Tennis icon Venus Williams and her Italian partner, actor and model Andrea Preti, celebrated their marriage with a second ceremony in Florida over the weekend. This event followed their initial nuptials in Italy a few months prior.

The couple indulged in six days of opulent dinners and festivities in Palm Beach, Florida, surrounded by their nearest and dearest family and friends. Williams shared with Vogue that her sister Serena played a special role by gifting them a yacht, which became a unique venue for their wedding guests.

“Serena surprised us with a stunning yacht and took care of all the catering,” Williams revealed, describing how the romantic celebrations kicked off.

“We gathered 10 to 12 of our closest friends and family on the yacht, and spent our time singing, dancing, gossiping, and simply enjoying each other’s company,” she added.

Williams, now 45, and 37-year-old Preti decided on a second wedding ceremony due to the lengthy process of finalizing their September marriage in Italy, which can take up to eight months to be legally recognized.

They welcomed members of his family over to the United States just before Christmas and hosted dinners and pool parties leading up to the big day.

Venus Williams has married her Italian actor and model partner Andrea Preti in Florida 

The couple, pictured in New York earlier this year, had a wedding ceremony in Italy in Septemer

During the service itself, Williams recited her vows to Preti in both English and Italian before partying into the early hours of Saturday morning.

‘It was just the happiest, most beautiful, sweetest day,’ Venus said, while Preti added: ‘When I saw Venus, she was beautiful, like a goddess. I was crying and happy.’

Williams shared pictures from the big day on Instagram on Tuesday morning, with one picture appearing to show sister Serena singing with a backing band.

‘Guess what I did this weekend?’ she captioned one picture of her in her wedding dress, which she posted as a story. 

Williams and Preti met in 2024 at a fashion show in Milan that the tennis legend, who at the time had been single for six years, nearly skipped.

‘I was in Lake Como on a sisters’ trip when I got an invite at the last minute and decided to go on a whim, and Andrea was tired. Neither of us was planning on being there,’ she explained to Vogue.

After first meeting in Italy, they later had a breakfast date in London where Williams said: ‘I just knew I was going to marry him. People always say they just know, and I just knew.’

Williams first revealed that she and Preti were engaged back in July, after winning a comeback tennis match at the DC Open – 16 months after last playing competitively due to having fibroids removed from her uterus.

The couple first met at a fashion show in Milan in 2024 and have had two wedding ceremonies 

Speaking to Vogue, Venus said that her younger sister Serena gave her a yacht at her wedding

Speaking to the crowd afterwards, she said: ‘My fiancé is here and he really encouraged me to keep playing,’ she said to huge cheers and applause.

‘There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill. Do you know how hard it is to play tennis? You guys don’t know how much work goes into this, like it’s 9 to 5 except you’re running the whole time. 

‘Lifting weights and just like dying and then you repeat it the next day. So he encouraged me to get through this and it’s wonderful to be here. He’s never seen me play.’

Speculation first started that Preti had popped the question when Williams was seen practicing in Italy with a huge ring on her wedding finger in February.

Opening up about her health issues back in July at the DC Open, Williams said: ‘At the end of the day, it (tennis) doesn’t really matter if your health is not there. So, it definitely put it in perspective for me and maybe made it easier to make the decision to maybe come back out here and maybe play even freer.

‘Where I am at this year is so much different where I was at last year. It’s night and day, being able to be here and prepare for the tournament as opposed to preparing for surgery a year ago.’ 

While sister Serena has been married to Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian since 2017, Venus had stayed single for much of her sporting career.

But in October 2022, she admitted that she was ready to settle down with the right person.

‘I’ve had a single life for a long time and I think it’s really easy to get stuck in a single life and sometimes – at least for me – harder to get out,’ she told Gamour.

‘It makes you think about yourself and what you want and how to behave. When life changes, you’ve got to know when to change.’