Roseanne Tv Tome

"Winning" Wall Street sweeties Jack Welch and Suzy Wetlaufer finally sealed their merger yesterday in a historic Beacon Hill church under tight security and surrounded by an A-List of America's corporate titans.

"It's never been better, man," said the retired General Electric chairman, 68, giving the Track the "thumbs up" as he followed his beaming bride No. 3 down the rose petal-strewn front steps of the Park Street Church. "It's the best ever."

As for the new Mrs. Welch, a vision in a cafe au lait-colored beaded and crystal gown by Elie Saab, and clutching a Winston Flowers bridal bouquet of peonies and roses, she declared she was "as happy as I've ever been in my life."

Tossing petals and applauding Welch's new acquisition - the former Harvard Business Review editor and mother of four - were "Today" show host Matt Lauer; InterActiveCorp's Barry Diller; GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt and Sony Music's main man Andrew Lack.

"It was a beautiful wedding," Lauer told us as he made his way to the reception with his wife, Annette. "I've never seen Jack this happy."

The 50-minute ceremony included a reading by Jack's longtime Gal Friday Roseanne Badowski and a speech by his longtime friend Anthony Lofrisco. High-spirited musical accompaniment was provided by an evangelical band.

Guests read from programs decorated with magenta and orange ribbons with "Suzy and Jack" printed on the front with two rings intertwined.

"It was very personal with lots of stories about the both of them," Lauer said. "It was all about redemption, which was very appropriate. It has taken them a long time to get here."

Also spotted in the jam-packed crowd filled with media, security guards and disposable-camera-toting tourists stationed in front of the church were Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes; Home Depot founder Ken Langone and company Chairman Bob Nardelli; Larry Bossidy, former chairman and CEO of Honeywell International; Blockbuster founder H. Wayne Huizenga and Joel Klein, former assistant attorney general- turned-chancellor of New York City's schools.

We hear Welch's pal, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, was invited by the couple, but couldn't make it.

However, TV talk show hosts Charlie Rose and John McLaughlin were there with their designer-draped S.O.s. (the political yakker's companion wore a black hat rivaling the one worn by Andie McDowell in "Four Weddings and a Funeral.") Lobbyist Vernon Jordan and wife, Ann, also made the scene.

Local faces of note who showed included New England Patriots poobah Robert Kraft, who clutched his cellphone for incoming draft dispatches; a black sequin suit-wearing historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and her hubby, speechwriter Dick Goodwin; the happy couple's book agent Helen Rees, who scored them a $4 million advance for "Winning," a business how-to tome to be published next year; and Bank of America prez Anne Finucane (sporting a pair of to-die-for Manolo Blahnik embroidered mules) and her hubby, Herald columnist Mike Barnicle.

As the newly smug marrieds were whisked off in their black BMW coupe for the five-minute ride to their Beacon Street home for the reception, their guests, attendants dressed in a rainbow of pastel colors and the bride's brood either walked across Boston Common or were shuttled to the home for the after-party in Old Town Trolleys.

Awaiting the revelers at Chez Welch were Suzy and Jack smooching on the forsythia-flanked steps for society photog Cheryl Richards. Inside, canapes and champagne were served followed by a multicourse spring luncheon prepared by the couple's favorite chef, Michael Schlow of Via Matta.

On the menu were a salad of roasted beets and goat cheese; chilled poached salmon with cucumbers and herbed creme fraiche and roasted beef tenderloin in a red wine sauce with a spring vegetable ragout.

The bride and groom cut into a four-tier lemon wedding cake filled with fresh lemon curd and decorated with colossal raspberries baked by Something Sweet by Michelle of Worcester. Schlow's staff served slices along with strawberries and plates of mignardies (little sweets).

"Jack and Suzy wanted a really simple spring luncheon because it was early in the afternoon and didn't want their guests drowning in food," said Schlow, who also hosted the Welch/Wetlaufer rehearsal dinner pizza party the night before. (And no, there wasn't a bachelor party.)

After many toasts (the bride's sis and bro each made one), speeches and cake-cutting, guests boogied 'til 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the bridal brownstone to the tunes of Brian Walkley's Flipside, a dance band that entertained at the wedding of "The View" gal Elisabeth Filarski and her football honey Tim Hasselbeck.

It was unclear when the couple would depart on their honeymoon, which Wetlaufer said last week would be "some place warm and sunny."

As you know all too well by now, Wetlaufer, 44,a divorced mother of four kids ages 9 to 15, fell for the married Welch in 2001 while interviewing him for a Harvard Business Review cover story.

Mrs. Jack No. 2, Jane Beasley Welch, uncovered the affair by reading the couple's e-mails and filed for divorce. The e-nailing cost Jack $150 million and three homes worth $17 million, not to mention his corporate rep when his over-the-top retirement package was revealed in divorce papers.

Wetlaufer, who friends say is a religious woman and attends Bible- study classes, lost her job and was labeled a gold digger.

The couple's relationship, however, never wavered. Jack, a Lynn homeboy who has lived in New York and Connecticut for years, moved home to Boston. Suzy sold her 10-room home in Lexington for $2.8 million and the couple bought a big Beacon Street brownstone from a local developer and everyone, including the Wetlaufer family pooch, moved in.

Two years after they met, Jack gave his inamorata a horse-choking 9-carat diamond - that got more carat company yesterday - and a wedding date was revealed on Charlie Rose's PBS interview show earlier this year.

File Under: Bringing A Good Thing To Life.

Caption: HAPPY COUPLE: Newlyweds Jack Welch and Suzy Wetlaufer leave Park Street Church yesterday after trading I do's in front of a bevy of biz bigwigs. Staff photo by Kevin Wisniewski

Caption: WHERE THE HEART IS: Suzy Wetlaufer and Jack Welch arrive at their Beacon Street home after their wedding. Staff photos by Kevin Wisniewski

Caption: WHAT A `TO-DAY': Morning-show host with the most Matt Lauer and his wife, Annette, attend yesterday's star-studded bash.

Caption: AT THE READY: Patriots owner Robert Kraft makes the nuptial scene, cellphone in hand in anticipation of NFL draft news.

Copyright 2004
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

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