On Thursday (2 April), Crystal Harris married businessman James Ward at an intimate ceremony without any guests.
That’s not totally different to her wedding back in 2012, when she of course married Hugh Hefner. They got married at the Playboy Mansion with just family and a few friends.
But they did go on to attend the annual New Year’s Eve celebration that night, with Crystal soon widely becoming known just as Hef’s wife.
However, following his death in 2017, Crystal went on to eventually admit she ‘was never in love’ with the Playboy founder, who was 60 years her senior.
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And that certainly is different to the relationship she describes with James, as she opened up about their elopement to Aitutaki, one of the Cook Islands.
Crystal’s new marriage
Foregoing the glamour of a big public wedding, the 39-year-old married her new 42-year-old husband in a ‘deeply meaningful’ and ‘simple’ ceremony’.
"We chose the Cook Islands because of how remote it is," she told PEOPLE. "There are no big chain hotels, which makes it feel incredibly peaceful and authentic. It’s also home to one of the most beautiful lagoons in the world. Since James and I both love the ocean and nature it felt like the perfect place for us to start this chapter of our lives."
With a small wedding, planning was ‘really peaceful’ as she said they could just focus on the ‘meaningful details’.
“We didn’t want a huge production. We wanted something quiet and personal where we could really be present with each other and the moment,” Crystal added.
For her gown, she wore ‘Margo’ by OKSANA MUKHA, a fitted long-sleeved lace dress that features over 5,400 Swarovski crystals.
As Ward said he feels ‘like the luckiest guy alive’ and described Crystal’s heart as a ‘thing to behold’, the couple said: “Marriage means choosing each other every day and building a life based on trust, support, and partnership.”
Crystal on her relationship with Hef
In her past memoir, Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself, she claims she was told by Hef to ‘only say good things about’ him.
But she did go on to open up more about life in the Mansion and what it was really like to live there.
And Crystal said that when he first proposed they get married, she accepted but initially ran away.
She said that while she did love him, she was never ‘in love’ with him and served as his caregiver in his final years.
"I realized I was dealing with a really big power imbalance,” Crystal sid. “It seemed like a world of success and fantasy, but everyone's having to sleep with an 80-year-old. There's a price. Everything has a price."
Topics: Hugh Hefner, Celebrity
Jess Battison