“That is one of my favourite lines by Ben from the film Live By Night, which he directed. He also said it in his speech at our wedding reception, and I thought…how perfect.”
During his wedding to Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck took a page from his own book.
Lopez shared intimate details and photos from their Sept. 20 Georgia wedding in her On the JLo newsletter on Thursday, including the fact that Affleck quoted one of his own films during his reception speech.
“‘This is paradise. Right now. We’ve arrived.’ That is one of my favourite lines from Ben’s film Live By Night, which he directed “Lopez disclosed. “He also said it in his speech at our wedding reception, and I thought…how perfect.” Affleck wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the 2016 film based on Dennis Lehane’s 2012 novel of the same name.
“All of us caught a stomach bug and were recuperating ’til late in the week,” she added, and “it had rained at sunset every day that week… at the exact time the ceremony was supposed to start that Saturday,” making it “a doozie of a wedding weekend.” But she “never had a doubt,” and she ended up having a lovely, rain-free ceremony at sunset. She described the “vibes” of the wedding as “down-home, rustic country-chic.”
Lopez, 53, surprised Affleck, 50, with Marc Cohn singing live during the ceremony, as they had previously discussed “in this very house more than twenty years ago” that his song “True Companion” was “the perfect wedding love song.” While Affleck later expressed his admiration for her performance, she was preoccupied with other matters.
“Ben told me that the song’s chords and seeing Marc Cohn both shocked him and allowed him to feel how both roads we’d walked found their way, inevitably, inexorably, and perfectly together,” she wrote. “And when he saw me appear at the top of the stairs, it made perfect sense while still seeming impossible to believe, like the best dream, where all you want is to never wake up. I’m sure I’d have had many of the same thoughts if I hadn’t been so focused on not tripping over my dress. But when I got close enough to see his face, it all made sense to me. That day, some old wounds were healed, and the weight of the past was finally lifted from our shoulders. It all came full circle — and not in the way we had hoped. Better.”
Lopez went on to say that she and Affleck had a relationship “The night before, we joked about getting married again at our age. We’d both been married before, and we’re no longer children, but this seemed to be the only age that made sense… The truth is that everyone’s story is unique, and we all have our own paths to follow. No two people are alike. But this was perfect timing for us. Nothing felt more right to me, and I knew we were finally’settling down’ in the way that you can only do when you understand loss and joy and are battle tested enough to never take the important things for granted or let the trivial insignificant inconveniences of the day get in the way of embracing every precious moment.”
She continued, “That night was truly divine… We had no idea the road ahead would involve navigating so many labyrinths and hold so many surprises, blessings, and delights years ago. Everything culminated in this moment, one of the most beautiful of our lives. We couldn’t be more pleased. I wish you all the same kind of happiness…the hard-earned kind that is all the sweeter because of the journey that preceded it.”
