By the time we finished speaking, the theater had been transformed into a party space for the expo’s opening night celebration. Bartenders served up “Fresh Start” cocktails (Tanqueray, lime, simple syrup, mint, Perrier) as The Transom walked around a room filled with middle-aged women slowly nursing their drinks.
We met Teresa Dedovitch, the owner of A New Dawne in New Jersey, which offers divorce ceremonies to couples who are on the fritz.
For $500, the company will host this ceremony at a venue of the couple’s choosing —akin to a wedding ceremony, just with a radically different outcome— to ensure that both parties end their marriage without the bad blood that often accompanies a divorce trial.
“We encourage both people who are getting divorced to come,” said Ms. Dedovitch. “It rarely happens.”
As we continued to work the room, we heard women complain about the lack of men, the high cost of the event (it was an additional $35 for a ticket to the after-party), and the lack of vodka and whiskey at the open bar.
“There’s always less men at all these functions,” said one middle aged woman from New Jersey. “Not that I go to a lot of them.”
When asked by another group of women if we were attending the event as a divorced man, we said we were press, which caused one woman to groan.
“There is not one good looking man here who isn’t working,” said the woman, who called herself “Kara.”
Those men who could call themselves divorced were written off as slim pickings by Kara and her crew.
“They look more emotionally fried,” said Kara, pointing to a balding man who was standing alone sipping his drink. “They don’t have anywhere else to go, and they need the help.”
drosen@observer.com
