Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, married in Vegas: This is their 20-year love story

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have gotten married! After calling off their wedding in 2004, they got together again in 2021. And now, their long-awaited union is a fact.

"We did it. Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient," she wrote on her website, OntheJLo.

'Bennifer 2.0' tied the knot in Las Vegas, in a ceremony that very few people knew about. According to her website, the couple had gone to Las Vegas on Saturday July 16 and stood in line for a marriage license with four other couples.

The BBC reports that the Clark County Clerk's Office in Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, "shows on its record system that Jennifer Lopez will change her name to Jennifer Affleck."

"They were right when they said, 'all you need is love,'" Lopez wrote on her website, as quoted by the BBC. "We are so grateful to have that in abundance, a new wonderful family of five amazing children and a life that we have never had more reason to look forward to."

The story of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck goes back a long way. 'Bennifer' was a Hollywood sensation in the early 2000s. But then it came crashing down just as intensely as it had started. Let's rivisit their first and second love story.

Initially, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez were just together for a brief period. Their relationship lasted 17 months: from July 2002 to January 2004.

Well, Bennifer were everywhere. They walked red carpets together, featured on magazine covers, in news media, TV shows, and more. Their relationship seemed to last a lifetime.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck met on the set of 'Gigli' in 2001. In the next year, they would shoot another film together, the romantic 'Jersey Girl.'

With 'Armageddon' and 'Pearl Harbor' under his belt - not to mention the 1998 Oscar for 'Good Will Hunting' which he wrote with Matt Damon - Affleck was already a true Hollywood star.

JLo, meanwhile, had emerged as a rising star in Latin music and made a bunch of films such as 'Selena' in 1997 and 'The Wedding Planner' in 2001.

When she met Ben Affleck, JLo was married to Cris Judd. They would divorce soon after.

Five months after the separation with Cris Judd, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck made their relationship official.

Their first public appearance was at a restaurant in Los Angeles. Jennifer Lopez was wearing a tracksuit with her name engraved in studs and beside her was a smiling Ben Affleck. The press could not believe what they saw.

That first public date with a tracksuit was a slap in the face for Affleck's ex, Gwyneth Paltrow, who had tried to refine the rough Boston guy without any success. Now she saw him in the media with Jenny from the Block by his side.

Overall, 'Bennifer' were a beloved couple, but some criticized them at the time for their attitudes. Everything about Bennifer was excessive. Their shows of opulence, their love for the cameras, their constant presence in the media…

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck knew that the world was at their feet. Soon enough, they gave the fans what they wanted most: an engagement announcement. They hadn't even been together for a year.

The couple signed a remarkable prenuptial agreement. The press revealed several controversial clauses: for example that, if Ben Affleck was unfaithful, JLo would keep half of his estate. In addition, she would be the one who would decide how many children they would have.

Now, the most impressive clause was the one that forced Ben Affleck to be intimate with JLo four times a week. All this was published widely, but the question remains as to whether these clauses were legend or reality.

After the announcement, their fame grew. Every red carpet they walked was lined with hundreds of journalists. A photo of them together was a precious possession for the media.

At a later point, journalists would use these same photos to criticize the couple's desire to show the world how rich, handsome and happy they were.

Time passed and the wedding of Bennifer did not come. The first date arranged by the couple was September 14, 2003. A mere four days before that date, they decided to postpone it.

Here's other celebrity couples who called off their weddings at the last minute

Were Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in a crisis? Their answer was negative. They were still together, they said, and they adored each other. However, they preferred to postpone their wedding to a time when the media attention was not so intense as it had been so far. Obviously, that moment was never going to come, and they probably already knew that.

An alternative story about the demise of 'Bennifer 1.0' was that Ben Affleck had been caught a few days before the wedding, partying in a club with Christian Slater and Tara Reid. Some showbiz media reported that the couple were never together again and that they did not look for a new wedding date either.

What had happened? The internet was such a strong new medium that no PR person could go against the massive press narrative about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. The end of 'Bennifer' is said to have been the first big break due to overexposure on the internet.

Nor had it helped that the release of 'Gigli' (2003), a film in which both starred, was a failure and lost more than 50 million dollars. It was clear that the press loved Bennifer as celebrities, not as artists.

To the pain of many fans, Bennifer became officially history in January 2004. Jennifer Lopez, for her part, began a relationship with Latin singer Marc Anthony. They would get married in June 2004 and have twins. The power couple divorced in 2011.

Ben Affleck married Jennifer Garner in 2005 and they had three children together. They were never referred to as 'Bennifer' though. That name had been reserved for the other couple. In 2018, Affleck and Garner divorced.

During the years that passed, Bennifer never really left. Not in the collective imagination, nor in the minds of its two protagonists. Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have always kept in touch, publicly supported each other, and they have always had good words to say about each other.

In 2021, a unique moment arrived for a possible Bennifer Part II. Ben Affleck had broken up with Ana de Armas. JLo and Alex Rodriguez would do the same just a little later. Now, both Ben and Jen were single again and as usual, they kept in touch.

For the fans, it was obvious: it's now or never! And, soon enough, their prayers were heard. Ben and Jennifer were seen together in public again.

Jen and Ben had come a long way, each with a long marriage behind them and several children. Their new love must be serious, the fans and journalist argued. And they were right: now the couple is married - for real.