How Julia Roberts & Danny Moder Pulled Off a Secret Wedding in New Mexico 22 Years Ago

On July 4, 2002, at the stroke of midnight, Julia Roberts and Danny Moder surprised their weekend guests at her Taos, New Mexico ranch with a wedding. Twenty-two years and three kids later, the A-list couple is still celebrating their wedded bliss . How did such a high-profile star pull off such a low-key wedding at the height of the paparazzi era? Well, we have the throwback details for you.

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A resurfaced People article shared that Roberts and Moder invited 60 family members and friends to their secluded home to “celebrate Independence Day.” While that sounded like a swell way to enjoy a holiday, the guests had no idea that their July 3 day filled with “hours chatting by the pool, playing football and basketball and eating homemade turkey Roberts had cooked up that afternoon” would turn into a walk down the aisle .

As the clock struck midnight, Moder and Roberts appeared “under an arch made from white and pink silk sheaths and into a circle of scattered red, white and pink rose petals.” It was time to become Mr.and Mrs. A pal of the couple dished the details of how it all went down , “Danny got down on one knee and said, ‘In front of everyone we love, I want to know, will you marry me?’ And Julia grabbed her heart and said, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ And all the guests were saying ‘Yes, yes, yes’ along with her. The canopy was billowing. It was such a magical, intimate gathering, it felt like we were eavesdropping, like we were invited into someone’s secret.”

They successfully pulled off the wedding of their dreams without a tabloid or paparazzo being tipped that Roberts was walking down the aisle nine years after her random marriage to Lyle Lovett in 1993. The Pretty Woman star’s lawyer Barry Hirsch married them under a “star-filled sky” with the bride wearing a “pale pink cotton halter dress embroidered with pearls and antique beads and hand-painted with flowers” and the groom sporting a “red ruffled shirt and tan pants.” The festivities went on until 2 a.m. after the couple exchanged “handwritten vows.”

Roberts and Moder are still celebrating their love over two decades later, and the Oscar winner loves to gush about her man. “It all starts with Danny Moder,” she told the Today Show in December. “He is our person and, in the most beautiful way, the captain of our ship. For me, understanding how deeply felt life could be, really started with him.” It’s a true love story!

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