Jay Shetty is still in disbelief he officiated Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s wedding!
The Think Like a Monk author, 36, revealed how “fun” and “surreal” it was to serve as the officiant of the couple's August 2022 wedding.
Shetty, 36, explained to Katie Couric in the Thursday, April 18, episode of Next Question with Katie Couric that his friendship with Lopez, 54, began a few years ago.
The life coach said they forged a bond when the actress joined for an episode of his podcast, On Purpose with Jay Shetty. “We hit it off, and then we stayed in touch, and we were connected.”
He added that the singer then invited him to “officiate weddings at the launch of her Marry Me musical performance," noting that the two “stayed connected” and “had lots of conversations.”
Although they had "connected," when Lopez asked him to officiate, he admitted that he felt “nervous” and “anxious,” adding that he was an “anxious wreck.”
“I was like, ‘Wow. Like, this is a lot of pressure. It's pretty hard to do something like this,’ ” said Shetty.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in February.Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
The 8 Rules of Love author told Couric, 67, that he and Lopez had “a really beautiful chat,” which helped him “really understand the type of ceremony they wanted.”
He described the day of Affleck, 51, and Lopez’s nuptials as “just one of the most surreal experiences in [his] life,” admitting, “Because I love, love, I love everything to do with romance.”
“I'm having the experience of like, ‘Am I in a movie or am I in reality because I've only ever seen weddings like this in a movie?’ And then I'm like, ‘No, no, no, this is real. Get back into reality,’” he recalled.
Jay Shetty in March.Mat Hayward/Getty
Shetty attempted to convince himself not to cry because he loves to cry at weddings. “I will cry at everyone's wedding because I love love,” Shetty told Couric.
“So the whole time, while then standing right next to me and [Affleck’s] shedding a tear, and Jennifer walking down the aisle and a dress and everyone's looking at her and I'm just like, ‘Jay, do not cry. This is not about you. Do not cry.’ ”
The podcaster said he was “just holding it together the whole time.”
“It was really a beautiful experience. I was so grateful for the opportunity,” said Shetty. “It will truly always remain as one of the most, you know, special memories that I'll cherish for a long, long time.”
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in May 2023.John Salangsang/Variety via Getty
Lopez and Affleck first wed in Las Vegas in July 2022. The following month, they celebrated their nuptials with a ceremony in Georgia in front of friends and family.
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The Next Question with Katie Couric can be listened to anywhere podcasts are heard.
