Expert Reveals What Jennifer Lopez And Ben Affleck's Wedding Was Really Like - Exclusive
It finally happened — Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck got married! Bennifer forever! Their wedding came 20 years after they first got engaged, and in the interim, they both married and divorced others. But they were clearly meant to be, and found their way back to each other all these years later. The duo filed the application for their wedding license at 11:32 p.m. on July 16, and on the application, Jennifer noted that her married name would be Jennifer Affleck, per Entertainment Tonight. Jennifer announced the news to her fans via her newsletter "On the JLo," and she called it the "best night of our lives," via The New York Times. They got married at the iconic A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas at midnight; Jennifer said the venue "graciously stayed open late a few minutes [and] let us take pictures in a pink Cadillac convertible." Jennifer also gave some details about her wedding dress; she changed at the chapel into a dress she'd saved "from an old movie."
Ben and Jennifer are not the first celebrities to get married there: Britney Spears, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, and Michael Jordan also tied the knot at the Vegas location, per Architectural Digest. For more info on how the wedding went down, The List got an exclusive info from McKenzi Taylor, owner of the wedding brands Cactus Collective Weddings and Electric Sugar Elopements. Taylor has helped plan Las Vegas elopements for thousands of couples as an elopement and micro wedding expert.
The wedding may have cost less than $400
McKenzi Taylor's depth of experience in planning luxe Las Vegas elopements gives her unique insight into what Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's wedding was like. Taylor explained that getting married at A Little White Wedding Chapel is ideal "for couples craving that quintessential campy Las Vegas elopement experience [because] the venue is known for its kitschy Vegas vibes with Elvis nostalgia." And what's Vegas without Elvis?
Taylor thought choosing the low-key venue was "a bit of a surprising choice for Jennifer and Ben, but perhaps it was their best shot at keeping it private prior to the ceremony." It's definitely a stark contrast to the wedding they planned in 2003, which was set for hundreds of guests. The couple eventually postponed it — before calling it off entirely. "When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate 'decoy brides' at three different locations, we realized that something was awry," the couple said at the time, per Us Weekly.
As far as price point, it was a big time bargain since weddings in the U.S. cost on average upwards of $25,000, per The Knot, and likely make way more of a financial debt for celebrities the likes of Jennifer and Ben. For their low-key wedding, however, Taylor said, "Their marriage license cost $102, and if they had a no frills package, their whole wedding was likely less than $400."