The weekend of August 18, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez had an elaborately grand wedding on the site of Affleck’s “plantation-style home,” according to PageSix.

It’s been reported that Affleck has refused to acknowledge the history of the house and his own ancestor lineage after discoveries surfaced a few years ago that he had a slave-owning Georgia relative. The property is 87 acres and not far from where his relative from his mother’s side lived, reportedly owning several enslaved people. Although Affleck owned the property since 2003, he attempted

to prevent a PBS special from publicizing his ancestry after his family’s slave-owning past was discovered.

He wed Lopez on the property years later. 

Northwestern University Professor Leslie Harris explained, “When he discovered who his ancestors were, he tried to squelch it. 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. Surprisingly, Affleck would choose this place for his wedding when many (historic) plantations have stopped even having weddings.”

 

Furthermore, a source told PEOPLE that Affleck and Lopez had “an extraordinary weekend of celebrations planned…a pre-wedding party, a ceremony and lots of fun lined up.”

The implications of the location of the wedding wasn’t discussed during the celebration announcements of the marriage. 

The imitation plantation was built in 2000 by an architect aiming to replicate an early plantation style. It includes an equestrian center, a deep water port, and a 6,000-square-foot house called ‘The Big House.’