Julia Roberts's Midnight Marriage

By Stephen M. Silverman

Wednesday July 03, 2002 12:00 PM EDT

It was a case of "Runaway Bride" for real this 4th of July. "I'm confirming that Julia Roberts has married Daniel Moder, but that's all we're saying for now," the Oscar winner's publicist, Marcy Engleman, told Reuters. The wedding, according to the news service, took place under a large white tent shortly after midnight Wednesday at Roberts's 40-acre ranch near Taos, N.M. Engleman said the ceremony was attended by "close friends and family." The New York Post reported that the invitation read, simply: "Come celebrate our Independence Day on the green grass under the stars with the dogs and horses." All the guests, including George Clooney and Brad Pitt (both of whom costarred with Roberts in "Oceans 11"), were asked to wear white linen, said Reuters. Roberts, 34, who was briefly married to singer Lyle Lovett in 1993, met Moder, 33, two years ago, while they were both working on the film "The Mexican," costarring Pitt. Moder reportedly left his wife of five years, make-up artist Vera Steinberg, to be with Roberts, and their first public appearance together was in April at a Taos film festival. Before marrying Lovett, Roberts abandoned Kiefer Sutherland three days before their planned wedding in 1991 and ran off with Jason Patric. She has also been linked to Dylan McDermott and Liam Neeson, and last year ended what had been her most enduring relationship, one of four years with Benjamin Bratt. He then married actress Talisa Soto in April.