She’s like the Energizer Bunny of nuptials
The year Jennifer Lopez hosted the American Music Awards, I wasn't especially enthused to see her as I settled into my fifth-row seat. However, after watching her give two-plus hours of heartfelt singing, rhythmic gyrations and elaborate costume changes in the service of honoring other people, I went home a fan. She was tireless, charming and though she personally went home empty-handed, she wowed me and everyone in the audience, and somehow emerged more radiant at the end of the night than at the beginning. That description (more and more beautiful, leaving with a smile) could also describe her marriages—or more accurately her wedding looks. With each successive marriage (she’s had four) and wedding-themed movie (current tally is five), she just gets more and more fine, fit and fabulous. So, let’s leave aside those worrisome reports of Jennifer Lopez solo vacationing in Italy, shall we? Instead, let’s celebrate this woman’s recent smash Netflix hit and take a look at her career of nuptial looks—it’s practically a whole wedding season in one lifetime.
12. IRL Wedding #4 (to Ben Affleck)
- Rating: 10/10 Veils
J.Lo wore not one but three dresses in the couple’s August 2022 wedding in Georgia, all three made by Ralph Lauren Collection, per Vogue. The dress she wore during the ceremony had more than 1,000 handkerchiefs sewn on the skirt to make waves of ruffles; for the reception and fireworks display, she changed into a dress with cascading strings of pearls sewn on and a mermaid silhouette number with Swarovski-crystals around the keyhole neckline. And in fairy tales-come-true fashion, for the ceremony, Vanity Fair got a picture of the the bride wearing a spectacular veil to rival that of a European princess. I’m not crying, you’re crying. No notes.
10. & 11. Tie: The Wedding Planner Movie Dress &
IRL Vegas Wedding to Ben Affleck #3 ½
- Rating: 9/10 veils
The month before Ben and J.Lo got married in a whole to-do in Georgia, they had a middle-of-the-night wedding at a Las Vegas wedding chapel. For that affair, she wore a simple boat neck gown she told her fans she’d been saving for years. It reminded her fans of the dress her character Mary Fiore wears in the 2001 film The Wedding Planner, and I see the similarities—clean lines, little ornamentation, just a sleek dress to show off the radiant bride. (Of course, J.Lo being J.Lo, the same night she changed into a more formal wedding dress, an off-the-shoulder Zuhair Murad design with a veil.) The vintage dress worn for the ceremony and the movie dress both share the silver medal for their elegant/minimalist vibes.
4. IRL Wedding #3 (to Marc Anthony)
- Rating: 5/10 veils
The backyard of J.Lo’s Beverly Hills estate was the site of her June 2004 wedding to Marc Anthony. The Vera Wang ivory lace gown was accompanied by $7 million worth of diamonds in a necklace, earrings, and a veil secured with diamond hair clips. The groom wore a white Armani suit. The affair was private, no offish photos were released, but from the long-lens shots, I’m not a fan of the overly curled veil or busy skirt on the dress.
3. “Can’t Get Enough” Video
- Rating: 3/10 veils
In this video from her latest album “This is Me… Now,” our heroine takes up a gently self-mocking metanarrative as she has not one, not two but three weddings, with guests taking bets about how quickly the marriages will be over. I mean, thanks to her song and guests getting loose and hitting the dance floor, the video is fun, but what guests would actually be saying is no, those dresses with the poof, straight-across neckline and especially the heart cutouts are not good.
2. IRL Wedding #1 (to Ojani Noa)
For her 1997 wedding to Ojani Noa, the then 27-year-old Lopez wore a simple white sheath, which was fine, I guess. Trouble is, the bodice bunches unbecomingly and the fabric doesn’t photograph well. Ah, well, there will be opportunities for do-overs in the coming years.