Jenna Rink got magic wishing dust for her 13th birthday, but Jennifer Garner celebrated her 50th with a party so flashy she says it was basically a wedding, complete with live music and her whole family there to enjoy the festivities. “I basically had a wedding for myself,” she told Town & Country after ringing in her 50th birthday on April 17. “I was so shocked that I was doing it.”
“I basically had a wedding for myself.”
While the “Adam Project” star isn’t typically one to throw herself extravagant parties or make a big deal of her birthday, Garner’s 50th was an occasion worth remembering. Between dancing with her friends and family to “Rocky Top” by the Osborne Brothers on Easter weekend, the actor says she “put everyone to work,” asking each attendee to “fill 5,000 backpacks with enough food to feed a family of four.” Garner’s request was to support Blessings in a Backpack, an organization that provides food for school-age children who might otherwise go hungry. In 2015, Garner, who shares three kids with Ben Affleck, also cofounded a clean-baby-food company called Once Upon a Farm, which raised $52 million in funding earlier this year.
In March, a month before her birthday, Garner’s party plans were still up in the air. “My family has tickets to come out,” she told Extra at the time. “My parents and my sisters, nieces and nephews. I don’t know what we’ll do, but I can’t wait.” Much like setting the guest list for a wedding, even though the celebration was initially meant to be a small family gathering, Garner couldn’t help herself from inviting all of her friends and family, making the event all the more spectacular.
On April 15, Garner got another birthday surprise when Donny Osmond invited her to sing with him. “He took an hour and a half of his day to sit with me, sing my favorites, and to give me a master class on how to be a class act,” she captioned a video of the moment on Instagram. “Thank you, Donny.”
