Twenty years after they first met, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck finally got married at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas last weekend.
“We did it. Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years of patience,” Lopez wrote in her newsletter. “Exactly what we wanted. Last night we flew to Vegas, lined up for a license with four other couples, all making the same trip to the wedding capital of the world.”
She continued: “Behind us, two men were holding hands and holding each other. In front of us, a young couple who made the three-hour drive from Victorville on their daughter’s second birthday – we we all want the same thing – for the world to recognize us as partners and to declare our love to the world through the ancient and almost universal symbol of marriage.”
On her Instagram, she shared a photo of herself in bed, wearing a simple platinum wedding band and captioned it “Sadie!”, a reference to funny girlwhen Fanny Brice sings “I’m Sadie, Sadie, Married Woman…” Ever the business woman, all the engagement and wedding details came out through Lopez’s newsletter.
In April 2022, she was spotted wearing a huge diamond ring on this finger, triggering a wave of internet rumours. Later, she confirmed the speculation: she is engaged (again) to Affleck. Lopez teased the news on his Twitter, directing fans to his “On the JLo” newsletter. In the newsletter, she shared a short video of herself tearfully admiring a green diamond ring. The engagement ring Affleck proposed to Lopez in 2002 was a 6.1-carat pink diamond by Harry Winston.
It was later revealed that Affleck proposed while Lopez was in the bath. “Have you ever imagined that your biggest dream could come true?” she wrote in On the JLo, detailing their engagement. “Saturday night, while I was in my favorite place on earth (in the bubble bath), my beautiful love got down on her knees and proposed. I was totally caught off guard and just stared at her. in my eyes smiling and crying at the same time trying to get my head around the fact that after 20 years this was happening again I was literally speechless and he said, ‘is that a yes ?’ I said YES of course it’s a YES.”
She added, “I was smiling so hard and tears were streaming down my face, I felt so incredibly happy and whole. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was the most romantic thing I could have imagined. …just a quiet moment Saturday night at home, two people promising to always be there for each other.”
Lopez ended her newsletter: “Two very lucky people. Who got a second chance at true love.”
A lot has changed since they first met: Affleck and Lopez are now both divorced and parents. (Affleck shares three children with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, Lopez has twins with ex-husband Marc Anthony.) Lopez said People that the growth they have experienced is essential for their new relationship to work: “We’re older now, we’re smarter, we have more experience, we’re at different times in our lives, we have kids now, and we have to be very aware of those things.”
“It’s a beautiful outcome that it happened this way at this time in our lives where we can truly appreciate, celebrate and respect each other,” she continued. “We always have, but we have even more appreciation because we know life can take you in different directions.”
Affleck also echoed Lopez’s sentiments regarding the second changes, telling WSJ Magazine“Life is tough, and we always fail and hopefully learn from those failures. The only thing you really need to take advantage of the opportunities this growth brings is second chances. I really tried to get some. enjoy. I haven’t always been successful, but in the instances that I have been successful, they have proven to be the defining aspects of my life.”
The couple postponed their September 2003 wedding due to “excessive media attention” surrounding the nuptials. “When we found ourselves seriously considering hiring three separate ‘decoy wives’ in three different locations, we realized something was wrong,” Lopez and Affleck’s statement read at the time. “We began to feel that the spirit of what should have been the happiest day of our lives might be compromised. We felt that what should have been a joyful and sacred day might be ruined for us, our families and our friends.”
They eventually separated in January 2004, but reconnected in 2021 after Lopez ended her engagement to Alex Rodriguez.
“I don’t think we would have gotten back together if we thought that was where it was headed,” Lopez said. rolling stone, referring to their past split. “We feel like what we’ve found is so much more important, and how we protect it and how we live our lives – what to share, what not to share – that’s the balance that we have now, the benefit of the experience and the wisdom that we have acquired over the years.”
Upon her marriage, Lopez officially changed her name to Jennifer Affleck.
At the end of her newsletter sharing wedding news, Lopez wrote, “They were right when they said, ‘All you need is love’. We’re so grateful to have that. in abundance, a wonderful new family of five amazing children and a life we’ve never had more reason to look forward to. Stick around long enough and maybe you’ll find the best time of your life at a drive through in Las Vegas at 12:30 a.m. in the tunnel of love drive through, with your children and the one you’ll spend forever with Love is a good thing, maybe the best thing, and it’s worth worth the wait.”
Emily Burack (she/her) is the news editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royal family and a range of other topics. Prior to joining T&C, she was associate editor of Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.