Julia Roberts Gets Married

Rumors have been swirling that Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts was going to marry her cameraman boyfriend Daniel Moder on the Fourth of July at her 40-acre estate outside of Taos.

Those rumors came to fruition in the early morning hours of Independence Day.

"Julia Roberts and Daniel Moder married during a midnight ceremony before family and friends at their home in New Mexico," Roberts' publicist, Marcy Engelman, told The Associated Press about an hour after the ceremony.

Engelman declined to give any details about the couple's nuptials, the bride's attire or the guest list, saying, "This is all we're going to release at this time."

Thursday morning's ceremony marks Roberts' second trip down the aisle. She was married for 21 months to country and western singer Lyle Lovett.

Her love life has been tabloid fodder for years. She broke up with actor Benjamin Bratt last year after dating him for nearly four years. He went on to marry actress Talisa Soto in April.

Roberts broke up with Kiefer Sutherland in 1991 on the eve of their wedding. She also was linked to Jason Patric, Dylan McDermott, Matthew Perry and Liam Neeson.

A big white tent was seen on Roberts' estate Wednesday afternoon and the town was crowded with photographers and reporters, some of whom camped outside of the gate to Roberts' property.

The rumors heated up this week when The Daily Mail of London reported that 50 guests were being flown from Los Angeles to New Mexico for some sort of celebration at Roberts' estate. The paper said George Clooney, Roberts' co-star on "Ocean's 11," was to be among them and that invitees were to wear white linen.

The darkness of the cool New Mexico morning concealed the details of Roberts' wedding but provided a perfect backdrop for the midnight ceremony.

A pitch-black sky was dotted with millions of sparkling stars as music and laughter could be heard coming from Roberts' estate into the early morning hours.

Taos natives on Wednesday weren't saying too much about Roberts, whom they seem to have adopted as their own.

"She mixes very well with the community," said municipal Judge Erminio Martinez, a neighbor of Roberts' in Arroyo Seco, near the ski area north of town.

The judge calls her a "super, down-to-earth individual." He said he wasn't asked to perform a wedding, and county clerk Jeannette Rael said early Thursday that she had not been asked to issue a marriage license.

Elsewhere, the loyalty and protectiveness of the locals was clear Wednesday.

At one of the plant shops Roberts is reported to frequent, Dr. Dirt, the good doctor wanted no part of reporters. "Not interested," he said, not giving his name.

The lunch counter clerk was equally blunt at Abe's Cantina and Cocina.

When asked if Roberts was getting married, she replied, "No comment - she's a friend. She always has parties."

Mayor Fred Peralta said Taos is that rare place that respects people's privacy and welcomes them, "no matter who they are" with open arms.

"We treat them as family," Peralta said, mayor for eight years.

Celebrities come to Taos all the time and are treated just as regulars, he said, mentioning Elizabeth Taylor, Harrison Ford, Donald Rumsfeld, Dennis Hopper, and others.

"They're not here to change it," Peralta said. "Or to make it another Hollywood. ... It's love and respect for a community - if you love and respect your neighbor, it will be reciprocal."

He said of Roberts: "She doesn't put on airs. She doesn't become conspicuous. If she wants to be private about her wedding, or vocal, that's up to her."

Martinez remembers his first meeting with his neighbor about six years ago at Abe's. The judge said he had to admit he did not recognize her. She asked him if he had seen "Pretty Woman."

"She said, 'That's who I am,' " he said.

By Richard Benke