Aniston marries in surprise wedding

Jennifer Aniston married actor and screenwriter Justin Theroux (both above). PHOTO: EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

LOS ANGELES • Former Friends star Jennifer Aniston married actor and screenwriter Justin Theroux in a surprise ceremony in front of family and friends in the couple's own backyard in California on Wednesday, celebrity magazines said.

"Guests were told it was a birthday party for Justin. Jen and Justin wanted to surprise guests and guests were certainly surprised," People magazine reported, citing a source.

"Jen has been very good at keeping her wedding planning secret. Only her closest confidants knew that the party was actually a surprise wedding."

Aniston, 46, and Theroux, who turns 44 next week, exchanged vows in front of about 70 guests, including Friends star Lisa Kudrow, comedian Chelsea Handler, talk-show star Ellen DeGeneres, America's Got Talent judge Howard Stern and actress Emily Blunt, People and Us Weekly said.

The couple's representatives did not return requests for comment. But celebrity website TMZ.com posted photos of a stage, an outdoor dance floor, dining tables and a large cake being brought into the house that the stars share in Bel-Air, a posh hilltop neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

The couple started dating in 2011, as they were filming the movie Wanderlust.

Aniston has forged a lucrative film career in comedies such as 2008's Marley & Me and 2013's We're The Millers, since the hit television comedy Friends ended in 2004.

Theroux is the screenwriter for comedies from 2008's Tropic Thunder to the upcoming Zoolander 2.

Aniston has spent the past decade as a fixture of celebrity journalism, ever since her divorce from actor Brad Pitt in 2005.

Her hush-hush wedding to Theroux is in stark contrast to her lavish ceremony with Pitt in 2000, which took place on a Malibu clifftop with four bands, a gospel choir, fireworks and a reported cost of US$1 million.

Pitt also kept things low-key when he married actress Angelina Jolie at a chapel on their rural French estate last year.

REUTERS, GUARDIAN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 08, 2015, with the headline Aniston marries in surprise wedding. Subscribe