Venus Williams and Andrea Preti are married

Venus Williams married Andrea Preti in Italy and Florida after 'paperwork' issues required a second ceremony. Photo / Getty Images

Venus Williams has married Andrea Preti.

The 45-year-old tennis player has officially tied the knot with the Italian actor-producer following two separate ceremonies in Italy and Florida.

The pair’s first wedding took place in Italy in September but “paperwork” issues led to them having a second ceremony in the US earlier this month that featured a full week of festivities.

Williams told Vogue: “We had this dream to do our wedding in Italy, but we didn’t have enough time to do the paperwork – because I’m a foreigner, it can take about eight months. So we decided to have a second wedding.”

The seven-time Grand Slam champion detailed how her younger sister and fellow tennis great, Serena Williams, gifted the couple a yacht.

Venus Williams said: “They always say weddings go so fast, and they do.

“We started on Monday. Serena gave us this gift of a beautiful yacht, and she arranged all the food, everything. We had 10 to 12 of our closest family and friends who were in town on the boat, and we were singing, dancing, gossiping, and just enjoying each other.”

The rest of the week continued with more wedding celebrations – including a sports day that was filled with games of volleyball, tennis and dodgeball.

Williams said: “I didn’t want to be the team captain – I just wanted to be on the team with my husband.”

Proceedings came to an end on the Friday morning as the pair married in a courthouse wedding in Palm Beach at 6.45am – a time chosen so the pair and their guests could have the area to themselves.

Williams said: “I can’t believe how beautiful, calm, sacred, exciting, and exalting it was. It was just a dream.”

Preti added: “For me, the courthouse ceremony was very unique, emotional and deep. It was the second-best day of my life.”

The 37-year-old actor explained that the couple’s Italian wedding was the best day of his life.

Preti also revealed how he was touched when Williams arrived at the ceremony to the song Ovunque Sarai by Irama – which is of huge personal significance to him.

He said: “The song is very special to me.

“It reminds me of my grandma, who passed during Covid. When V and I were dating, I asked her to listen to this song and told her how it was important to me. I never expected she would use this song.

“When it played, I started to cry like a little kid. My family couldn’t understand why I was crying so much, but my mum, she knew. ‘It’s a song for Nonna’, she told my father.”

Andrea added: “When I saw Venus, she was beautiful, like a goddess. I was crying and happy. I know my grandmother was there, looking down at us.”