Bennifer wedding: Radiant JLo in white dress kisses Ben Affleck on wedding day

Ben Affleck and beaming bride Jennifer Lopez shared a kiss atop the steps of his $8.9 million Georgia ‘plantation’ mansion on their wedding day that will feature a star-studded guest list and pork chops 

Stunning photos obtained by DailyMail.com the celebrity couple known as ‘Bennifer’ smooching as they hold their second wedding ceremony with loved ones on Saturday at Affleck’s rural estate in Riceboro, a month after they secretly wed in a small Las Vegas service. 

The pair’s happy reunion comes 20 years after they first dated and got engaged, only to call-off their wedding in fall 2003, blaming excessive media attention.  

Photos show the happy couple on the steps of the Big House, a plantation-style mansion that is the focal point of the $8.9 million estate.

Lopez, already decked out in her stunning white gown, greets Affleck affectionately as he ascends the staircase. Following the early kisses and hugs, the couple head into the home to prepare for the big ceremony.  

On the menu will be fried pork chops, rice and vegetables, a staple of Puerto Rico, where Lopez’s family hails from, along with other barbecue treats amid the sizzling 88 degree weather.

Also on the menu will be oven-roasted chicken and mac and cheese, as the couple is embracing Southern cuisine for their Georgia wedding.   

Among the A-Listers expected to celebrate the couple include Matt Damon, George Clooney, Jane Fonda, Renee Zellweger and Jimmy Kimmel.  

After days of torrential rain, the couple caught a lucky break with the weather on Saturday. Though skies were overcast and temperatures sweltered in the 90s, storm clouds avoided the area. 

Security was tight around the sprawling 87-acre property ahead of the ceremony. Large security gates were installed at the end of the four-mile road down to Affleck’s sprawling country estate several weeks ago.

On Saturday, a police car sat on the gates while guards busily handed out wrist bands to all comers, their names checked and double-checked against the ‘Master Production’ list.

DailyMail.com has learned that an explosives permit for fireworks display has been quietly secured with Affleck’s plantation style home at its epicenter. Wedding bells were also were also set up ahead of the evening nuptials.

Low flying aircraft, like drones and helicopters, have been warned not to fly within a three-mile radius of the venue due to the large fireworks show that is expected to close out the evening 

Meanwhile, the river onto which the property backs is being patrolled by security boats. 

Last minute supplies were still arriving Saturday morning with catering trucks and musical equipment disappearing down the tree-lined road.

The wedding will be a massive affair that involved months of preparation, including installing dancefloors and shipping in glassware, linens and furniture. 

It comes a month after the couple legally wed in a small Las Vegas ceremony that was kept secret from even some family and friends. Now, they will celebrate the union in a larger gathering with loved ones. 

Affleck and Lopez will have their second wedding ceremony on Saturday, at Affleck’s gorgeous mansion in Georgia that he first bought for $7.1 million in 2003.

While Affleck recently put the sprawling 87-acre Georgia property up for sale for $8.9 million, he ultimately decided to keep the home and use it for a glamorous wedding ceremony with beau Lopez. 

The house, built in 2000, is an ‘imitation plantation’ mansion in Riceboro, Georgia that overlooks the North Newport River on the private Hampton Island. 

Lopez is expect to wear a Ralph Lauren dress, and a white walkway has been set from the rear veranda of the Big House down to the water, where a marquee has been installed. 

When Affleck first bought the property in 2003, he was reportedly hoping to build a chapel on the grounds, but he and Lopez ended their original relationship shortly after in 2004. 

The pair have already faced some unplanned issues with the wedding preparations, including when Affleck’s mom, Christopher Anne Boldt, fell from the dock and was rushed to hospital with an arm injury. 

The property was originally home to a ‘thriving’ rice plantation known as Hampton Pastures and was owned by Roswell King. 

The plantation was worked by slaves and Creek Indians, and the property dates back to before the Civil War.

In fact, the living quarters for the plantation’s slaves were on the very same island the house is on, and an unmarked slave graveyard is located somewhere on the property.

Campers at a nearby Boy Scouts camp have even found pottery made by Creek Indians on the grounds.  

Affleck reportedly first fell in love with the area in Georgia after filming the 1999 film ‘Forces of Nature’ there. 

The beautiful nature scene around the island is home to hundreds of species of wildlife including alligators, wild boars, deer and bobcats.

But, according to one inside source, there were certain things that did not come up to Lopez’s exacting standards especially the network of pot-holed roads that loop around the property from the Big House to the Farmhouse and down the four mile stretch to the specially installed security gates at the road’s end.

For the past two months trucks of Georgia clay and lime have been piling in to smooth and grade all the roads.

But torrential rains over the past few nights have undone the work of weeks with Lopez today giving workmen a deadline of 6pm Friday to shore up and refill potholes that have opened once more.

Last Saturday trailers ferried half a dozen piebald horses into the enclave known as Hampton Island Preserve. The animals are now homed in the $3million stable complex built by Affleck.

They are there for any guest who wish to take part in trail ride. Those who prefer their transportation to come with four-wheels will be treated to an ATV tour of the property – an activity that Affleck in particular thought fun as he admitted to one source that he had never actually been on an ATV.

During the big day, summer storms permitting, Affleck and Lopez’s guests can take to the golf course a short buggy ride from guest accommodation. 

 

Inside Ben Affleck’s Gone With the Wind-style $8.9M ‘faux plantation’ mansion where he will marry Jennifer Lopez TODAY in the celebrity wedding of the year 

 Ben Affleck’s sprawling Georgia estate where he and Jennifer Lopez will be saying ‘I do’ again is built on a former slave-operated plantation, and sits just south of Savannah where Affleck’s ancestors once owned a host of slaves.

Affleck learned of his family’s sordid past in 2015 when researchers for the PBS show Finding Your Roots found extensive evidence that the actor’s great-great-great grandfather, Benjamin Cole, owned between 25 and 31 slaves at a Savannah farm around the 1850s through the Civil War.

Affleck landed in hot water at the time when leaked emails revealed he implored the show to cut a segment of the episode where he was told about his family’s slave owning past. The show consented, and instead focused on his mother’s history as a freedom rider during the Civil Rights movement. Affleck later apologized for the cover-up. 

‘I didn’t want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves. I was embarrassed. The very thought left a bad taste in my mouth,’ he wrote in a Facebook post,  ‘I regret my initial thoughts that the issue of slavery not be included in the story. We deserve neither credit nor blame for our ancestors and the degree of interest in this story suggests that we are, as a nation, still grappling with the terrible legacy of slavery.’

Transcript from the cut segment showed Affleck said the news of his family past gave him ‘a sagging feeling,’ while the show’s host pointed out the irony that 100 years after his family owned salves his mother was putting her life on the line for black rights.

And about 150 years later in 2003, Affleck dropped $7.1 million on the 87-acre property in Riceboro where slaves toiled back before the civil war. 

The property was originally home to a ‘thriving’ rice plantation known as Hampton Pastures and was owned by Roswell King.

Affleck and Lopez were dating when he first bought the estate. The property’s current house was built in 2000 as an ‘imitation plantation’ meant to emulate the kind of home wealthy slaveowners would have owned.

While Affleck recently put the sprawling 87-acre property up for sale for $8.9 million, he ultimately decided to keep the home and use it for a glamorous wedding ceremony with beau Lopez. 

Some have raised their eyebrows at Affleck’s decision to wed there despite what he’s learned about his family’s past since he bought the property.   

‘When he discovered who his ancestors were he tried to squelch it,’ Leslie Harris, co-editor of the book Slavery and Freedom in Savannah told Page Six ‘It’s clear he didn’t learn his lesson. We’re back at the same place with him.’ 

‘People still build houses that are plantation style. It’s a sign of wealth. It’s surprising that Affleck would choose this place for his wedding when many [historic] plantations have stopped even having weddings.’ 

The two will have their wedding ceremony on Saturday, a massive $400,000 affair that involved months of preparation, including installing dance floors and shipping in glassware, linens and furniture. 

The main ‘big house’ mansion is the jewel of the property and boasts 6,000 square feet of space, four bedrooms, five bathrooms and balconies that overlook the swampy river. 

The mansion is surrounded by centuries-old live oak trees, and is outfitted with pinewood flooring, 15-foot high ceilings and romantic arched fireplaces scattered around the premises. 

The compound also includes two other structures known as the Summer Cottage and the Oyster House. 

The screened-in Summer Cottage is a cozy house along a path from the Big House and comes with exposed brick interiors, pitched ceilings, a fireplace and a metal roof. 

The final structure on Affleck’s property is the Oyster House, a massive abode that competes with the main mansion in terms of size and amenities. 

The 10,000 square foot Oyster House is likely where the wedding reception will take place and comes equipped with three primary suites along with five more bedrooms holding bunk beds that were ‘salvaged from marine vessels.’

Lopez is expect to wear a Ralph Lauren dress, and a white walkway has been set from the rear veranda of the Big House down to the water, where a marquee has been installed. 

When Affleck first bought the property in 2003, he was reportedly hoping to build a chapel on the grounds, but he and Lopez ended their original relationship shortly after in 2004. 

The pair have already faced some unplanned issues with the wedding preparations, including when Affleck’s mom, Christopher Anne Boldt, fell from the dock and was rushed to hospital with an arm injury. 

The plantation was worked by slaves and Creek Indians, and the property dates back to before the Civil War.

In fact, the living quarters for the plantation’s slaves were on the very same island the house is on, and an unmarked slave graveyard is located somewhere on the property.

Campers at a nearby Boy Scouts camp have even found pottery made by Creek Indians on the grounds.  

Affleck reportedly first fell in love with the area in Georgia after filming the 1999 film ‘Forces of Nature’ there. 

The beautiful nature scene around the island is home to hundreds of species of wildlife including alligators, wild boars, deer and bobcats.

But, according to one inside source, there were certain things that did not come up to Lopez’s exacting standards especially the network of pot-holed roads that loop around the property from the Big House to the Farmhouse and down the four mile stretch to the specially installed security gates at the road’s end.

For the past two months trucks of Georgia clay and lime have been piling in to smooth and grade all the roads.

But torrential rains over the past few nights have undone the work of weeks with Lopez today giving workmen a deadline of 6pm Friday to shore up and refill potholes that have opened once more.

Last Saturday trailers ferried half a dozen piebald horses into the enclave known as Hampton Island Preserve. The animals are now homed in the $3million stable complex built by Affleck.

They are there for any guest who wish to take part in trail ride. Those who prefer their transportation to come with four-wheels will be treated to an ATV tour of the property – an activity that Affleck in particular thought fun as he admitted to one source that he had never actually been on an ATV.

During the day, summer storms permitting, Affleck and Lopez’s guests can take to the golf course a short buggy ride from guest accommodation.