Jillian MichaelsandDeShanna Marie Michaelssaid “I do" for a third time!
The fitness trainer, 49, and her fashion designer wife tied the knot at the Aman hotel, one of eight monumental palazzos on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy on June 24.
The epic three-day celebration kicked off on Friday with a chic sunset welcome dinner at the Belmond Cipriani, where the brides, both wearing Dolce and Gabbana, dined with friends and family against a stunning view of the romantic city.
Jillian Michaels and DeShanna Marie Minuto at their wedding at the Aman hotel in Venice, Italy on June 24, 2023.Elina Upmane
Elina Upmane
The wedding weekend extravaganza culminated on Saturday night, when Jillian and DeShanna, 38, walked down the aisle hand in hand and exchanged personal vows in front of 50 guests. During the intimate ceremony, Jillian, who got emotional while reading her vows, “I didn’t think I was going to cry!” she said, surprised DeShanna with a stunning 7 carat emerald wedding ring with diamond baguettes.
“She’s beautiful, she’s funny and she’s so creative, Jillian tells PEOPLE. “But all that shiny stuff in the beginning doesn’t last. So what makes you say to yourself, ‘I want to walk alongside this human for the rest of my life.’ And I take that really seriously. I’m 49. I’ve never married anyone. I just didn’t believe that there was a human I could do that with until DeShanna."
Jillian continues: “What made me believe it, and her more than anything, is truly what we’ve been through and the quality of her character, her strength, her empathy and her intelligence.”
DeShanna Marie Minuto at her wedding to JIllian Michaels at the Aman hotel in Venice, Italy on June 24, 2023.Elina Upmane
Guests then sat down in the Baroque-style palace for a candlelit dinner of tuna tartare, paccheri cacio e pepe and fillet with courgettes cream and a saffron and Amarone reduction. Decor featured custom made table linens, dark and blush garden roses, glass candelabras and delicate handmade Murano glass flowers.
“DeShanna comes from a very big Italian family and it’s her favorite country in the world,” says Jillian of their destination wedding. “She planned the entire thing.”
An acrobat performs at Chiesetta della Misericordia in Venice, Italy on June 24.Elina Upmane
They married first on July 11, 2022 at a Miami courthouse with a small group and friends and family including Jillian’s two children Lukensia, 13, and Phoenix, 10, before traveling to Namibia for an intimate ceremony later that year.
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“She really is my best friend and my rock,” says DeShanna who first met Michaels on Raya, a members-only dating app. “She has this insatiable desire to learn and that’s really been such an amazing thing for me and for us as a couple just to grow together.”
The Aman hotel in Venice, Italy, one of the city’s eight monumental palazzos on the Grand Canal.Elina Upmane
The day after the wedding celebration, guests enjoyed a farewell garden brunch at the renowned Locanda Cipriani on the island of Torcello.
Ahead of their big day, DeShanna told PEOPLE that she and Jillian were looking forward to “having people on both sides that have meant a lot to us throughout the years come together and celebrate in one place.”
Adds Jillian: It’s a dream come true. It’s us two against the world. No matter what, we have each other, we have each other’s backs.”
source: people.com
