Celebrities Who Got Married in Secret

It's a cliché that celebrities throw extravagant weddings. Sometimes, the inverse is true: Plenty of famous people—especially those who keep their private lives extremely private—get married in secret.

This is, obviously, tricky, especially when the guest list includes other A-listers, but plenty are able to pull it off. The stories below range from getting spontaneously hitched in Vegas (complete with an Elvis impersonator) to an elaborate backyard wedding, but they're reliably adorable.

Chrishell Stause and G Flip

It won't be the last time this scenario appears on this list: Chrishell Stause and G Flip got married in Vegas with an Elvis impersonator officiating! One week after the ceremony, Stause told ET that part of the reason they kept it secret was to drown out any unsolicited feedback. "I just feel like, some of those things you don't want to hear people's opinions on. It was perfect. It was amazing."

Freida Pinto and Cory Tran

Freida Pinto and Cory Tran were actually planning a more traditional wedding when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. So, they eloped secretly. She told Kelly Clarkson about it, noting, "So we decided one day to go to the Honda Center in Anaheim...It was absolutely perfect. We got married and then we got to go home and take an afternoon nap."

Grace Gummer and Mark Ronson

Grace Gummer (Meryl Streep's daughter) and Mark Ronson are private about their relationship—so much so that Ronson offhandedly shared their wedded bliss in his 46th birthday post. “I hope I spend every one of these birthdays by your side til my last day. And beyond. Forever and ever yours (and yes, we got married).”

John Corbett and Bo Derek 

John Corbett and Bo Derek got married in 2020 and managed to keep it a secret until Corbett made an appearance on The Talk a year later. "After 20 years we decided to get married, we didn't want 2020 to be that thing that everybody looks back at and hated...We thought, 'Well, let's get one nice thing out of it.'"

Rachel Brosnahan and Jason Ralph

Imagine it: your relationship is so private that people only realize you're married when you start to wear wedding rings on the red carpet! Such is the case for Rachel Brosnahan and Jason Ralph, whose rings at the 2018 Emmys revealed they'd secretly married earlier that year.

Lindsay Lohan and Bader Shammas

Dubai-based Lindsay Lohan and Bader Shammas kept their whole relationship low-key, to the point where we only realized they were married when Lohan made an Instagram post referring to him as her "husband." They got married in July 2022, if you're curious.

Kristen Wiig and Avi Rothman

The very private Kristen Wiig shared that she was married to her long-term partner, Avi Rothman, on The Howard Stern Show. She briefly noted, "In my home, I'm very lucky about having these two babies and my husband. They make it all better. It's changed my life."

Don Cheadle and Bridgid Coulter

Like some others on this list, Don Cheadle and Bridgid Coulter got married quietly in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. We don't know many details of the union, but Cheadle joked in a 2021 interview that his accountant encouraged them to tie the knot. "He showed us the numbers, and we said, 'Yeah, we should probably do it.'"

Chloë Sevigny and Siniša Mačković

Just a few days before New York experienced mass shutdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic, Chloë Sevigny and Siniša Mačković got married at city hall in New York (Sevigny was just a few months away from giving birth). The bride wore a black dress, like the style icon she is.

Miranda Lambert and Brendan McLoughlin

Of her secret wedding to Brendan McLoughlin, Miranda Lambert said, "I was married before, and it was a huge wedding and everything was very public. So was my divorce," she said. “I learned then that it’s not for everybody else. This is my actual life. With Brendan, I made it a point to keep it as private as I could for as long as I could.”

Josh Hartnett and Tamsin Egerton

Josh Hartnett and Tamsin Egerton met on the set of The Lovers. A decade (and several kids) later, the two married secretly in November 2021. That month, Egerton posted a photo with a hint (two bands on her ring finger) with a caption, “It’s been one incredible week and I can safely say we’re all happily exhausted."

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth

The "low-key, no frills" wedding between Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth is especially impressive, given the star power of the couple and their families. There had been rumors they were planning a spur-of-the-moment ceremony, but it was was still shocking when, a day after Christmas, Cyrus posted photos of the event.

Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts

Fun fact: the public didn't even know Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts were in a relationship until Nash posted their wedding photos two days after it happened with the hashtag "#LoveWins." The two got married in their backyard with only 24 family and friends attending!

Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma

A few days before Christmas in 2019, Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma had a quiet ceremony at home, with a source talking to People after the fact. "The ceremony started at sunset and they got married inside the house. When the ceremony was over, guests cheered. The reception was in a white tent in the backyard."

Raven-Symoné and Miranda Maday

Raven-Symoné and Miranda Maday got married in Debbie Allen's garden—love it—and the ceremony was officiated by Erica Summers. "What is more joyful than celebrating true love with a few close friends, vivid rainbow braids, loving vows, and chic Gucci jumpsuits," she told People.

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker

Technically Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker married in Vegas as a "practice" run for their larger ceremony (and also because they didn't have a marriage license). The whole thing took place at 2 am after Barker played at the Grammys—with, yes, an Elvis impersonator.

Elizabeth Olsen and Robbie Arnett

Elizabeth Olsen didn't confirm her wedding to Robbie Arnett for two years. The two eloped before COVID-19 and later had a ceremony; they haven't discussed much, but Olsen has talked about watching her famous sisters grow up in front of the camera, and how it made her protective of her own privacy.

RuPaul and Georges LeBar

RuPaul and Georges LeBar got married on their 23rd anniversay in their home in Los Angeles. It was shortly after the 2016 election; RuPaul later noted, “We don’t stand on ceremony. We thought we don’t have to get married. But then, in light of what’s happening currently in the world today, what’s happening in Washington, we thought, you know what? Let’s just do it, because there’s too much at stake with our businesses. So, that’s why we did it.”

Zoe Kravitz and Karl Glusman

Getting married in your dad's Paris mansion: no biggie! Zoe Kravitz and Karl Glusman had a small but star-studded ceremony, which included Kravitz's parents Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet as well as actors like Shailene Woodley and Reese Witherspoon.

Anna Faris and Michael Barrett

Anna Faris accidentally let it slip that she had eloped with Michael Barrett on her podcast (later laughing that she just couldn't say "fiancé" anymore). "I've never been a big wedding person," she later said, telling photographers, "With a little bit of age, you don't need the whole thing."

Melanie Lynskey and Jason Ritter

This is sweet and also very, very funny: Melanie Lynskey and Jason Ritter got married in 2020 before Lynskey went off to film Yellowjackets. "Honestly, I got married because someone was like, 'Jason won't get into Canada unless you're married,' which just wasn't true. We were [originally] waiting until like after the [pandemic]," she said.

Michelle Williams and Thomas Kail

In March 2020, Michelle Williams and Thomas Kail were spotted with what looked like wedding rings, and Us Weekly reported that the two had secretly wed. At the time of their engagement, a source noted, "They’re very happy and thrilled to be bringing a baby into the world,” and that they hoped to be married by the time Williams gave birth.

Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi

Imagine carrying off a secret royal wedding! Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi got married in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic (July 2020) in an extremely private ceremony. The news broke the day afterwards, with the couple sharing a few casual photos of the small gathering.

Tom Ackerley and Margot Robbie

In December 2016, Tom Ackerley and Margot Robbie got married in a private ceremony in Australia's Byron Bay. The actor was spotted at the airport wearing a shirt with the words "Say 'I Do' Down Under" on it, and then she confirmed the was married on Instagram a few days after it happened.

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost

Like other couples on this list, Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost got married mid-COVID-19 pandemic. 'It was a little stressful,' she said. 'Colin, as you know, is very fortunate that he has his grandparents still with him and there are several people in their 90s in his family. The Josts live forever!...so obviously we wanted to take every precaution that we could, so we we had the masks made [that said] 'Josts 2020.' And everybody had to get tested 100,000 times."

Saoirse Ronan and Jack Lowden

We really don't know much about Saoirse Ronan and Jack Lowden's relationship, but we do know that they were married in Edinburgh, Scotland, in summer 2024. The attendees, close friends and family, were reportedly sworn to secrecy about the whole thing.

Ashanti and Nelly

Given how famous Ashanti and Nelly are, it's all the more impressive how low-key they managed to keep aspects of their relationship. Their relationship actually dates back to 2003; after reuniting in September 2023, they married that same December, with the news confirmed months later.

Ed Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn

Before their carnival-inspired 2019 wedding, Ed Sheeran and Cherry Seaborn had a quiet, private, secret wedding in December 2018 with only 40 guests. Fans noted that Sheeran referred to Seaborn as his wife in the July 2019 song “Remember the Name." Sheeran noted, “[I wrote it] before me and Cherry got married and I knew that we’d be married by the point that the song came out.”

James McAvoy and Lisa Liberati

Aside from McAvoy confirming that he and Lisa Liberati were privately married in a 2022 Guardian interview, we know very little. McAvoy even declined to speak further on it in that interview, "for fear of creating tabloid fodder." The two met on the film Split, if you're curious.

Issa Rae and Louis Diame

Issa Rae and Louis Diame never even confirmed their engagement, but Rae posted (and then later deleted) some photos of their gorgeous 2021 wedding in the South of France. "It was just a beautiful experience...People tell you that it goes by fast, and they're right. But my thing was, it was a party. At the end of the day, it was just a big party. And it was a lot of fun," she later said.

Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst

Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst reportedly got married in Jamaica in July 2022, at the Ocho Rios GoldenEye resort. They'd used the words "husband" and "wife" as nicknames for a long time before that, though, and had been discussing wedding planning for a while, so the news itself wasn't shocking even if we didn't get many details.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez waited a day after she and Ben Affleck were married to share the news on her "On The JLo" newsletter. One month later, in August 2022, they had a more traditional ceremony in Georgia with a star-studded guest list including Matt Damon and Kevin Smith.