The couple complain the day would have been spoiled

"Due to the excessive media attention surrounding our wedding, we have decided to postpone the date," they said in a joint statement.

"When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate 'decoy brides' at three different locations, we realised that something was awry," the statement added.

The wedding will be the third for Lopez, 33, and the first for Affleck, 31, who met while making the film Gigli, which was panned by critics and bombed at the box office.

Secret plans

The pair had tried to keep the precise location of their wedding secret, but following a series of leaks the media had pinpointed a private estate in the Santa Barbara hills, just north of Los Angeles as the place.

As a result, the seaside town has been deluged with reporters and TV crews all keen to get a slice of the action.

We began to feel that the spirit of what should have been the happiest day of our lives could be compromised Lopez-Affleck statement Hollywood's wedding battles

Sources close to the couple insist that they remain as close as ever and the nuptials have merely been postponed - not cancelled altogether.

"We began to feel that the spirit of what should have been the happiest day of our lives could be compromised. We felt what should have been a joyful and sacred day could be spoiled for us, our families and our friends," the couple's statement said.

False trail?

There has been some speculation that the statement may itself be part of a ruse designed to throw the media off the scent - a charge Lopez's spokesman denies:

"I don't see that as even remotely possible," Dan Klores told the Reuters news agency, adding that guests - believed to number some 400 - were being called to tell them the wedding was off.

According to various media reports the guests were all invited over the telephone rather than in writing, and not given specific details until the last minute in an effort to keep the event secret.

The guests, including Matt Damon, Matthew Perry, Bruce Willis and Jack Nicholson, were only told to be in Los Angeles on Saturday and that they would be shuttled to the wedding from there.

There has been intense media speculation over the actual venue for ceremony.

However, it seems that the cat may have finally been let out of the bag when a woman informant claimed that the wedding would be held in the luxurious Biltmore Hotel.

The woman said that her own daughter was getting married at the hotel on the same day and that her wedding party had been told it would be necessary for their guest to carry their invitations at all times to avoid being mistaken for gatecrashers at the Lopez-Affleck wedding.