Crystal Hefner got married with a piece of jewelry that is near and dear to her own heart.
Hefner, 39, tied the knot with husband James Ward on April 2, and exclusively opened up to Us Weekly about her wedding band, which honored her late father, Ray Harris. “My wedding band was my late father’s ring, who I miss so much, that he wore on his pinky,” Crystal, who was previously married to the late Hugh Hefner, said.
She added that the “simple gold band” matches Ward’s wedding ring. “James has Hawaiian flowers and leaves etched in the inside of his ring to represent our life together and where we met,” she noted.
As for her dress, Crystal told Us that her plunging lace gown was exactly what she dreamed of wearing on her big day. “I wanted a beautiful, dramatic white wedding dress and OKSANA MUKAH delivered,” she shared, noting it was complete with 5,400 crystals and a “beautiful” train. “The dress was stunning against the sandbar and island backdrop,” Crystal added. “I truly felt just so happy in it. It fit perfectly.”
Crystal and Ward, 42, exchanged their vows during a romantic ceremony in Aitutaki, a small island in the South Pacific’s Cook Islands. “The wedding was simple and beautiful,” Crystal told Us. “We had a talented band who sang some local songs mixed with American songs. They also happened to sing a song my dad used to sing so we definitely felt he was there with us.”
She added that “everyone went above and beyond” to create a special day for her and Ward, who even “organized a private beautiful dinner after the wedding.”
In April 2025, Ward got down on one knee and popped the question to Crystal in Hawaii. He proposed to the former Playboy model with a six-carat, vintage mine-cut diamond set on a thin band, Us exclusively reported at the time.
The following month, Crystal opened up to Us about her “full circle” engagement. “It was the exact spot where we’d had a quiet picnic together a year ago — a place that became ‘ours,’” she said. “I had no idea he was secretly turning it into something permanent and symbolic. I thought we were just going for a walk, but when I saw the flowers, the handwritten notes, and the sea stretching endlessly in front of us, I knew something extraordinary was about to happen.”
Crystal was married to Hefner from 2012 until his death in 2017. Last year, she petitioned to change her name from “Crystal Margaret Hefner” back to her maiden name, “Crystal Margaret Harris.”
