefly, but he didn’t really center his attention on anyone,” a source says. “He definitely loved the attention, but he looked to be a gentleman with all the women.”

Katie Couric says she gets “total child list when I see little kids” because she’s starting to regret not having more children. “Sometimes I think I should have had six kids. Or I wish I’d had one [more] at 37, but I was busy. My career,” the 55-year-old mother of two tells Good Housekeeping. “I think emotionally and psychologically, it’s weird to feel like, ‘Gosh, my childbearing years are over.’ And of course they’ve been over for a long time, but still, they’re officially over now. It’s kind of a head trip, to tell you the truth.”

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After one too many interviews in which Russell Brand ran his mouth about their failed 14-month marriage, Katy Perry has reportedly called in the lawyers to gag the British comedian, according to the Daily Star. “Katy is fed up with Russell constantly making reference to their marriage in interviews,” a source tells the newspaper. “While it’s mainly harmless and often even complimentary, she’s sick to death of his comments being splashed all over the news and magazines.” So the “Fireworks” singer is taking matters into her own hands, according to the source: “She called lawyers and told them to put a gagging order on Russ to prevent him from speaking [about] her in public again. Katy vowed never to reveal the ins and outs of their marriage breakdown or speak about Russell in any way. All she wants is the same in return.”

While Vanessa Paradis is out promoting her new movie, “Cornouaille,” she can’t seem to dodge questions about her recent split from longtime partner Johnny Depp. “I don’t want to talk about him. Who said that artists should sell their soul, expose everything about themselves?” Paradis asks in an interview with French Elle. “It’s my duty to promote this movie and my albums, but you can imagine what it feels like to see people making a business out of your pain.” She does offer some insight, though, into what makes relationships work — and not work: “I hate, for example, whenever you hear someone say, ‘You have to work at being a couple.’ No, you have to want to be there,” she says.

Newlyweds Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied are getting an early start on exposing their baby boy to culture, taking in a concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl recently, according to People magazine. The Oscar-winning actress “looked pretty chilled out,” a source says. “She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, her hair was down. She looked more concerned about keeping [infant son Aleph] quiet and not disturbing anyone than anything.

Macaulay Culkin‘s reps may insist that reports of the former child star’s drug problems and failing health are bogus, but photos of the “Home Alone” star looking gaunt have his estranged parents worried. “I hope that he has the right people looking after him,” Kit Culkin, who hasn’t spoken to his son in 15 years, tells the Sun. Macaulay’s mother, Jeanette, adds that they fear their son is “dying of some disease of heavily into drugs,” based on recent photos.

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TomKat was off to an annoying start with their inappropriate PDA and lovey-dovey interviews. Their courtship is not our fondest memory of them and we can’t help but go ahead and bring up now, after the news that they are divorcing. Actually, their entire union kind of left a weird taste in our mouths, given, you know, how weird it was.

Here are the things that TomKat initially ruined for us, that we now may enjoy again, in peace.

Couches

Motorcycles

Dawson’s Creek

War of the Worlds

First Daughter

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The 22-year-old “Hunger Games” actor proposed to his 19-year-old girlfriend of three years with a Neil Lane engagement ring on May 31, according to People magazine.

“I’m so happy to be engaged and look forward to a life of happiness with Liam,” Cyrus told People.

We wonder how surprised Cyrus was when Hemsworth popped the question, considering he told OK! Magazine back in April that he wasn’t considering marriage any time soon.

“Marriage and kids are way in the future for me,” Hemsworth said, two months before he proposed. “I’m young. It’s not really on my mind at the moment — marriage, kids or anything.”

Or anything? We’ve got to hand it to Hemsworth: When he makes his mind up, he makes it up quickly.

The post Liam Hemsworth proposes to Miley Cyrus two months after saying he’s too young for engagement appeared first on Metro.us.

Portland actor Isaac Lamb wanted to pop the question to his girlfriend Amy Frankel, but simply getting down on one knee and pulling out a ring clearly isn’t his style. He asked about 60 of their friends and family to help plot and participate in an elaborate choreographed lip-dub of Bruno Mars’ song “Marry You.”

The shocked bride-to-be was wearing headphones while sitting in the back of a slow-moving Honda CRV with the hatch open as a live musical unfolded before her eyes. Lamb, clearly a meticulous planner, made sure to outfit the SUV with cameras, capturing Amy’s sweet surprised expression as she watches her friends and family dance in and out of the street. At one point, a group of dancers approaches her with open laptops to reveal video of more people, who we assume are other friends who could not be there in person, dancing along to the song.

We were in tears after the first 60 seconds, but we really lost it when Isaac finally emerged from the back of the crowd and walked up to Amy as the SUV rolled to a stop. The crowd surrounded him, visibly excited, as he got down on one knee, said all the right things, and asked her to marry him (she said yes, duh!). Their group of friends and family burst out into cheers and so did we!

The video has gone viral on YouTube with more than five million views in just four days. Scores of well-wishers have commented on the clip, sending their congratulations, and it’s easy to see why it has touched so many people after you watch it for yourself. 

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Upper East Side business executive Steven Silverstein filed a lawsuit against former flame Kendra Platt-Lee, claiming she owes him about $50,000 after she called off their wedding twice, the most recent time just months before she was set to walk down the aisle, according to the New York Post.

The couple met while Platt-Lee was working as a flight attendant in 2008 and were engaged a year later. She moved into Silverstein’s $2,595-a-month East 86th Street apartment, which he claimed was paid for by him. That engagement was called off 2010 and the couple went their separate ways.

When they rekindled the flame and reunited more than a later, they moved into a more expensive apartment at $3,945 a month, which Silverstein said he also paid entirely on his own. The two made plans to wed at the Allegria Hote in Long Beach, Long Island this coming September 22 and Silverstein said in his suit that he shelled out money for down payments on the venue, the band, the DJ, the photographer and a videographer.

Things took a turn for the worse when Pratt-Lee when to California for a “one-week visit” in April and called Silverstein after ten days to cancel the wedding and end the relationship. Silverstein claims that she withdrew $54,367.87 from their joint bank account that same day, even though $19,269 of that money belonged to him.

Pratt-Lee did give back the $32,000 engagement ring given to her by Silverstein, but he is asking for much more — Silverstein is suing his former fiance for the $19,269 from the bank account, $28,000 in rent, and half of the $27,000 in wedding down payments.

But it doesn’t end there — Pratt-Lee is filing a counter-suit against Silverstein claiming that he hasn’t returned some of her possessions, including her make up. Her lawyer said she “generally denies” Silverstein’s allegations.

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Chan, 27, and Zuckerberg, 28, were married in Palo Alto after guests thought they were attending a party for Chan to celebrate her graduation from medical school. Instead, Chan walked down the aisle and became the wife of one of the world’s youngest billionaires.

So, who is Priscilla Chan? What kind of woman does it take to be the long-time girlfriend and now wife of the world’s most famous nerd? Their road to newlyweds was long and one that began when they met in college. Our new-found fascination with Chan led us to some in-depth research into the past of the tech world’s newest blushing bride. Here are  five facts about Priscilla Chan that you didn’t know:

1. Chan met Zuckerberg at a Harvard frat party and thought he was a nerd. The two bumped into each other while she was waiting in line for the restroom.

“He was this nerdy guy who was just a little bit out there. I remember he had these beer glasses that said ‘pound include beer dot H.’ It’s a tag for C++. It’s like college humor but with a nerdy, computer-science appeal,” she told The New Yorker in 2010.

Little did she know years later, this nerd would be a household name and one she would marry.

2. Though she had been his girlfriend for seven years, Chan and Zuckerberg weren’t “Facebook official” until 2011 when they both finally changed their profile statuses to read “in a relationship.”

And as the old saying goes, “First comes love, then comes marriage,” their Facebook timelines proved to be a precursor to a bigger commitment.

3. She speaks three languages. Chan is fluent in English, Spanish and Cantonese. She also encouraged Zuckerberg to learn Mandarin in preparation for a trip they took together to China. Zuckerberg studied each morning for a year and was able to carry on a conversation with Chan’s Chinese grandmother.

4. She made Zuckerberg sign a “relationship contract.” Chan agreed to move to Palo Alto to be closer to the Facebook mogul, but only after she negotiated a set of terms for their relationship. Most of the contract has been kept under wraps, but one thing we do know is that time together was one of the big sticking points.

“One date per week, a minimum of a hundred minutes of alone time, not in his apartment and definitely not at Facebook,” was one of Chan’s stipulations.  

5. Mark Zuckerberg personally designed her ring, according to a source close to the couple.
Instead of a multi-carat diamond, its focal point is “a very simple
ruby.”

Chan wore a sheer-backed gown with ivory embroidery called “Sky Between the Branches” by designer Claire Pettibone, who is known for her
whimsical, vintage-inspired creations. Chan’s gown is priced at $4,700.

Their wedding details were some of the best kept secrets in “celebrity” history. Less than 100 guests saw the couple exchange vows in the backyard of their home. Zuckerberg announced their nuptials on his Facebook timeline the next day.

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The 28-year-old billionaire’s wedding took place a day after Facebook’s initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday.

More than 280,000 people “liked” Zuckerberg’s status change, which was accompanied by a photo of the smiling couple in wedding attire in a small, verdant outdoor setting with a string of lights behind them.

In the photo, the famously casual Zuckerberg is wearing a dark blue suit and tie, a departure from his trademark “hoodie,” while Chan has on a sleeveless white dress with lace overlay.

The pair wed in an intimate backyard ceremony in Palo Alto, California, according to People magazine. The couple had planned the exchange of vows for four months, but surprised their guests, who thought they were to celebrate Chan’s recent graduation from medical school, the magazine reported.

Zuckerberg’s sister, Arielle Zuckerberg, posted, “Balls. Now I’m the only unmarried Zuckerberg…” on her Facebook page. She is listed by Chan as a family member on the site.

Zuckerberg designed a simple ruby wedding ring for Chan himself, People reported. Guests dined on food from the couple’s favorite restaurants, and nibbled on mouse-shaped chocolates that the pair ate on their first date nine years ago.

Tim Carvell, lead writer for “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart, reacted to the news on Twitter, writing: “Congratulations, Mark Zuckerberg! As a gift, I got you the names of all my friends, a list of my favorite movies, and some photos of me!”

OPENING BELL TO WEDDING BELLS

Zuckerberg, whose shares are worth nearly $20 billion and who retains voting control of Facebook, marked the debut of his company’s stock at Facebook’s Silicon Valley campus on Friday, symbolically ringing the opening bell for stock trading.

The IPO did not go as well as the social networking company had hoped, with shares closing just above the offering price of $38 a share after trading glitches and a last-minute, 25 percent increase in the number of shares being sold.

More than 576 million shares changed hands, setting a trading volume record for U.S. market debuts. Facebook posted $3.7 billion in revenue in 2011 and $1 billion in profit. The site boasts 900 million global users.

Facebook’s emergence as a cultural phenomenon was depicted in the fictionalized 2010 film “The Social Network.”

Zuckerberg, Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2010, started Facebook in his Harvard University dorm room eight years ago, before dropping out of the Ivy League school. Chan just graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. The couple met while at Harvard.

Neither Zuckerberg nor Chan commented further about their marriage on their Facebook pages, and Facebook representatives did not immediately respond to e-mailed requests for comment on the wedding.

The couple adopted a Hungarian sheepdog named Beast a year ago, and live together in Palo Alto.

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Finally, there is real evidence that reuniting with an old flame is the equivalent of bashing your head into a way repeatedly in the hopes that it will hurt less each time.

Unfortunately, the vicious cycle is all too common — especially among young adults. 40 percent of college-aged people are in relationships with people who they have broken up with before getting back together.

Amber Vennum, assistant professor of family studies and human services at Kansas State University, analyzed “cyclical” relationships and the information that the couples gave about them. She told  MedicalXpress that on-again-off-again romances can have some serious negative ramifications.

People in these cyclical relationships tend to make hastier decisions, like moving in together or having a child. Because of that, those couples are often less satisfied, which leads to more negative decisions and lower self-esteem. They also tend to be less certain about their future together.

“The idea is that because people aren’t making explicit commitments to the relationship, they are less likely to engage in pro-relationship behaviors, such as discussing the state of the relationship or making sacrifices for their partner,” Vennum said. “The thought is that, ‘I’m not committed to you, why would I work very hard for you?’”

Sounds horrible. So why would anyone want to be in a cyclical relationship anyway? The same old reasons… people believe their partner has “changed,” they think communication has improved… or (the most embarrassing reason of all) they aren’t really sure whether they actually broke up in the first place.  

“When cyclical couples break up, they tend to be ambiguous about ending the relationship,” Vennum said. “So it can be unclear to one or both partners if they broke up and why they broke up, which leads to them continuing the romantic relationship. Other times the breakup won’t be unilateral, so one person pursues the other until they get back together.”

And if you’re thinking about getting engaged to someone you’ve broke up with before, by all means, don’t.

“If you tend to be cyclical while dating, you tend to be cyclical while married,” Vennum warned. The more you are cyclical, the more your relationship quality tends to decrease and that creates a lack of trust and uncertainty about the future of the relationship, perpetuating the pattern.”

So please, can’t you just find someone new?

The post Getting back together with your ex is a horrible idea, says science appeared first on Metro.us.

Mother-daughter duo Francine Baras and Nicole Baras Feuer are hard at work, planning New York City’s very first divorce expo, slated for a March 31 debut at the Metropolitan Pavilion.

“There are bridal shows and things to help a bride get married, but then there’s nothing for when she gets divorced,” said Feuer. “There are a lot of people who are lost and confused.”

Feuer, 42, who is herself divorced, and works as a divorce and family mediator, and Baras, 70, a therapist, have pooled their combined expertise to curate “Start Over Smart,” an expo designed to help divorcees transition from spouses to singles.

Plastic surgeons, attorneys, therapists, and even wardrobe consultants from Macy’s will be on hand to help the thousands of attendees navigate the foreign future of singledom. There will also be divorce courses, including lessons in personal finance and life coach lessons from Cheryl Richardson, said Feuer.

“I basically created a wishlist of everything that I needed and I’m going to help others find it,” Feuer said. “Divorce can be horrible, but we’re going to give people all the tools they need.”

Tickets to the expo cost between $125 and $200 — and no, there won’t be a couple’s discount.

Valentine’s Day nuptials

Because you first have to get married in order to get divorced, Metro asked New York City Clerk Michael McSweeney for his guess on the number of couples that will tie the knot today at City Hall.

McSweeney said his office was aflutter yesterday with people applying for marriage licenses, excited to wed on the most romantic day of the year.

“Last year, we had close to 170 ceremonies,” McSweeney said, who said that number is much higher than a regular day. “Because it’s a Tuesday, it will probably be the same or maybe higher.” 

Manhattan leads the way in divorces

According to the state health department, more divorces occur in Manhattan than any other borough.

Of New York City’s 23,698 divorces in 2009, 10,375 were on the island. Brooklyn had the second most divorces with 5,394 and Queens had the third most with 4,683. Just 831 couples got divorced in Staten Island and only 2,415 couples split in the Bronx.

Still, the overall divorce rate in New York state in 2010, 2.8 per 1,000 people, is significantly lower than the national average, 3.6 per 1,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control. 

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyAEpstein

Related:

He called me a c**t. Should I divorce him?

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Do something together that’s a little scary
Nothing jump-starts romance like a little fear. “People in long relationships get really comfortable, and it’s good to shake that up — not just a little but a lot,” says Weil. “Many of the feelings we associate with falling in love throw us off balance.” So for that next date night, skip the fancy dinner and go skydiving or bungee jumping. Weil and her husband, who live in San Francisco, decided to swim to Alcatraz Island and back. “That really put us back in touch with all of those feelings, when we needed each other in a more visceral way.”

Make great sex a priority
Don’t just have sex — have earth-shaking sex. But to do that, you’ll need to have a very open and honest conversation about your turn-ons. “Don’t assume that you know, because you may not,” says Weil. “Don’t wait until the sex is stale. Talk about it. Decide you want your sex to be great and put some effort into it.” Send the kids on a playdate and do it on the bathroom sink. Fulfill a secret fantasy. Get kinky. Go have loud “hotel sex.” Whatever it takes.

Put yourself in the other’s shoes
“When you’re in a long relationship, you think you know the other person and everything they think and feel, but you don’t,” says Weil. A well-developed sense of empathy helps bring couples closer together and cuts down on petty arguments. “When you’re not understanding each other, slow down and imagine how the other person feels. Literally, role play as your partner.” You’ll find you make up quickly (makeup sex!).

Be proactive
Even happy unions have room for improvement. “Treat your emotional life the same way you treat your physical health,” says Weil. “Take preventative measures. Stay in shape. If you wait until problems escalate, they’re much harder to fix.”

The post In a long-term relationship gone stale? Reassess and keep it fresh appeared first on Metro.us.

New Jersey, home of hopeless romantic Governor Chris Christie, is quite close to a new law that would make it easier to get married in the A.C. — just add alcohol!

It would also expedite the divorce process — just add sobriety!

The bill, which has been passed by both houses of the New Jersey legislature, would nix a 72-hour waiting period for obtaining marriage or civil union licenses, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Nothing like instant gratification when making a horrible decision.

The new bill also proposes the fee for obtaining a marriage or civil union license be increased from $28 to $60 — a steep jump, but given that you’ve probably already gambled away most of your savings while blacked-out drunk by the time you decide to get married in Atlantic City anyway, we’re guessing the extra $32 isn’t likely to be the one thing that makes you stop and realize that it’s the worst idea ever.

Long live love!

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For some reason, libido is lacking in the land of the rising sun. The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research conducted a survey, reported by CNN,  that shows things are not too sexy in Japan right now.

First of all, the country faces a record number of single men between the ages of 18 and 34 in the country — 9.2 percent increase since 2005. About 61 percent of those unmarried men report not having any significant other in their life at all. In addition, half of the unmarried adult women who were surveyed also said they are totally unattached with no boyfriend.

That might have something to do with the fact that one in four of the single adults in their late 30s surveyed are virgins!  

Proving that Japan is not a land of desperate romantics, 45 percent of those unmarried, unattached adults said they don’t really care about finding their one true love right now. Instead, marriage is a distant prospect, with 86 percent of single men and 89 percent of single women saying they would like to get married…. someday.   

About 40 percent of these singles also say that money worries are a main reason for avoiding the plunge in the present.

CNN reports, though, that Japan already has one of the lowest birthrates in the world at 1.34 children born per couple, but the country needs a birthrate of 2.1 children in order to get the workforce at a steady level in a rapidly aging population.

So get busy, Japan! Your country is counting on you!

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The two made it official Sunday morning, just six weeks after they first met.

According to the New York Daily News, Emery Abdel-Latif, 24, of Westchester County, PA married his sweetheart Micha Balon, 19, of Staten Island in a traditional Muslim ceremony.

NYU Islamic Center Chaplain Khalid Latif officiated the ceremony.

Abdel Latif, who was living with his parents and applying to law schools before making Zuccotti Park his home told the Daily News that he didn’t come to Lower Manhattan in order to find love.

“Neither of us believed in love before we came here, and now that we found each other, we believe it exists,” he told the Daily News.

Abdel Latif’s wife, Balon, is an undergraduate in Middle East studies at Hunter College.

The couple, who up until now stayed in separate tents, did not know whether they will move in to the same tent now that they’re married. Regardless, the couple told the Daily News that plan on staying at the protest throughout the winter.

While we might think getting married after only six weeks is a little hasty (hello, did Kim Kardashian teach us nothing?) we wish these two love birds all the best. 

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With about four miles left until the finish line, the couple was spotted by cameras running along side a bow-tied marriage officiator. The bride wore a lovely white running outfit complete with a tulle veil attached to her baseball cap. The groom appeared to be wearing Under Armour beneath his tuxedo vest.

The newlywed couple said during a post-race interview that they met while running. Where better to tie the knot than on the course of a marathon? The man who married them was a friend who happened to be a minister and an Ironman. Friends and family of the couple met them at mile 22 to keep up for as long as they could during the mobile ceremony.  

We’ve heard that planning a wedding is exhausting in itself, so props to these two for doing it during one of the most challenging races known to man (and wife)! We wish them the same endurance during the course of the marriage!

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Kris and Kim are certainly not alone in their short-lived union. Plenty of celebrity spouses have called it quits in less time than it takes for most of us to redeem our Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and remind ourselves of all the celebrity marriages that lasted even less time than the 72-day wedded bliss of Kris and Kim.

Zsa Zsa Gabor takes the wedding cake for shortest celebrity marriage. She got her marriage with Felipe DeAlba annulled after less than a day. Turned out, she wasn’t officially divorced from her previous husband anyway. She decided not to remarry DeAlba, though, reportedly saying, “He bored me. He’s a playboy and I’m a hard working actress.”

Who can forget the drunken nuptials of Britney Spears and her childhood friend Jason Alexander? If there is any indication that a marriage will fail, it might be that the wedding happens at 5:30 a.m. in Vegas.  They were only married for 55 hours.

Now, we thought these two were a match made in heaven, but apparently Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman had a different idea: Annulment after 9 days. We can’t begin to speculate what could have possibly gone wrong.

Eddie Murphy and producer Tracey Edmonds were all smiles at first, but it wasn’t long before their marriage came to an end. By not long, we mean 14 days. Hey, they gave it their best shot. We can’t imagine Eddie Murphy being anything less than the greatest husband ever.

Aren’t these two just the picture of domestic life? Erin Everly and Axel Rose tied the not, not once, but twice. It’s hard enough to imagine Axel Rose making that kind of commitment even one time — but he did, and the marriage lasted a whopping 26 days. The pair wed again later, staying married for nine months that time. The lesson here? Don’t marry a rockstar… and then don’t do it again.

Pamela Anderson is no stranger to short marriages, but darn it, we really thought it was the real thing when she married Kid Rock. After that beautiful wedding at sea, the couple called it quits about four months later. Pam, will you ever find love?

Amazingly, a marriage with Tom Green isn’t Drew Barrymore’s only embarrassing wedding flop. The actress spent 29 days married to Jeremy Thomas. She didn’t learn her lesson though, and later went through a divorce with Tom Green after about five months of marriage.

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Well here is something that warmed our heart. Amidst plans to potentially move the protest to Lincoln Center, one man found the time to ask his girlfriend to “Occupy my life.”

At Liberty Plaza, using his fellow protesters as a human microphone, one man got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in this movement, but I hope it’s half of successful as our marriage is going to be,” he said.

The video was posted on YouTube with the following caption:

‘I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make this moment in history a part of our story. I love you, Deb Zep.’

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Hahn, who is 26, has been living with Uchitel, 36, for several months. No stranger to controversy, Uchitel, who is known for her fling with Tiger Woods, raised eyebrows last month with her comments about late fiance James Andrew O’Grady, who died on 9/11.

“I believe Andy was meant to die because he was too good,” she told Page Six Magazine, in The Post. “I’m almost happy it ended the way it did because I’ve learned so many lessons from him. It would have been tragic if we got into fights and then divorced. … I would be a fat housewife with three kids in Sands Point, LI.”

Uchitel says she was misquoted in the article and plans to sue the paper. Congratulations to the happy couple!

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And it will also be thousands of dollars cheaper for them to tie the knot than their straight counterparts.

Wedding-themed businesses across the city are clamoring to woo gay customers with deep discounts.

Brooklyn wedding photographer Julian Ribinik is offering 30 percent off wedding shoots for the first three gay couples to sign up. Kimberly Sevilla, owner of Rose Red & Lavender flower shop in Williamsburg, is offering a 10 percent discount to her first 10 LGBT weddings.

“It’s a way to celebrate something that should’ve happened a long time ago,” Sevilla said. “I can’t wait to do my first big extravagant gay wedding.”

When it came to getting married, Long Island resident Courtney Scott never thought being a lesbian could be an advantage.

But now she’s delighted with the $500 discount offered by Alexis Stein Photography for her September nuptials to fiancee Kelly Franke.

“I was floored,” Scott said. “I was like, ‘Whoa, this is working to my advantage for once.’”

For the past year, photographer Jared Slater offered a 45 percent discount to gay couples — to note the 45 states that have not legalized gay marriage. Now, with New York’s new law, the discount is down to 44 percent.

And the ritzy Le Parker Meridien offers a “Love Has No Boundaries/Born This Way” wedding package. For $25,000, gay and lesbian couples get staples like cake and hors d’oeuvres, plus extras like monogrammed “Mrs. and Mrs.” bathrobes.

Gay couples also get an officiant and access to the presidential suite. It’s a perk that would otherwise cost $5,000 a night, according to the hotel.

Fearing a setback or appeal, Scott and Franke are filling out their marriage license July 24, the first day possible, and submitting the paperwork before the wedding — just in case.

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In fact, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services paid for ads on the subway such as this one above, encouraging married couples to make their relationship work. The ads direct riders to TwoOfUs.org, a site run by the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center, which provides marriage tips and relationship advice.

The government-sponsored ads were put up in December in New York,  Atlanta and Los Angeles.

In the past, the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center had put up similar ads in Chicago’s and Washington D.C.’s mass transit systems as well.  

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