Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s Wedding, 2022

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were first engaged in 2002 and called off a September 2003 wedding days before it was due to take place, citing excessive media attention. Nearly twenty years later they tried again, and this time they did it twice: once in a Las Vegas chapel with almost no one watching, and once, a month later, in Georgia before about 135 guests dressed entirely in white. The two weddings made a neat pair, one spontaneous and one meticulously planned, and between them they covered most of what a modern wedding can be.

The couple

Lopez and Affleck met on the set of Gigli in late 2001 and became engaged in 2002. After the postponed wedding they separated in January 2004, and each went on to marry someone else: Lopez married Marc Anthony, the father of her twins, Emme and Max, and Affleck married Jennifer Garner, with whom he has three children, Violet, Seraphina and Samuel. The couple reconciled in 2021 and became engaged again in April 2022, this time with a green diamond.

The ceremony

Las Vegas. On July 16, 2022, the couple collected a marriage license in Clark County and married shortly after midnight at A Little White Wedding Chapel, having waited in line for their license with four other couples. Their children were with them. Lopez announced the news in her newsletter, On the JLo: “Love is beautiful. Love is kind.” She added that love had turned out to be “twenty years patient,” and signed herself Jennifer Lynn Affleck.

Georgia. The larger celebration took place over three days at Affleck’s estate in Riceboro, Georgia, and was planned by Colin Cowie. After a Friday rehearsal dinner, the couple married on Saturday, August 20, in the garden, with the author and podcaster Jay Shetty officiating. Everyone wore white, including all five of the couple’s children, who were dressed in Ralph Lauren. Affleck wore a white Ralph Lauren tuxedo jacket with black trousers and a black bow tie.

The dress

In Las Vegas, Lopez wore a lace-sleeved dress which she described as coming “from an old movie,” and Affleck a jacket from his own closet.

In Georgia, Ralph Lauren made her three gowns. The first, for the ceremony, was a high-necked design with a flounced skirt and a long train. Over the evening she changed into a form-fitting gown with a plunging neckline and open back, and a dress covered in hand-sewn pearls. Ralph Lauren released a short film about their making, and Lopez called the dresses “dreamy.” More in our guide to celebrity wedding dresses.

The reception

After cocktails at the house, guests dined in a barn on the estate; the chef was Bruce Moffett, and a Sunday brunch closed the weekend. Among the guests were Matt Damon and his wife, Luciana Barroso, Jimmy Kimmel, Kevin Smith and Affleck’s mother, Christopher Anne Boldt.

Why it mattered

The two weddings were a reminder that the legal ceremony and the celebration need not be the same event, a sequence many couples choose for reasons of budget, travel or simple impatience. The Georgia weekend showed how much a single rule, such as an all-white dress code, can do to unify a large event.

Later history

Lopez filed for divorce in Los Angeles on August 20, 2024, their second wedding anniversary, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple reached a settlement in January 2025, and the divorce was finalized the following month.

Borrow the idea

Separate the paperwork from the party. A small legal ceremony at a courthouse or chapel, followed weeks later by a celebration, takes pressure off both. Tell guests plainly on the invitation that you are already married; our announcement wording samples help.

Try an all-white dress code, with care. Say so clearly on the invitation, allow cream and ivory, and expect a few guests to ask. Our dress code guide covers wording.

Dress the children to match. When children are part of a blended family, dressing them in the same palette as the couple is a quiet way of saying the day belongs to them too.

Commission one dress, then change. A structured ceremony gown and a lighter evening dress is easier to wear than a single dress asked to do both jobs.