Maria Papadakis Is Getting Divorced

"I'm heartbroken," says the beautiful socialite, just seven months after her fairytale wedding.

The new issue of Philadelphia Wedding, about to hit newsstands this week, features a gorgeous four-page spread documenting the November 2012 nuptials of Maria Papadakis and Brendan Kent, who tied the knot in one of the most glamorous ceremonies Philadelphia has seen in a long time. But today, the newlyweds are headed for divorce.

Less than eight months after her guests dined on sumptuous fare from Jose Garces, were serenaded with an operatic “Maria, Maria” from West Side Story (see the video below), and danced to the Eddie Bruce Orchestra under the big chandelier in the Academy of Music’s main theater, the 28-year-old Papadakis says that her relationship with Kent is effectively over. “I’m heartbroken things have happened the way they did,” she says. “It’s been painful.”

The couple met in 2010, one year after Papadakis’s father, Drexel University president Constantine Papadakis, passed away. According to the story in Philadelphia Wedding, Kent told Papadakis over dinner at Stephen Starr’s Alma de Cuba that he wanted to marry her — it was their first date. Kent officially proposed several months later in front of the Cinderella castle at Disney World, but there would be no fairytale ending.

“There have been issues brewing for a while,” Papadakis says of the relationship, adding that Kent has moved out of their home at Broad Street’s Symphony House. She has removed her wedding ring and is working with a lawyer. “We have been apart for some time,” she explains, noting that she did not attend Kent’s recent graduation from Drexel. “I’m sure that was very awkward for him.”

Papadakis, who is developing a career in the media, declined to elaborate on the issues that have contributed to the downfall of her marriage, chalking the separation up to “irreconcilable differences.” She says that as recently as last week, she wasn’t sure which way things were heading, but that now, “things have come to a more finalized halt. Brendan and I have gone our separate ways. I am a hopeless romantic, and sometimes that gets the best of us.”

Kent was unable to be reached for comment. As of Monday afternoon, his Facebook page still featured several photos from the wedding.

Original photo by Marie Labbancz; used with permission of Maria Papadakis.