And she didn’t stop at just one show-stopping look. After the ceremony, she appeared in two more designer creations: an elegant beaded gown for dinner and a playful feathered mini-dress paired with bedazzled Nikes, because of course, she needed to be ready to dance the night away.
Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian were engaged at the hotel where they first met
The love story for Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian began in 2015 at the Cavalieri Hotel in Rome. She was in town for the Italian Open, while he was speaking at a tech conference. When they both missed the hotel breakfast, they ended up at nearby tables by the pool.
Serena later told Vogue she was initially annoyed he sat so close when there were plenty of empty tables. Her assistant even tried to get him to leave by mentioning a rat nearby, but Ohanian wasn’t fazed. This led to Serena extending a casual “L.A. invite” to her next match in Paris, which he knew she didn’t expect him to accept. He went anyway, and the rest is history.
Eighteen months later, Ohanian brought everything full circle, proposing at the very same table where they first met, complete with flowers and a playful plastic rat. Their star-studded wedding was held at the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans on November 16, a date chosen to honor his late mother’s birthday.
The estimated 12-carat emerald-cut diamond he proposed with is valued at around $3 million. The ring is so fabulous that it made a cameo on their baby Olympia’s Instagram, with a caption cheekily stating, “Daddy knows how much I love leopard print.”
Williams walked down the aisle in the most expensive celebrity gown ever worn
On her big day, Serena’s spectacular Alexander McQueen ball gown featured a sweetheart bodice and a sparkling cape fit for a queen. She took a recommendation from her friend, Vogue’s Anna Wintour, who knew designer Sarah Burton was the perfect person to bring her vision to life. “I said, ‘A cape, I just want to wear a cape,’” Serena recalled.
“I flew to London to meet with Sarah and ended up falling in love with the ball gown silhouette, which is completely the opposite of what I ever thought I would choose for myself,” she told Vogue. Valued at $3.5 million, her bridal look was completed with a bouquet of white roses and jewelry by XIV Karats. “I felt like a princess and superwoman all at once,” Williams said.
Serena Williams wore two different dresses at the reception
For the reception dinner, Serena changed into a stunning white Versace gown, intricately adorned with beading and feathers. Donatella Versace revealed that it took five embroiderers a total of 1,500 hours to perfect the look.
When it was time to party, she switched into her third look of the night: another white Versace creation, this time a party dress with a short, feathered skirt. She famously paired it with sparkling Nike Cortez sneakers to enjoy a surprise performance by New Edition.
Her bridesmaids also got in on the fun with convertible dresses by Galia Lahav that allowed them to remove the long skirts and hit the dance floor in shorter, sparkling numbers. It was a night of pure style, celebration, and Black joy.
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Disclaimer:
For Education and discussion purposes. Please note no copyright infringement is intended, was recorded on BlkCosmo’s own equipment, and we do not own nor claim to own any of the original recordings used in this video and intend to use this as ‘fair use’.
