Jennifer Lopez Says Marrying Ben Affleck in Las Vegas Took “All the Pressure Off” Planning a Family Wedding

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck shocked the world when the two rekindled their romance almost 20 years after their first stint as an item. Once again, the Marry Me star and Good Will Hunting actor made headlines everywhere when they officially tied the knot at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas on July 17, 2022. During a press conference last week for Lopez’s upcoming movie, Shotgun Wedding, the multi-hyphenate revealed the real reason why the couple said “I do” in Las Vegas. “I think that’s why we ran off to Vegas and got married there first—took all the pressure off of the big family wedding that we were having,” she explains. 

For their Vegas wedding, the duo traded vows in private with their children present. According to Lopez, Affleck was the one who orchestrated the event. “He has an amazing eye,” she gushes. “He has incredible taste, but everything we do, we try and do it together.” A month after their first nuptials, the pair held a formal ceremony at Affleck’s home in Riceboro, Georgia. For their second ceremony, the newlyweds planned the celebration as a team. “Planning a wedding is a lot—very stressful,” Lopez adds.

After making their marriage official, the stars decided to move in together, which entailed blending their families. Lopez is the mother of twins Max and Emme, whom she shares with ex-husband Marc Anthony, and Affleck shares Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. During an interview with Today on January 16, 2023, to promote Shotgun Wedding, the dancer, singer, and actress reflected on the process. “It’s been a really kind of emotional transition, but at the same time, all your dreams are coming true,” she shares. “And it’s just been a phenomenal year, like my best year I think since my kids were born.”

Lopez and Affleck first met in 2001 on the set of Gigli. A year later, the Deep Water actor popped the question, but they called off their wedding in 2004. Nearly two decades later, the duo started seeing one another again and announced their second engagement in April of 2022. During Bennifer’s first time together, Lopez released the album This Is Me…Then, which was dedicated to Affleck. In 2023, the “Jenny from the Block” singer will release her new album, This Is Me…Now, which she says will capture the couple’s growth. “The last time Ben and I were together, to this album, it’s been such a journey,” she recalls. “The thing that I think I’ve been wondering about my whole life is: Is love real? Does true love exist? It’s two people kind of coming together and saying, ‘You know, I’m going to be here no matter what, and we’re going to get through it together.’”

Even though the couple’s initial romance didn’t lead to a happy ending at the time, they believe that everything unfolded the way it was supposed to. “Ben and I laughed the night before about getting married again at our age,” Lopez wrote in her newsletter in September of 2022. “We had both been married before, and we aren’t exactly kids anymore, but somehow, now seemed like the only age that made sense.”