GIVEN that they only spent £77 on their Vegas nuptials, the marriage of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez is likely to last longer than, say, that of Brooklyn Beckham and new wife Nicola Peltz, whose recent wedding cost millions.

I say this not as “Mystic Moore” but as a science-based prediction taken from the last study available on such weighty matters.

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Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s Bennifer’s £77 bash is a good sign their marriage will last till death do them part

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Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz’s recent wedding cost a reported £5millionCredit: Splash
Namely the survey undertaken by the Marriage Foundation earlier this year which discovered that ten per cent of marriages that started with a wedding costing more than £20,000 broke down within three years — twice the overall divorce rate of five per cent in that time.

Of course, every one should have the wedding they wish to within the means at their disposal, but in a global cost-of- living crisis “Ben- nifer” perhaps felt it would be a little tone deaf to splash the cash on wedding number four for her, second for him.

So instead, they queued up with four other couples to get their licence and, along with the five kids they have between them, headed off to Vegas’s famous Little White Chapel just after midnight.

They didn’t even pay for an Elvis impersonator because, according to J-Lo, “that cost extra and he was in bed”.

What a far cry from 2003, when they were first engaged and planned a 400-guest extravaganza (called off just hours before the ceremony) with a diamond ring the size of a small planet and three decoy brides.

This time, Ben changed in to his tux in the loo, Jen wore a movie dress she’s had for ages, and the pair of them look wonderfully content and carefree — perhaps liberated from all the fuss and attention that usually goes hand in hand with high-profile weddings.

Brooklyn and Nicola seem happy.

But would they have been less so if they’d popped to Vegas for a quickie and donated some of the reported £5million cost of their lavish wedding to a good cause instead?

And what about Kim Kardashian’s wedding to Kris Humphries that cost around $10million and lasted 72 days?

Or her later wedding to Kanye West that reportedly notched up a $12million bill and is now over?

Petra Ecclestone’s first marriage to James Stunt cost around £12million and ended in acrimony.

Last weekend, she married Sam Palmer in a “low-key” ceremony costing around £1million.

Cripes.

Perhaps if you’re an Ecclestone, that’s considered cheap.
Of course, there are plenty of lavish celebrity weddings where the couples are still together.

But cost aside, I wonder how many of them look at the simplicity of Bennifer’s big day and wish they’d done the same?

No fuss, no guests fretting about the table plan, no tricky relatives to deal with, no giant screens needed to shield the bride from prying eyes, no paparazzi helicopters circling overhead, no temperamental dress designer barking orders at flustered assistants, no vegetarian/vegan options to worry about and no giant rock you worry about being mugged for.

Just you two, your kids, and a cheap and cheerful ceremony with the minimum of fuss. Heaven.

Better still, the stats for it lasting the course are stacked in your favour.