For most celebrity weddings, there’s a lot of planning involved: huge dresses, exotic locations, fancy food, and a guest list as long as your arm. But while some stars decide to go all out for their big day, other couples take the opposite route: escaping to a private place, keeping it casual, and only inviting close family and friends — if they decide to tell anyone at all.
When you’re famous, eloping can have a lot of perks. You can avoid press coverage and prevent uninvited acquaintances from feeling snubbed, not to mention save a lot of cash. It can also create a super-special, super-intimate ceremony that the two of you will remember forever.
With the previously viral news of Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker running off to Vegas for a wedding ceremony, celebrities eloping has never been more on our minds. Read on for all the celebrities who skipped town to tie the knot.
A version of this story was originally published in 2018.
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Benji Madden & Cameron Diaz
Benji Madden and Cameron Diaz married in Jan 5, 2015 at their home, with only 20 people in attendance.
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Adam Brody & Leighton Meester
Per Us Weekly, Adam Brody and Leighton Meester married in secret in 2014 after dating for a few years. They have been together ever since and welcomed two children.
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Pamela Anderson & Tommy Lee
Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee married each other in Feb 1995 after only knowing each other for four days on the beach. No one knew until the photos were released. They welcomed two children, but she filed for divorce in 1998 “protect her babies,” and the divorce was finalized a year later. They rekindled their romance in 208, but split up again in 2010.
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Amanda Seyfried & Thomas Sadoski
Back in 2017, after dating for over a year, Amanda Seyfried and Thomas Sadoski married in a secret ceremony.
“We eloped. We just took off into the country with an officiant and, just the two of us, and we did our thing,” Sadoski said on The Late Late Show with James Corden via People.
They have since welcomed two children.
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Stephen Belafonte & Mel B
After dating for only four months, Stephen Belafonte and Mel B eloped on June 2007 in Las Vegas, but divorced in 2017.
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Raquel Welch & Patrick Curtis
After working on the 1965 film A Swingin’ Summer, Raquel Welch and Patrick Curtis started dating soon after, later getting married at Paris’ City Hall in Feb 1967. They divorced in 1972.
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Marco Perego & Zoe Saldana
Within months of dating, Marco Perego and Zoe Saldana married after only a few months together, in the summer of 2013. After getting married at a secret ceremony, they have since welcomed three sons.
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Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin
This may come as a shock but Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin eloped back in the day. They eloped in California in 2003 and honeymooned in Mexico. They sadly divorced in 2015.
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Chris Evans & Alba Baptista
Chris Evans and Alba Baptista shocked the world when news broke that the two had an intimate wedding with only a few friends and family on Sept 9, per Page Six. The pair have been dating since 2021, and no one knew about the wedding because, allegedly “guests signed NDAs and phones were forfeited.”
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Donald Glover & Michelle White
Michelle White and Donald Glover secretly married while filming his new comedy series Mr and Mrs Smith. Glover revealed that he and White, after nine years together, secretly tied the knot sometime in 2023.
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Billy Crudup & Naomi Watts
On June 9, Billy Crudup and Naomi Watts married at a courthouse after six years together, confirming the news on social media the same day!
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Cardi B & Offset
Cardi B and Offset secretly got married in September 2017 in their bedroom (where her cousin was the witness!) after multiple years together.
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Ryan Reynolds & Scarlett Johansson
Back in 2008, Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson reportedly wed in a secret wilderness retreat outside of Vancouver after a year together. They divorced in 2011.
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Brigitte Bardot & Jacques Charrier
Back in 1959, Brigitte Bardot wed for the second time to Jacques Charrier, and she iconically wore a pink gingham dress for their city hall nuptials.
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Henry Fonda & Afdera Franchetti
Henry Fonda met his fourth wife Afdera Franchetti in 1957, and soon after meeting, they eloped in a civil ceremony at hisNew York apartment.
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Ben Affleck & Jennifer Lopez
On July 16, 2022, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck were whisked away to Las Vegas to get married in a chapel at 12:30 AM with their children. The super sweet and shocking moment surprised everyone, and the two couldn’t seem happier.
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Kourtney Kardashian & Travis Barker
While it wasn’t an official wedding ceremony, Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker nevertheless got some practice in with their Las Vegas nuptials following the 2022 Grammy Awards. Kardashian took to Instagram days after to share photos of the two standing in front of an Elvis Presley impersonator and celebrating their marriage (minus their license).
“Once upon a time in a land far, far away (Las Vegas) at 2am, after an epic night and a little tequila, a queen and her handsome king ventured out to the only open chapel with an Elvis and got married (with no license). Practice makes perfect,” Kardashian captioned the photos.
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Tom Brady & Gisele Bündchen
Why elope once when you can elope twice? After a short engagement, Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen planned their wedding in 10 days and said “I do” in front of about 20 friends and family members at the Santa Monica Catholic Church in 2009. Then 90 days later, they had another tiny wedding for close friends, this time at their Costa Rica house. Over a decade later, they divorced and co-parent their two children.
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Kristen Bell & Dax Shepard
It doesn’t get more low-key than this Hollywood power couple Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard’s elopement. Bell told Jimmy Kimmel, “We got married in a tiny room in the Beverly Hills courthouse and it was still one of the best days of my life.” They kept it pretty casual and even got a cake, gifted by the court house’s employees that read “The World’s Worst Wedding.”
Bell posted a sweet photo to her Instagram of the day. Nearly a decade later and two children, the pair have one of the strongest, lowest-drama marriages in Hollywood.
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Penelope Cruz & Javier Bardem
A-list couple Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem eloped with only their families in attendance back in 2010. Their Bahama wedding shocked everyone and honestly, we’re still in shock. They now have two children together and are as happy as can be.
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Mila Kunis & Ashton Kutcher
Hollywood stars Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher are not only famous, but they’re also famously private about their personal lives — and their wedding was no different. The couple not only kept the date and the location of their wedding under wraps, but they also misled the press along the way.
The couple quietly tied the knot in California in July 2015, then headed off to a quiet honeymoon in Yosemite National Park with their young daughter. Kutcher told Ellen DeGeneres, “It was a ninja effort.”
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Margot Robbie & Tom Ackerley
Margo Robbie and her director beau, Tom Ackerley, had a top-secret wedding in December 2016, where only 50 people attended. They had a bohemian ceremony and everyone found out about it when she posted a cheeky picture to her Instagram.
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Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos
These lovebirds met on the set of All My Children and hit it off just as well as their characters did. And when Mark Consuelos suggested they go to Las Vegas and get married in a cheesy chapel, Kelly Ripa was totally for it. They were married on May 1, 1996, and have since had three kids and a long, happy marriage.
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Chelsea Peretti & Jordan Peele
Brooklyn 99 star Chelsea Peretti and Academy Award winner Jordan Peele have always seemed to have a low-key, low-drama relationship. They dated for a couple of years before announcing their engagement on Twitter, where he proposed during a family talent show.
The couple then got secretly married in 2016 and Peretti posted a photo on her Instagram. Since then, they gave birth to a son named Beaumont Gino in 2017.
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Clark Gable & Carole Lombard
Back in 1939, fans and Hollywood like lost it when acting titans Clark Gable and Carole Lombard announced that they eloped. They were madly in love and stayed married until Lombard’s tragic death in 1942.
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Alicia Keys & Swizz Beatz
Alicia Keys and rap producer Swizz Beatz, who tied the knot in a small, secret wedding ceremony in the Mediterranean in 2009. Keys and Beatz are now the parents of two adorable boys.
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Megan Fox & Brian Austin Green
Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green had a pretty dramatic on-again, off-again relationship over the years before eloping. They traveled to Hawaii, where they exchanged vows barefoot on the beach, with only Green’s 8-year-old son as a witness. They have three sons together: Noah, Bodhi, and Journey. They divorced in 2021.
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Sacha Baron Cohen & Isla Fisher
Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher are extremely down to earth when it comes to their relationship. They were engaged for six years before tying the knot in a private, secretive wedding in Paris in 2010. They have three children together: Olive Baron, Elula Lottie Miriam, and Montgomery Moses Brian; and later divorced in 2024.
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Lily Allen & David Harbour
While COVID-19 delayed nearly every wedding, Lily Allen and David Harbour ended up eloping to nowhere other than Las Vegas in Sept 2020. They posted a sweet photo to Instagram.
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Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner
Joe Jonas and Game of Throne’s starlet Sophie Turner shocked the world when they first got together and shocked fans again when they secretly wed in Las Vegas before their Paris wedding. They had to marry in the US before tying the knot internationally. So they called Diplo to Livestream it and we’re still obsessed with the impromptu nuptials. They have two children together, and divorced in 2023.
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Emily Ratajkowski & Sebastian Bear
Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski eloped with Sebastian Bear in an NYC courthouse and posted it to Instagram. They have a son together named Sylvester, and have since filed for divorce.
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Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio
Everyone lost it when legendary stars Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio eloped less than a year together and divorced less than a year after the nuptials.
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Scarlett Johansson & Romain Dauriac
Scarlett Johansson wed in secret to her second husband French journalist Romain Dauriac in 2014. They had a daughter together Rose Dorothy and split up three years later. Johansson also eloped with her first husband Ryan Reynolds at a wilderness retreat outside of Vancouver.
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Daniel Craig & Rachel Weisz
Despite being A-listers, Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz have kept their relationship quite private over the years — and their wedding was no different. They had a small ceremony in New York with only four guests. They have a daughter together and co-parent their children from other relationships.
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Orlando Bloom & Miranda Kerr
At one point, everyone wanted a love like Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr’s. They got together in 2009, and within a year they tied the knot in a private ceremony. They had a boy together named Flynn Christopher Blanchard Copeland, but sadly, they divorced three years later.
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Elizabeth Taylor & Eddie Fisher
Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fosher’s marriage was, erm, messy. So, Fisher was originally married to legendary starlet Debbie Reynolds while he and Taylor got together. They eloped in 1959 but soon divorced five years later. She actually stated that she only married him due to her husband, Mike Todd, passing suddenly in a plane crash, according to a biography, Furious Love.
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Harrison Ford & Calista Flockhart
Long-time lovers Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart decided to go all out for their elopement. No, really, you can do that. In 2010, they gathered their closest friends, not telling them what was happening. To their surprise, Ford and Flockhart were getting married in the New Mexico governor’s mansion. Talk about a surprise.
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Jane Fonda & Roger Vadim
Legendary actress and activist Jane Fonda eloped with French director Roger Vadim in a civil ceremony in France. They were together until 1973.
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Jewel & Ty Murray
It looked like a match made in the country. Singer Jewel and rodeo rider Ty Murray eloped after a decade together in the Bahamas. It was just the two of them, and it sounded absolutely romantic. Unfortunately, they divorced after six years of marriage.
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Mariah Carey & Nick Cannon
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon did a similar thing like Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart: They eloped and kinda tricked their guests. Carey told People back in 2008 that they eloped in the Bahamas. “We only told people who had to know. [To everyone else] we said we were [going to the Bahamas] for the video. If we brought a million people with us, it would’ve been obvious we weren’t shooting a video… Being there with loved ones under the sky was a spiritual moment.” They sadly divorced in 2016.
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Richard Burton & Elizabeth Taylor
That’s right, Elizabeth Taylor eloped again. Icons Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s love story is one for the ages: messy, complicated, and passionate. They were in separate relationships when they got together and eventually married from 1964 to 1974. Then they eloped in Botswana in 1975 but divorced in 1976. But their love didn’t stop there.
According to Biography, Taylor said that before he died, Burton wrote her a note saying he wanted to come home to her. In a 2010 interview with Vogue, Taylor said, “I was still madly in love with him the day he died. I think he still loved me, too.”
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Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott
So to put it bluntly, The Hills star Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott’s elopement story is a bit messy. They were both married to other people when they met and then a year later, they eloped in Fiji. They were together for over 15 years and have five children together. But in Nov 2021, news broke that they filed for divorce.
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Jack Black & Tanya Haden
So get ready, because Jack Black and Tanya Haden’s love story is a whirlwind. The pair met in high school but didn’t start dating until 2005. They eloped in Big Sur, California only a year later and have been together ever since.
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Angelina Jolie & Billy Bob Thornton
One of Hollywood’s most controversial couples to date, Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton, eloped in blue jeans and t-shirts in, of course, Las Vegas.
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Demi Moore & Bruce Willis
Back in 1987, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis wed in a Las Vegad chapel after only three months together. They have three daughters together but divorced in 2000.
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Frank Sinatra & Mia Farrow
Despite being around 30 years old apart, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow were wildly in love for two years before they eloped in Las Vegas on July 19, 1966. Their marriage last two years.
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Jessica Alba & Cash Warren
Actress Jessica Alba and film producer Cash Warren eloped at a California courthouse when she was nine months pregnant with their daughter Honor. They’ve been married for over 13 years and on their 11th wedding anniversary, Alba posted a sweet Instagram tribute.
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Kelly Clarkson & Brandon Blackstock
Powerhouse singer Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock originally had a lavish ceremony planned until they spontaneously decided to elope in 2013. They tweeted per US Magazine, “We are eloping for one reason only. We both want an intimate ceremony.” They have two beautiful children together but ended up separating in 2020.
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Rita Hayworth & Orson Welles
Did you know legendary Old-Hollywood star Rita Hayworth and legendary director Orson Welles were together back in the day? Neither did we. And not only that, they eloped in a simple ceremony in California. However, their marriage wasn’t a happy ending and Hayworth even cited saying Welles didn’t want to commit. They divorced five years later.
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Michael C. Hall & Jennifer Carpenter
Dexter fans probably know this one, but the rest of us sure didn’t. Co-stars stars Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter eloped on New Year’s Eve in 2008 after a year of dating. However, they divorced after a few years together.