Britney Spears wed Sam Asghari at their California home on Thursday after nearly six years together – and only seven months after Spears was freed from a conservatorship that she said prevented her from getting married.
Not surprisingly, the guest list did not include members of Spears’ family whom she has repeatedly blasted on social media: father Jamie, mother Lynne and siblings Jamie Lynn and Bryan.
Also not present for the nuptials were Sean and Jayden, Spears’ teenaged sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline. In a statement to media, Federline’s lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan said the boys “are happy for their mom and they are hopeful that Sam and Britney are starting a great future together.”
Asghari’s rep Brandon Cohen told The Associated Press: “I am very ecstatic this day has come, and they are married. I know he wanted this for so long. He is so caring and supportive every step of the way.”
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It’s the first marriage for Asghari, a 28-year-old personal trainer, model and actor who was born in Iran and immigrated to the U.S. when he was 12. He and Spears have dated since about five months after they met on the set of her “Slumber Party” video in 2016.
“I was like, ‘He was really cute, this guy was really cute,' so I called him,” Spears recalled, in a 2017 interview. “He's just a really fun, funny person.”
It is the third marriage for Spears, 40, who tied the knot with childhood friend Jason Alexander in Las Vegas in January 2004 (the marriage was annulled 55 hours later) and was married to Federline from October 2004 to 2007.
(Hours before the wedding, Alexander showed up at Spears property while live-streaming on Instagram. “She’s my first wife, my only wife,” he told security guards. “I'm here to crash the wedding.” The Ventura County Sheriff Office said Alexander was charged with trespassing, vandalism and two counts of battery.)
Madonna, will.i.am, Drew Barrymore, Selena Gomez, Ansel Elgort, Donatella Versace, Maria Menounos and husband Keven Undergaro, Spears’ lawyer Mathew Rosengart, and Paris Hilton with husband Carter Reum and her mom Kathy Hilton were among the 60 or so guests.
The ceremony took place in a tent on Spears’ property under an altar decorated with pink and white roses and chandeliers as guests sat in wooden pews. Wearing a Versace gown, the bride walked down the aisle to Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Asghari wore a classic black tuxedo and bow tie, also from Versace.
Vogue quoted Spears as explaining: “We really wanted to make this a small and beautiful moment with family and friends. We wanted warm and feminine colours including blush, white, cream, and gold, and a lot of various shades of pinks, blush, and reds.”
Spotted at the wedding was a Cinderella-style carriage from Savannah Rose Carriages pulled by a white horse.
Guests chowed down to food by Contemporary Catering. At one point in the celebrations, Madonna and Spears recreated their famous kiss from the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
The newlyweds were whisked away late Thursday in a white Rolls-Royce decorated with white and pink roses and a “Just Married” sign on the back.
Last June, when Spears begged to end the conservatorship she has been under since 2008, she said: “I want to be able to get married and have a baby. I was told right now in the conservatorship, I’m not able to get married or have a baby.”
Spears and Asghari went public with their engagement last September and announced in April that Spears was pregnant – but weeks later they shared the sad news that she suffered a miscarriage.
This article has been updated since it was first published.