Inside Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s lavish £1m wedding – designer gown to BBQ & A-list guests with one star absent
IT’S the wedding that has been almost 20 years in the making — after being cancelled with just four days’ notice in 2003.
But this weekend Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez made up for lost time as they hosted a lavish ceremony at the Batman actor’s £7million plantation in the southern US state of Georgia.
The couple, who first dated in 2001 and split three years later, were joined by friends and family at the 87-acre property, where their first doomed nuptials had also been planned.
But this time there were no cold feet as A-list guests including Matt Damon, George Clooney and Jane Fonda watched them finally seal their happily ever after.
The three-day event, which began with a rehearsal dinner on Friday night, is thought to have cost more than £1milllion, with £340,000 going on preparing the grounds alone.
It was far cry from their intimate ceremony on July 16, when they officially tied the knot in the Little White Chapel in Vegas, with Jennifer, 53, choosing a dress she first wore for the poster of the 2004 movie Jersey Girl, which also starred Ben, 50.
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SIBLING FEUD
This time the bride opted for a stunning high-neck Ralph Lauren couture dress with a 20ft train and cut-out back, while Ben looked dapper in a white dinner jacket.
Wedding bells, shipped in for the ceremony, announced the arrival of the bride and groom who walked down a white carpet, followed by Ben’s kids Violet, 16, Seraphina, 13, and Sam, 11, from his 13-year marriage to Jennifer Garner, and J-Lo’s 14-year-old twins Emme and Max, 14, from her relationship with Marc Anthony.
The ceremony, presided over by former monk, author and podcaster Jay Shetty, took place at a waterside altar decorated with white flowers.
A pianist serenaded the couple on a white grand piano and even the guests were colour coordinated, dressed from head to toe in the same shade as the newlyweds.
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After exchanging their vows, the couple kissed and posed for pictures on a wooden bridge, with J-Lo’s mega-train draped on the railings.
Guests enjoyed drinks on the veranda of the main residence, a four-bedroom, Gone With The Wind-style mansion overlooking the North Newport River.
They were then treated to dinner on a covered jetty on the lake at Oyster House, the second of three properties on the estate, which Ben bought for £6million in 2003 during their first romance.
The menu was characteristically down-to-earth, with fried pork, rice and vegetables — reflecting J-Lo’s Puerto Rican background. There was also southern cuisine, including oven-roasted chicken and mac and cheese, which she once named as her favourite late night “cheat meal”.
Alongside the fine wines and champagne provided for the meal, barrels of Jack Daniel’s whiskey were laid on for thirsty party-goers.
The main bash culminated in a huge firework display over the lake.
While their Vegas wedding had been a private affair with only their kids taking part, the couple — known as Bennifer — pushed the boat out for the weekend event.
And despite the celebration falling in the week of his 50th birthday, Ben was keen to make sure the spotlight was on his beautiful bride.
“It’s going to be all about J-Lo,” a source told US celebrity website PageSix. “Ben wants all of the focus to be on her for their big day.”
Security at the estate was beefed up, with large gates installed at the end of the four-mile road leading to the estate weeks ago, and teams in boats on the night patrolling the river which flows through the estate.
Police cars cruised outside while guards checked the ID of arriving guests, who also included director Kevin Smith, chat show host Jimmy Kimmel and Bridget Jones actress Renee Zellweger.
Trucks supplying temporary dance floors, linen and glassware were still convoying up the tree-lined road hours before the ceremony.
Six piebald horses brought in for the couple, who are keen riders, were housed in a recently built £2.5million stable complex, and nine vintage white trolley buses were on hand to ferry guests around the sprawling grounds.
Despite the meticulous attention to detail by celebrity wedding planner Colin Cowrie, the ambitious event was not without its dramas.
Hours before the first guests arrived, Ben’s mum Christopher Anne Boldt was rushed to hospital in an ambulance after falling off the wooden dock and suffering a leg injury that needed stitches.
And there was mystery surrounding the absence of Ben’s brother, fellow actor Casey Affleck, who remained in Los Angeles rather than flying out to the bash.
Initially citing “parental obligations”, he was later spotted buying a coffee in LA and told a paparazzi he had “other things to do” — sparking speculation of a sibling feud.
Another no-show was Ben’s ex Jennifer Garner, who has remained close to the actor since their divorce in 2018.
She had filming commitments in Texas, where she is shooting new thriller TV series The Last Thing He Told Me, but is said to have given the couple her blessing.
Torrential rain in the run-up to the wedding also threatened to undo resurfacing work done on the pothole-prone road of the estate, and workmen were given until 6pm on Friday to repair the damage.
But the sun shone on the day and the bride and groom, seen blissfully smooching at every opportunity, could not have looked happier.
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The big day comes after two decades apart, J-Lo’s three marriages, Ben’s painful divorce, his long battle with the booze and a lifetime of missed opportunities.
But, as the blushing bride said after eloping in Vegas: “Love is beautiful. And it turns out love is patient — 20 years patient.”
