Serena Williams’ Husband Gives Her Anniversary Gift after She Honored His Late Mom at Their Wedding

• Serena Williams shared with fans the romantic way her husband celebrated their 5th anniversary.

• Serena Williams chose November 16 — not by chance — to pay tribute to her husband, who lost a loved one.

Tennis star Serena Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian are celebrating a milestone in their life. The pair exchanged vows in 2017 in New Orleans, and it has been five years of pure marital bliss.

To celebrate the milestone, Ohanian made sure to shower his wife and the mother of his child with love. In a heartfelt series of photos on Instagram, Serena showed her fans the thoughtful way her husband had shown his love.

She took her fans through her home, showing how her husband had filled their house with flowers. The photos were taken from different angles and areas of the room, showing different arrangements of the ruby-red roses.

One shot showed a wooden console laden with round bouquets of beautiful flowers, with a heart arrangement in the middle. She captioned the shot with a “thank you” and then tagged her husband.

Some of the flower arrangements at Serena’s house to celebrate their 5th anniversary | Source: Instagram/Serena Williams

Other shots from the video showed up to seven more arrangements set all over the kitchen and living room, with Williams captioning the images with “another one.”

Serena Williams Chose the Date of the Wedding as a Tribute

William and Ohanian’s love is a story that began in May 2015 after the two met by chance while staying at the Cavalieri Hotel in Rome. Alexis sat at the table next to Williams during breakfast, and when a trick to make him leave did not work, she invited him to join her and her friends.

The rest, as they say, is history. Ohanian proposed to Williams in December 2016 at the same hotel they met at, and Williams said yes.

The following year, on November 16, 2017, Williams and Ohanian walked down the aisle in New Orleans in a French ball-themed wedding inspired by “Beauty and the Beast.”

And while the wedding date still holds sentimental value to the bride and groom, it is not only because it is the day they vowed to be part of each other’s lives.

They carefully chose their wedding day as a birthday tribute to Ohanian’s mom, who passed away nine years prior. Williams explained:

“It’s her birthday, and we wanted her to be represented at the wedding. Obviously, we wish that she could be here for this.”

How Serena Chose a $3.5M “Superwoman” Wedding Gown

Their 2017 wedding was dubbed “the wedding of the year,” a name earned fair and square as the now-retired Olympian stunned the attendees with the three beautiful wedding gowns she spotted for her big day.

For her first look, Williams wore a $3.5 million outfit that included a superwoman strapless ball gown paired with an embellished cape and jewelry. She shared:

“For the first dress, when Anna Wintour asked me what I wanted to wear, I said, ‘A cape, I just want to wear a cape.'”

When choosing the attire, Williams told her designer that all she wanted was to look like a princess and, at the same time, pull off the superwoman look.

For her second look, Williams wore a feathered and beaded Versace gown that Donatella Versace admitted had taken five embroiders 1500 hours nonstop to complete.

Finally, for the third look, she wore a short dress with a feathered skirt paired with sparkly heels as she took to the dancefloor with her new husband and danced along to “Tale as Old as Time.”

Hello! reports that Williams later opted for comfort, switching her cute heels for some comfortable bejeweled Nike trainers. The beautiful star-studded ceremony saw 200 people attend and reportedly cost $1 million.

Some famous attendees included Ciara, Kelly Rowland, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, Eva Longoria, Kima Kardashian, Jay Z, and Beyoncé, among many others.