Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have wed in a late-night Las Vegas drive-through chapel, culminating a relationship that stretched over two decades in two separate romances and headlined countless tabloid covers.

Lopez announced their marriage on Sunday in her newsletter for fans with the heading “We did it”. Lopez initially made their engagement public in April on the same newsletter, “On the J Lo”.

“Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient,” wrote Lopez in a message signed Jennifer Lynn Affleck.

Lopez wrote that the couple flew to Las Vegas on Saturday, stood in line for their licence with four other couples, and were wed just after midnight at the Little White Chapel, a chapel boasting a drive-through “tunnel of love”. 

Lopez said a Bluetooth speaker played their brief march down the aisle. She called it the best night of their lives.

“Stick around long enough and maybe you’ll find the best moment of your life in a drive-through in Las Vegas at 12.30 in the morning in the tunnel of love drive-through with your kids and the one you’ll spend forever with,” Lopez said.

News of their nuptials first spread Sunday after the Clark County clerk’s office in Nevada showed that the pair obtained a marriage license that was processed Saturday. 

The marriage licence filing showed that Lopez plans to take the name Jennifer Affleck.

Representatives for Lopez and Affleck declined to comment.

Lopez, 52, and Affleck, 49, famously dated in the early 2000s, spawning the nickname “Bennifer”, and starred together in 2003’s Gigli and 2004’s Jersey Girl. They rekindled their romance last year. 

In 2002, Affleck gave Lopez a large 6.1-carat pink diamond engagement ring, but they abruptly called off their wedding in 2003 and split up a few months later.

Affleck married Jennifer Garner in 2005, with whom he shares three children. They divorced in 2018.

Lopez has been married three times before. She was briefly married to Ojani Noa from 1997 to 1998 and to Cris Judd from 2001 to 2003. 

She and singer Marc Anthony were wed for a decade after marrying in 2004 and share 14-year-old twins together.

AP with Reuters

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