Tennis icon Venus Williams has celebrated her marriage to Italian actor filmmaker Andrea Preti with a second, lavish wedding ceremony in Florida, several months after the couple officially tied the knot in Italy. The newlyweds marked the occasion with five days of elegant festivities in Palm Beach, Florida, surrounded by close friends and family. The celebrations featured a series of exclusive dinners and events, culminating in a romantic ceremony that reflected both of their cultures. Speaking to Vogue, Williams revealed that her sister Serena played a special role in the celebrations, gifting the couple a luxury yacht that hosted several of their wedding guests.

“Serena gave us this beautiful yacht and arranged all the food and everything,” Williams shared to Vogue, describing how the weeklong celebration began. During the ceremony itself, Williams exchanged vows with Preti in both English and Italian, a meaningful tribute to their shared lives and backgrounds. The festivities continued late into Saturday morning.

Reflecting on the day, Williams described it as “the happiest, most beautiful, sweetest day,” while Preti expressed his emotion upon seeing his bride. “When I saw Venus, she was beautiful, like a goddess. I was crying and happy,” he said.

Williams later shared moments from the celebration on Instagram, including images of herself in her wedding gown and a photograph that appeared to show Serena Williams performing with a live band. “Guess what I did this weekend?” she wrote in one post, followed by, “Yes, that’s right! We got married! It was and still is a dream!”

The couple’s love story began in 2024 at a fashion show in Milan—an event neither of them initially planned to attend. At the time, Williams had been single for six years and was on a trip to Lake Como with her sister when she received a last-minute invitation.

“I decided to go on a whim,” Williams told Vogue. “Andrea was tired, and neither of us was planning on being there.” Despite the circumstances, the meeting proved life-changing.

After their initial encounter in Italy, the pair reunited for breakfast in London. Williams recalled that moment as pivotal. “I just knew I was going to marry him. People always say they just know, and I just knew,” she said.

Williams publicly revealed their engagement in July after winning a comeback match at the DC Open, her first competitive appearance in 16 months following surgery to remove uterine fibroids. Addressing the crowd after the match, she credited Preti for encouraging her return to tennis.

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“My fiancé is here, and he really encouraged me to keep playing,” she said to enthusiastic applause. “There were so many times when I wanted to slow down, but tennis is demanding—physically and mentally. He helped me push through, and it’s wonderful to be here. He’s never even seen me play before.”

Speculation about the engagement had begun earlier in the year when Williams was spotted practicing in Italy wearing a large ring on her wedding finger.

Speaking candidly about her health journey, Williams reflected on how her perspective had shifted. “At the end of the day, tennis doesn’t matter if your health isn’t there,” she said. “It put everything into perspective and made it easier to come back and play more freely.”

Meanwhile, her sister Serena Williams has been married to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian since 2017, Venus spent much of her career single. In October 2022, however, she acknowledged that she was ready for the next chapter of her life.

“I’ve had a single life for a long time, and it’s easy to get comfortable in it,” she told Glamour. “But when life changes, you have to know when to change with it.”