Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck in 2013.Photo: ason Merritt/Getty
This article was originally published on July 7, 2005.
There was nothing flashy about the newlyweds. She wore no makeup; her hair, in a losing battle with the humidity of Parrot Cay on the Turks and Caicos Islands, was tied in a loose ponytail. He wore a T-shirt and a five o’clock shadow. But asJennifer GarnerandBen Affleckchatted over pizza at Parrot Cay’s Terrace Restaurant on July 1, there was much about the husband and wife that shined. Their rings, for starters.
Then, at 11 p.m., they hopped in their golf cart and started the 20-minute ride to their secluded villa – and the prized alone time that made for the ultimate wedding gift.
“They’re in it for one another, not for anyone else,” says Affleck’s pal, director Kevin Smith tells PEOPLE. “They didn’t need or want a crowd. They just wanted each other.”
They got their wish – with a combination of cheers and sighs from friends who were sad they could not be there but understanding of why: in a word,Bennifer No. 1,Affleck’s glitzy romance withJennifer Lopez, which ended with the permanent postponement of their planned $2 million wedding in 2003. Affleck and Garner, who met while filming 2003’sDaredevil,were afraid that if they told anyone about their plans, the news would spread. So they didn’t – and it didn’t.
“I’m so happy they pulled off such an intimate, private event,” says Affleck’s longtime friend, producer Chris Moore tells PEOPLE. “That wasn’t easy.”
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck.Alexandra Wyman/WireImage
Now that thefaitisaccompli, reps for both have confirmed not only that the wedding took place but thatGarner is indeed pregnant– a fact that was unofficially obvious to anyone who saw her supertaut belly swell in recent months. The fact that until now the couple had kept their private life private is, according to his pal, director Don Roos, “a sign of maturity.”
Says Moore: “Jen’s got the right woman and he’s excited about this new chapter in his life. He’s really excited about becoming a father and Jen seems ecstatic. She’s so in love and really happy to be married to him.”
Of course, pulling off the secret wedding was not easy. (And not just because of logistics: The Turks and Caicos registrar general says they did not file an application for a marriage license, which foreigners may do only after being in the country for 48 hours. Reps for the couple declined to comment, but said they were indeed married on Parrot Cay.) Most of their family and friends were absent: Garner’s father, Bill; her mother, Pat; and her sisters Melissa and Susannah. So was Affleck’s mother, Chris; his brother Casey; his father, Tim (who has been divorced from Chris for more than 20 years); and his palMatt Damon.
The only glitch during their stay was the heat, which a source says was hard on Garner, now about four months pregnant. Luckily, she and Affleck did little more than stroll, rest, readThe New York Timesand hang with guestVictor Garber, who plays her dad onAlias.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner in 2014.Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage
“They just seemed like regular newlyweds,” says a resort guest. “He was affectionate with her, but nothing over the top.”
That moderation is, it seems, a key to their success. Like so many, Roos is delighted to see Affleck – “a hot dog and cheese-fry guy” – walk down the aisle with this Jen (whose two-year marriage to actorScott Foleyended in 2003). “Most of Ben’s friends thought [his Lopez era] … with all the bling and excesses, seemed out of character. His relationship with Garner seems more who he is. He really is an ordinary guy and she’s an ordinary girl.”
Nothing – and Affleck knows it. “You know how you can tell Ben’s happy with Jen?” says Smith. “He married her. He never married anyone else, but he married her. It says a lot, doesn’t it?”
source: people.com
