8 ms·

Are all wedding announcements posted, or does The Times have an editorial role in which announcements are printed?

by bigtech 13y ago

daniper 13y ago
They have editorial discretion. I'd be curious to know what the "acceptance rate", so to speak is... I know for a fact that a couple I know was rejected specifically because one of them was undergoing gender reassignment and the NYT didn't know which personal (gender) pronoun to use for him.
- mason240 13y ago
  The NYT said they rejected it for that reason, or that is what you friend assumed to be the case?
- mtdewcmu 13y ago
  Maybe a different section would have printed it. I'm kind of interested.
- Haul4ss 13y ago
  AP StyleBook says to use the gender the individual identifies as. Thus why all the news media now reports on Chelsea Manning.
mturmon 13y ago
The Times certainly picks and chooses which are printed. That's the whole reason for the interest in the topic. It's a perfect collision between young-adult ambition and old-school establishment vetting. I understand that, like college admissions, you can hire a wedding planner or consultant who can considerably raise the chances of your wedding being listed. The NYT obits are another interesting read.
- WillyF 13y ago
  We used a high-end wedding planner, and when we asked her what to do for the NY Times announcement, she told us to submit via the form on the website. Maybe she pulled some strings behind the scenes, but it seemed to us that she had no pull whatsoever on that front.
  - larrys 13y ago
    I've read these for years and have known people who appeared. The factors that enter into getting in (from my observation strictly) are a combination of things like: - parents who live in ny metro - the parties getting married living in ny metro - having gone to school in ny metro - parents or parties getting married working in ny metro - what the parents do for a living - any lineage "grandparent governor of NY" - what the parties getting married do for a living - school attended as far as perceived impressiveness - whether an impressive job or title of any of the parties mentioned. ..and so on. That's off the top. For example, "physician" and "went to school in NY" is probably almost assured to get the announcement printed. "father a mechanic, mother a homemaker, inlaws are nobodies, parties are cashiers who work at walmart, no college, live in jersey city"[1] and so on either don't get in, don't care to get in, or don't have the drive to even submit a form to get in. [1] Unless of course one of the parties is related to a famous former politician or some other mitigating factor.
    - mtdewcmu 13y ago
      I found my high school classmate's wedding announcement in the NY Times. She happened to be a doctor.
  - mturmon 13y ago
    I know someone who hired a planner who helped them get in. I'm not sure how. To be sure, they were somewhat qualified already, but noticeably below the bar. I've read the wedding announcements on and off since about 1991, but much less these days, because I only get the online edition now.
- MichaelGG 13y ago
  What is the point of this? Is it some kind of odd "old-school" status thing? The upper class equivalent of being on the 8 o'clock news for a 1 minute interview? Although perhaps this is only for people already investing a huge amount of money into the wedding ceremony?
  - showerst 13y ago
    You got it with the first suggestion. It's a fun distraction for the well-bred, nothing more. Getting a write-up in the times is one affirmation that you're a power couple in a certain northeastern old-school way, or a human interest angle.
- mtdewcmu 13y ago
  Considering that there are 8 million people living in New York, including everyone would present some serious challenges indeed.
WillyF 13y ago
I don't have any stats, but I know that very few of those who submit are selected. My wife and I received a long form write-up (just under 700 words). The process started with our submission on the website, but then we got a call from a writer a few weeks later. Between talking to us, our parents, and our minister, I'd say he put at least 10 hours into researching and writing. A day or two before the wedding, he told us that he wrote both a long form piece and a shorter, more typical piece. He wasn't sure which would get published, but he was obviously pushing for the longer piece to get in. It did. Oddly enough, our write-up isn't included in the Rap Genius dataset. Maybe it's too recent or the longer write-ups aren't included.
- daniper 13y ago
  The data-set includes only the announcements, not the stories published under the "Vows" column.
- MichaelGG 13y ago
  Not to be rude or offend you, but, why? You're saying a newspaper spend 10 hours researching and writing a 700-word article about your wedding? Is this a "local flavour" type article, like they might do about assorted residents? Or are your families famous or ? Did you pay for this kind of placement? Perhaps I'm socially inept here, I just feel like I'm missing something. As far as being in the dataset, certainly they aren't analyzing every flavour-style thing article, just "announcements"? Just like a 2-page life-in-review article on someone famous when they die doesn't really go in the obit section, does it?
  - WillyF 13y ago
    I was surprised that we got in and shocked that they put so much time into the article. I can't believe it makes economic sense to put so much into such a short write-up, but I guess it does for The Times. Together my wife and I check quite a few boxes that the NY Time typically looks for. We aren't famous or all that noteworthy, but we do have an interesting story of how we met. That was the main focus of the article.
  - ritchiea 13y ago

Are all wedding announcements posted, or does The Times have an editorial role in which announcements are printed?

by bigtech 13y ago

Are all wedding announcements posted, or does The Times have an editorial role in which announcements are printed?

They have editorial discretion. I'd be curious to know what the "acceptance rate", so to speak is... I know for a fact that a couple I know was rejected specifically because one of them was undergoing gender reassignment and the NYT didn't know which personal (gender) pronoun to use for him.

mason240 13y ago
The NYT said they rejected it for that reason, or that is what you friend assumed to be the case?
mtdewcmu 13y ago
Maybe a different section would have printed it. I'm kind of interested.
Haul4ss 13y ago
AP StyleBook says to use the gender the individual identifies as. Thus why all the news media now reports on Chelsea Manning.

mturmon 13y ago

The Times certainly picks and chooses which are printed. That's the whole reason for the interest in the topic. It's a perfect collision between young-adult ambition and old-school establishment vetting. I understand that, like college admissions, you can hire a wedding planner or consultant who can considerably raise the chances of your wedding being listed. The NYT obits are another interesting read.

WillyF 13y ago
We used a high-end wedding planner, and when we asked her what to do for the NY Times announcement, she told us to submit via the form on the website. Maybe she pulled some strings behind the scenes, but it seemed to us that she had no pull whatsoever on that front.
- larrys 13y ago
  I've read these for years and have known people who appeared. The factors that enter into getting in (from my observation strictly) are a combination of things like: - parents who live in ny metro - the parties getting married living in ny metro - having gone to school in ny metro - parents or parties getting married working in ny metro - what the parents do for a living - any lineage "grandparent governor of NY" - what the parties getting married do for a living - school attended as far as perceived impressiveness - whether an impressive job or title of any of the parties mentioned. ..and so on. That's off the top. For example, "physician" and "went to school in NY" is probably almost assured to get the announcement printed. "father a mechanic, mother a homemaker, inlaws are nobodies, parties are cashiers who work at walmart, no college, live in jersey city"[1] and so on either don't get in, don't care to get in, or don't have the drive to even submit a form to get in. [1] Unless of course one of the parties is related to a famous former politician or some other mitigating factor.
  - mtdewcmu 13y ago
    I found my high school classmate's wedding announcement in the NY Times. She happened to be a doctor.
- mturmon 13y ago
  I know someone who hired a planner who helped them get in. I'm not sure how. To be sure, they were somewhat qualified already, but noticeably below the bar. I've read the wedding announcements on and off since about 1991, but much less these days, because I only get the online edition now.
MichaelGG 13y ago
What is the point of this? Is it some kind of odd "old-school" status thing? The upper class equivalent of being on the 8 o'clock news for a 1 minute interview? Although perhaps this is only for people already investing a huge amount of money into the wedding ceremony?
- showerst 13y ago
  You got it with the first suggestion. It's a fun distraction for the well-bred, nothing more. Getting a write-up in the times is one affirmation that you're a power couple in a certain northeastern old-school way, or a human interest angle.
mtdewcmu 13y ago
Considering that there are 8 million people living in New York, including everyone would present some serious challenges indeed.

WillyF 13y ago

I don't have any stats, but I know that very few of those who submit are selected. My wife and I received a long form write-up (just under 700 words). The process started with our submission on the website, but then we got a call from a writer a few weeks later. Between talking to us, our parents, and our minister, I'd say he put at least 10 hours into researching and writing. A day or two before the wedding, he told us that he wrote both a long form piece and a shorter, more typical piece. He wasn't sure which would get published, but he was obviously pushing for the longer piece to get in. It did. Oddly enough, our write-up isn't included in the Rap Genius dataset. Maybe it's too recent or the longer write-ups aren't included.

daniper 13y ago
The data-set includes only the announcements, not the stories published under the "Vows" column.
MichaelGG 13y ago
Not to be rude or offend you, but, why? You're saying a newspaper spend 10 hours researching and writing a 700-word article about your wedding? Is this a "local flavour" type article, like they might do about assorted residents? Or are your families famous or ? Did you pay for this kind of placement? Perhaps I'm socially inept here, I just feel like I'm missing something. As far as being in the dataset, certainly they aren't analyzing every flavour-style thing article, just "announcements"? Just like a 2-page life-in-review article on someone famous when they die doesn't really go in the obit section, does it?
- WillyF 13y ago
  I was surprised that we got in and shocked that they put so much time into the article. I can't believe it makes economic sense to put so much into such a short write-up, but I guess it does for The Times. Together my wife and I check quite a few boxes that the NY Time typically looks for. We aren't famous or all that noteworthy, but we do have an interesting story of how we met. That was the main focus of the article.
- ritchiea 13y ago