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Jennifer Garner Is ‘Planning’ John Miller Wedding After Being ‘Secretly Engaged For Months’
After Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck decided that their 10-year marriage was over, one of them moved on pretty quickly — and the other did not. Within days of the duo’s 2015 split announcement, Ben, 50, was photographed spending time with their three kids’ recently fired nanny, Christine Ouzounian, 36. By 2017, he’d begun a two-year, on-off romance with former Saturday Night Live producer Lindsay Shookus, 43. Jen, 51, meanwhile, was in a much different place.
“I haven’t been on a date, and I am not interested in dating,” the actress said in late 2017. “People want to set me up, and I am just like, ‘No thank you!’ ”
But months later, her world — and her attitude — changed. Jen met a wonderful man: John Miller. She started seeing the CEO of CaliGroup, a tech investment business that owns the Cali Burger restaurant chain, in 2018 — the same year her split from Ben and John’s equally long and drawn out divorce from violinist Caroline Campbell were finalized.
Aside from a brief breakup in 2020 amid the chaos of the pandemic, “Jen and John have been going strong for over five years now,” a source exclusively tells Life & Style, “and the time has finally come to make it official.” Though they already have a solid relationship, “legally being husband and wife, that will be the icing on the cake,” adds the source, who says Jen, 51, and John “have been secretly engaged for months. Now they’re planning a wedding!”
Ben had two headline-making weddings last summer after rekindling his long-ago romance with Jennifer Lopez in 2021— a Las Vegas elopement followed by a big, glam blowout ceremony and reception at his Georgia estate.
Jen, however, is doing things differently, says the source. “It’s going to be very lowkey and very much Jen’s simple but elegant aesthetic. She just wants a backyard ceremony with family and friends,” explains the source, noting actress-producer Reese Witherspoon, jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer, Alias costar Victor Garber and chef Ina Garten, “who’s given her so many wedding ideas,” are all expected to score invites.
The real guests of honor, though are the kids: John’s two children from his first marriage, Violet and Quest, as well as Jen and Ben’s three offspring — Violet, 17, Seraphina , 14, and Samuel, 11.
“One of the highlights for Jen will be having her kids walk her down the aisle,” the source tells Life & Style. “She’s excited about the moment.”Jen would also welcome Ben, new wife J. Lo and the singer-actress’s twins from a previous marriage, Max and Emme, 15, to attend, claims the source, sharing that “she wants her big day to be a truly blended, family celebration.”
Ben’s past and present wives are in a great place: Last year, J. Lo, 53, publicly praised predecessor Jen, calling her “an amazing co-parent” and noting she and Ben “work really well together.”
In the eight years since her heartbreaking split from Ben, Jen’s made their children her priority. Now she feels the time has come to celebrate her own joy, says the source.
Everyone is ecstatic for Jen,” the source adds. “They all think John is perfect for her — even Ben, who sent a touching message to her when he found out she was getting married.”
According to the source, the men — who were photographed together for the first time in January, where they appeared friendly and at ease during an animated chat outside Jen’s home — get along well. “Jen and Ben had a good laugh about her finally finding her Mr. Right and how Ben was destined to be with J. Lo,” says the source. “They’ve been through a lot and have come a long way together. They really just want the best for each other.”
Jen’s happily ever after has been a long time coming. “John is so kind and patient,” says the source of the businessman and Stanford Law grad. “He loves Jen and her kids and thinks she’s gorgeous — he’s always complimenting her — and he respects and appreciates her for the caring and amazing woman that she is.”
After all she’s been through in recent years, adds the source — her painful, public breakup from Ben amid his alcoholism struggle, a nanny scandal, the hurtful comments he made in 2021 implying he drank because he was “trapped” in their marriage — “she says she finally trusts someone with her heart. John brings out the best in Jen.”
Taking things slow has paid off. Jen and John built a foundation of trust and respect as they both learned to love again in the wake of divorce. “Jen truly never imagined that this day would come again. She says life is full of blessings and surprises,” shares the source. “She’s happier than she’s been in a very long time.”
