There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Ben Affleck, 50, and Jennifer Lopez, 53, exchanged vows at their romantic Aug. 20 wedding. The nuptials, which were held on Ben’s massive 87-acre Georgia estate, were attended by their families and close friends, including Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes (Smith and Mewes notably worked with the couple during their initial early 2000s romance on Jersey Girl).
“I was crying like an old woman at a wedding… like my mother at a wedding,” Kevin spilled to Extra TV on Aug. 24. “Honestly, like, one of the most romantic moments I’ve engaged with in my life, and it wasn’t even my romantic moment,” he shared. Ben and J.Lo’s wedding was officiated by pal (and internet guru) Jay Shetty on the property the Oscar winner purchased during the couple’s initial engagement from 2002 – 2004.
“He’s one of my favorite writers on the planet,” Kevin also said to the outlet. “So I got to hear Ben at his absolutely most eloquent, who was not trying to entertain. Most of us writers are always thinking about an audience to entertain… This dude wrote vows, they both wrote vows for each other, and they were achingly beautiful. I’m telling you, this wedding would’ve made the most hardcore cynic believe in true love. It was exquisite. It was insanely well done, very classy and stuff, but emotional as hell. I cried throughout the whole thing.” Mewes felt similarly, calling their Riceboro wedding “spectacular.”
“It was pretty spectacular, and it was sweet to be invited because it was a big wedding, but it was small,” he shared. “I didn’t cry like Kevin did. It was funny because he was in front of me, and I swear, every time he, like, looked down the aisle at them while they were, you know, doing the thing, I see tears running. It was pretty hot there and they gave you these, like, fans on your seat, and Kevin kept, like, rubbing it off, trying to hide it.”
Kevin specifically directed Jersey Girl, which is often dubbed the “forgotten” Bennifer film after Gigli. The former was released following the couple’s dramatic 2004 split, leading Kevin to actually cut a wedding sequence in the film out from the released version. When J.Lo revealed she wore a “dress from an old movie” to wed Ben in Las Vegas just weeks ago, fans quickly deduced that the never-before-seen Alexander McQueen number must have been from Jersey Girl.
Kevin added of his friends, “You’re watching two people who worked very hard to make their love happen and to stick the landing and close the circle,” before sharing a bit about his experience working with them in 2003.
“I was with them when they started the journey, way back on Jersey Girl… so I’ve seen him many times over the course of almost 30 years,” Smith added. “I met him in ‘95 when we were doing auditions for Mallrats, so I’ve known Ben for, like, the better part of 27 years at this point and I’ve seen him be very happy. We all watched him win an Oscar with Matt [Damon] for Goodwill Hunting back in the day. Take all of his happy moments you’ve ever seen… combine them, and you still don’t touch the radiating glow on the man’s face when he was standing at the top of the aisle and Jennifer was walking toward him.”
Other guests in attendance included Matt, of course, his wife Luciana, as well as Matt’s brother Kyle, and pals George Clooney, Renee Zellweger and Jane Fonda. Jen goes way back with Clooney, having worked with him on 1998’s Out Of Sight, while she co-starred with Jane in 2005’s Monster-In-Law. Ben and Renee have also known each other for decades, initially connecting on 1993’s Dazed and Confused, which is where Kevin first spotted Ben before 1995’s Mallrats.
Jennifer stunned in three separate Ralph Lauren gowns for her big day, including a take on the designer’s classic turtleneck column dress with a ruffled train skirt. She then changed to a gorgeous pearl gown, followed by one with a sparkly keyhole cutout — the latter two presumably for the reception. The wedding itself was planned by Colin Cowie of Colin Cowie Lifestyle and had both an old Hollywood and rustic theme.