To start I’d just like to send congratulations to my parents, since today is their 45th wedding anniversary. This story seemed the best place to do it given the theme. My parents haven’t renewed their vows at any point, and that’s not really their style, but they should do it in five years maybe. It’s a nice way to celebrate decades of marriage. (Sidenote: I once went to a vow renewal party for a sweet older couple, I believe it was their 40th anniversary, and the husband died a few years later of non-hodgkin’s lymphoma. I know that’s a horrible story, but it kind of brings it home to me why people have vow renewal ceremonies, to celebrate their love and life together. Gah I’m getting teary now.)
Matt Damon and his wife, Luciana Barroso, haven’t been married a decade yet but they’ve surely gone through a lot since marrying in city hall in NYC in 2005. (I’m just making assumptions since they have four kids.) The two had a vow renewal ceremony, attended by their daughters and about 50 guests, at a five star resort in St. Lucia over the weekend. As we heard about a month ago, Damon rented out the entire Sugar Beach resort for a week at an estimated cost of over a million. He can certainly afford it, and the details make it sound romantic and relaxing:
Who’s kissing Matt Damon? Luciana Barrosso, his wife of nearly eight years! The Hollywood couple said “I do” all over again Saturday, April 13 in a romantic vow renewal ceremony on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, Us Weekly can confirm. The Promised Land star, 42, rented out St. Lucia’s entire Sugar Beach Resort — at a hefty six-figure price — for the weekend in honor of the happy occasion, with around 50 guests, including Damon’s BFF Ben Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner.
An eyewitness tells Us that Damon and the bride exchanged vows under thatched roofs right at sunset — with the groom wearing a tan-colored suit and flip-flops, and the bride, 36, donning a cream-colored gown featuring a sequined belt at the waist. The couple’s daughters — Isabella, 6, Gia, 4, Stella, 2, and Alexia, Luciana’s daughter from a previous marriage — wore light-colored dresses to match their mom. After the 15-minute ceremony, guests (all of them wearing shades of cream and ivory) were escorted onto the beach for a cocktail reception (completely with Tiki torches).
“This isn’t a ‘Hollywood’ wedding,” one insider tells Us. “Matt wanted it to be fun, happy and private. He felt like Luciana deserves this, first and foremost.”
Explains another source of the locale: “This is the perfect place for this wedding. You can [go] here for serenity.”
The actor, director and Oscar-winning screenwriter first wed the Argentina-born former bartender in a private civil ceremony in December 2005.
“They’ve wanted to do it for a long time,” another pal says of the vow renewal. “They had a tiny ceremony the first time, and wanted to celebrate with family and friends.”
[From US Weekly]
E! has the news that Jimmy Kimmel officiated the wedding! That must have been awesome and so much fun. They also have a more complete list of the famous guests who came, including Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chelsea Clinton, Robert DeNiro & Grace Hightower, Emily Blunt & John Krasinski, Don Cheadle & Brigid Coulter, Chris Hemsworth & Elsa Pataky, and of course Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. What I wouldn’t have given to have been a guest at that party. As a consolation prize, I would love to see some photos, but I doubt there will be any. Damon doesn’t seem like the type to release a photo of his wedding and you know he didn’t invite the paps.
E! also lets us know that Luciana’s dress was custom Naeem Khan, who is a personal friend of the Damons. I’m just wondering if Luciana wore her “I’m f*king Matt Damon” t-shirt at any point during the week. She’s said that she has one, and that she wears it with pride. Congratulations to Matt and Luciana!
This photo is from January, 2012:
photo credit: FameFlynet, WENN and PRPhotos
where’s Ben Affleck?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2309807/Matt-Damon-wife-Luciana-renew-vows-intimate-beachfront-ceremony.html he was here with Jennifer Garner and Casey Affleck&co also
Boo. Why is it we rarely get pics of events we’d love to see but are saturated with ones of fools and idiots? 🙁 I love these two and think they’re probably one of the most grounded and genuinely happy celeb couples.
Maybe Matt might sell a few with the proceeds going to water.org. *Crosses fingers*
Divorce in 3,2,1..
I kid, I kid.
Vow renewal ceremonies never seem to be a good sign. I wouldn’t be surprised if they divorced in a year or two.
I thought that yesterday when I read about it, but I hope not.
Agree. I certainly don’t wish anything bad for these two, but vow renewals always seem to signal a last-ditch effort to hold the marriage together. Hope that isn’t the case here, but I don’t have a good feeling.
I dont think thats a fair statement. My parents renewed their vows for their 25th anniversary, and will be celebrating 40 years this year! Granted, things tend to be WAY different im Hollywood, but not always. They seem happy to me, maybe they just want a “real” wedding?
Dani – BIG difference between 25 years and 8 (or annually, like Heidi & Seal or Mariah & Nick). I hope you’re right, that Matt just really wanted to give Luciana the wedding she never had.
To be fair, they never had a big wedding ceremony. Not that there is anything wrong with a courthouse civil ceremony, but this might have been to make up for the initial wedding, and also, possibly, so that their children could celebrate with them.
The resort wasn’t rented for a week and the guesstimated cost of the event kept going up with each media report. It was a three day break only.
The event was three days but there were preparations before and clean-up after, which is probably why it’s reported he rented it out for a week.
At least they made it family friendly and brought the kids. It’d be weird (to me) to celebrate your marriage and life together without your kids, since they are such a big part of it.
They are such a beautiful couple, always in sync! congrats to them!
@CB: Congrats to your parents!
ps: Why were Chris Hemsworth & Elsa Pataky there? It seems so random.
Chris and Matt are friends. Their families have vactioned together a couple of times before, but I have know clue as to how they knew each other to begin with,
@Miss M, who wrote: “ps: Why were Chris Hemsworth & Elsa Pataky there? It seems so random.”
Not random at all, considering “Celebitchy” posted an article about a small group of celebrity couples, including The Damons and Hemsworths, who went on a private Caribbean vacation together last summer. There are photos of the group in swim ware on a yacht water skiing and such. The pictures in the “Celebitchy” article seemed to have been taken with a high-powered photo lens from a distance.
Congratulations, Matty and Luci! 🙂
The wives are close apparently – Elsa is Spanish and Luciana is South American and get on really well together.
Matt I’m still waiting for my invite; what happen dude. Why the need to renew anyways; but congrats just the same
@V4Real, who wrote: “Matt I’m still waiting for my invite; what happen dude. Why the need to renew anyways; but congrats just the same”
Is it really that ‘unusual’ for a couple who had a quick-y wedding at City Hall with only 4 or 5 family members to at some point want to have a larger ceremony for themselves, their friends, and their children? I think it’s rather romantic.
Where is the mystery here? 🙂
I agree. Lucy was pregnant and only alexia was in attendance. One article stated they have been wanting to do this for some time. But I understand people having doubts. They look at Heidi and seal and j lo and Marc Anthony. But I just don’t think matt & Lucy are in the same category.
Ladies it was just a light hearted question thrown in with a playful comment; easy.
@V4 – you were my plus one! I held the plane as long as they would let me but eventually the FAA said we had to go.
Don’t worry, I did not dance with anyone else – just by myself. Well, at least I didn’t dance vertically with anyone else…
ETA – congrats to your folks, CB. Mine celebrated 51 years in Sept and have never renewed their vows. We all went to Arles for their 50th – I highly recommend that.
Damn I forgot the date; I was too busy stalking Hugh to shave his beard. I hope you had fun.
I guess they wanted to stress on passing the 7th year of marriage. Some people do have parties then.
Chelsea Clinton was there? I guess they are friends. Chelsea has finally made into Hollywood’s inner circle and with her new 10 million dollar apartment she can properly entertain them. Lucky girl to have had the right parents.
@Cody, who wrote: “Chelsea Clinton was there? I guess they are friends. Chelsea has finally made into Hollywood’s inner circle and with her new 10 million dollar apartment she can properly entertain them.”
Chelsea Clinton and her husband probably met Matt Damon and his wife while they lived in New York City (where Chelsea lives). They may be involved in some of the same charities.
Love: them & how they’ve got such A-list couple friends, but don’t name drop/whore them out like that fake wannabe Scandinavian Goopy Pathetictrow.
Hate: how they refer to their eldest daughter as the ‘child from a previous relationship’! She’s a much of Matt’s daughter as the other 3 goddamit.
So disrespectful! 🙁
It’s horrible, isn’t it? As if Alexia is lesser somehow. You see the same thing with some media reporting on adopted children, listing them as if they’re not quite as valid as ‘real’ children. Morons.
Damon himself always says ‘i have 4 daughters’
Matt NEVER refers to her that way; it’s just the media that do.
i know…& Matt is such a low-key, cool dude that he doesn’t make a big ish outta it.
but, tell ya what…Brad never let the media get away with that sh*t.
they ‘rarely’ refer to his non bios as ‘the adopted kids’.
Tyler Durder ain’t havin’ it. 8)
I hate that too – what a sh-tty way to refer to a kid. Shame on you, media.
I think it depends on the context, maybe Alexia is super close to her dad? In that case I don’t mind it. Like she has an awesome stepdad who loves her as his own, but she also has a biological dad she is still very close with. Who knows. Matt always says he has 4 girls, so I don’t think it’s a big deal in their home. Lucy was married to Alexia’a dad, does anyone know if the divorce was amicable?
Also, for some reason I see these two making it. They seem like a low key together couple. Wish them the best!
The guest list is so interesting, like Matt! No George and Stacy? Ha. You can tell that the people invited are actual friends, not just work friends or acquaintances.
Ps, Emily & John have the best social circle! They got married at George’s Lake Cuomo estate, vacation with JustJen and Jimmy Kimmel and his fiance and now here they are with Matt and Lucy! So Jelly.
@Hoya-Chick, who wrote: “Lucy was married to Alexia’a dad, does anyone know if the divorce was amicable?”
I think it was. In some interview years ago (but after they got married) Matt talked about how great it was to live away from Hollywood. He said they were in Miami because Luci didn’t want to take Alexia away from her father, who is Cuban and lives in Miami. There has never been anything written about any trouble between the ex’s.
They must have reached some kind of visitation agreement when the Damons moved to New York City in 2009/2010 (I forget which year it was). Or maybe they felt Alexia (who is either 13 or 14-years-old now) had established a good bond with her father that would survive long-distance.
I like Matt a lot… but doesn’t he name drop Brad and Angelina quite often?
I love that he calls her Lucy!, don’t ask me why. And I think we can stop pointing out that Alexia is her daughter from a previous marriage. It is like saying, “their adopted kid”. Drives me nuts. They are a lovely family and I hope they have a long and happy life together. It really does sound like the party you wish you were invited to.
It also might not be very appropriate to ignore the fact that she has a loving biological father? If she has a good relationship with her dad, then I think it wouldn’t be right to act as though he doesn’t exist.
They have been married for 7 yrs but together for 10 yrs. This month marks the first time they met 10 yrs ago so I believe that’s why they picked this time to renew. They had a city hall civil ceremony the first time and she was pregnant so it seemed they wanted to have the wedding they never had. He’ll be doing press for behind the candelabra soon and I’m sure he’ll be asked about it.
All the info that the media released was never confirmed and Matt’s camp was not commenting on anything which is his style. The media was speculating. One example among others how there were suppose to be no kids. Obviously that was not true. I wish them a long and happy life together.
How serious can the ceremony be when Jimmy Kimmel is officiating?! Sounds like a fun, laid back affair.
I think it would have been great, and if Kimmel books wedding vow renewals, Mr. bluhare and I might have to get on the list!
Sorry—gonna be haters but these two bug me….Matt really does, I think it’s ever since he shaved his head, ugh. They just think they are SOOOOOOOO perfect or something, I don’t know!
@Roxy750, who wrote: “Sorry—gonna be haters but these two bug me….Matt really does, I think it’s ever since he shaved his head, ugh.”
You know Matt Damon is an actor, right? He shaved his head (and re-shaved it again in January) for his role in the upcoming film “Elysium,” which opens on August 9th. They re-shot a couple of scenes earlier this year.
His hair ‘will’ grow back, you know. 🙂
I really didn’t like them when they first got married. Bartender? Really? I thought she was just another gold digger like the yoga instructor and the flight attendant. But I guess I was wrong. Never thought they would make it this long.
They are one of the few hollywood couples that seem genuine and not in it to be a power couple. Wish them all the best.
This is for everyone who (still) claim Luciana bragged about how she was going to ‘get’ Matt Damon … and that she was as a ‘cocktail waitress’ when they met. I found this while searching for Alexia’s age:
“Matt: “I was hiding behind the bar because I was getting hassled … I went [back] and [Lucy] said, ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ because I didn’t work there and I was behind her bar. I genuinely feel like —- people have that saying about seeing someone across a crowded room —- I swear to God, that happened to me … something incredible happened the first time I saw her.”
Source: Anya Leon. “Matt Damon: Four Kids is a ‘Whole New Dynamic.'” People.com. 11/15/2010.”
I don’t know if I believe the story about Lucy trying to ‘get Matt’, but I don’t really think what you posted disproves that story?
Even if Luciana did go after Damon, apparently he wanted to be caught.