For some mysterious – for many even incomprehensible reason – celebrity weddings tend to exert an irresistible attraction on the public, rather awakening their most humble and insatiable scandal-mongering instincts. Just a few weeks ago, the tender wedding of Anand Ambani, the son of Indian tycoon and Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, became headline news of all stripes and all kinds of media – from tabloids to historical headlines – due to the almost its unearthly opulence, the multi-day celebrations and of course the mighty guests who traveled all the way to western India to wish the newlyweds.
There are weddings that have become historical milestones, such as that of the then Prince Charles and Diana in 1981 – her wedding dress with its famous 7.5 meter tail even has its own Wikipedia entry – or Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier C' of Monaco, in 1956, weddings that made headlines for the right reasons, like that of George Clooney with Amal Alamuddin, in 2014, or for the wrong, like that of Despina Vandi with Demi Nicolaidis.
The exchange of vows – not so eternal – love between the “Beckhams of the southern Balkans” was monumental due to the strict security measures and absolute privacy imposed by the newlyweds, enlisting around 80 security men, a number that is equal to that of their guests.
Kostas or Giannis?
It seems that Giannis Antetokounmpo has decided to follow the same path of absolute secrecy, who in the next three days( August 30 – September 1) is about to make his relationship with his fiancee Mariah Riddlespriger official. Speculation regarding the Milwaukee Bucks superstar's marriage to the veteran volleyball player began to heat up on the penultimate day of 2023. On December 30, the 31-year-old Californian posted an Instagram story that almost betrayed her wedding preparations, which she had put in place well in advance. . In the post, which disappeared hours after it was published, four hands could be seen clinking champagne glasses against an armada of wedding dresses. It was obvious that it was a snapshot of a wedding dress rehearsal. Most likely hers.
Over the weeks the rumor regarding the ceremony turned into certainty, while information began to leak in the Greek and American media about it being held in Greece, specifically in Costa Navarino, where in 2021 Giannis Antetokounmpo bought two luxury villas. And while the paparazzi were polishing the telephoto lenses of their machines and making strategic plans for their landing in Pylos, on June 29, the 29-year-old Greek Freak made the coup.
On the sidelines of an event in Athens that he attended, Antetokounmpo was quite reasonably asked by reporters about his impending marriage, giving an answer that would confuse even the one known for the elusive oracles of Pythia: “Who is getting married? Was I invited to the wedding? I don't know. Why is it news that I'm getting married? I can't understand it.” Afterwards, he hastened to clarify that the wedding rumors did not concern him but his 26-year-old brother Kostas and his beloved Demi Filippakou.
The truth is that Antetokounmpo was at least initially believed. However, his bluff had short legs. As we approach the end of August, the assumption that his own wedding will take place in Costa Navarino is transformed into a certainty. Besides, as Giorgos Papadogambros had stated a few days before the “Greek Freak” clouded the waters, Giannis had already started rehearsals for his wedding suit.
In fact, the experienced – the grooms he has sewn add up to more than 4,000 – and beloved by domestic and international star tailors – Sakis Rouvas, Giorgos Printezis and Djibril Cisse have trusted him from time to time -, had revealed to his statements that he had undertaken the costumes of both his brothers Giannis, Thanasis, Kostas and Alex, as well as some guests who will travel from the USA to Messinia for the happy event. Last week, the Antetokounmpo brothers confirmed the upcoming wedding in an even more indirect way, after they were seen together in Mykonos for a short vacation that resembled a bachelor party.
< /p>Last week, the Antetokounmpo brothers confirmed the upcoming wedding in yet another indirect way, after they were spotted in a crowd in Mykonos for a short vacation that resembled a bachelor party
Three days, one ceremony, 30 VVIPs
Why, then, while the world has a drumbeat, the popular and influential on and off the court Giannis wanted to finally keep his marriage a secret pride? One version says that he wished to live the so-called happiest day of his life surrounded by people from his close circle, away from the indiscretion and too much relevance of the world. Let's not forget, after all, that in a world that lives, rotates and is constantly available and pierced through social media, privacy has taken on the dimensions of a holy grail – especially for the celebrity community.
Yiannis with his little daughter Eva
After nearly a decade of dating and three children, 4-year-old Liam, 3-year-old Maverick and 11-month-old Eva, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Mariah Riddlespriger will exchange vows of eternal faith and love before God and man on August 31. Or almost so. According to reliable information, it will not be a religious wedding – the “Greek Freak” is Orthodox and his beloved belongs to the Catholic faith -, nor a political one, but a hybrid ceremony in which the two partners will commit to spend the rest of their lives together and which will take place on the afternoon of August 31st on the beach of the “W” hotel in Costa Navarino. The point in question was far from being chosen by chance, since it fulfills the inviolable condition set by the newlyweds, i.e. not to make their wedding public in the media and social media. At least without their consent.
The beach of “W Costa Navarino”, where the parties for the wedding of “Greek Freak” will take place
The question is, of course, how they will rein in their 200 guests and ensure that none of them open a crack at the wedding of the year through social networks. In this direction, guests are prohibited from having mobile phones as well as being accompanied by children. For commemorative photos from the event and with the “newlyweds” couple, there will be photographers selected by Giannis and Maria.
Among the guests, most of whom will arrive from Greece and the USA on private flights to Kalamata airport and it is understood that they will also have at their disposal the resort's helicopter transport service, there are also 30 VVIPs. The superlative term (see Very Very Important Person) is not used abusively or to create impressions, since the sparingly leaked information suggests that an invitation to the three-day wedding celebration has been received and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his wife Mareva intend to respond , the NBA legend LeBron James, who is close friends with the “Greek Freak”, Serena Williams, Kylian Mbappe was also heard, but his obligations run to Real Madrid, the players and the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and of course the group chairman Peter Fagin.
The most distinguished of guests will stay in the W Hotel Suites, which also offer the ever-welcome personal butler service, as well as the most luxurious Mandarin Hotel, some will enjoy just one night in the Messinian land, while others are expected to combine the invitation to the wedding with a few days' vacation in our country.
To the health of Maria
The triptych of celebrations will begin to unfold next Friday afternoon with a welcome party at the 'Between' bar – the dress code is said to be strictly white – which is also in the safe haven of the 'W' hotel and will continue the next day with another one, this time with Nigerian reports. The highlight will of course be the wedding ceremony that will take place on the third day. How much importance is attached to the hospitality of their guests and how much attention to detail the newlyweds bear witness to the fact that they themselves spent five days on the Costa Navarino tirelessly trying more than 200 dishes, to choose the ideal ones for both the wedding dinner and the two party-harbingers of the happy event.
The menu the couple has come up with will have a rather wide range of references – from refined, elevated versions of the old-fashioned (for Americans) burger to sophisticated modern Greek gastronomy. Giannis Antetokounmpo's decision to launch the first wine as a result of his partnership through the investment company Ante Inc. must also be considered a given. with Hellenic Wineries, in which it holds a 10% stake from 2022. It is a rosé label that will bear the name of Maria Riddlespriger and, in addition to the conventional 750 ml bottle, will also be released on the market in a magnum version. Wedding guests will be the first to taste the first vintage of Greek Freak.
One cannot fail to notice the imaginative way that Giannis Antetokounmpo chose to once again express his love for her who seems to embody the woman of his life to the absolute degree. Although neither of them has spoken about how and under what circumstances they first met and got to know each other, the prevailing scenario says that they first came into contact in 2014. At the time, Giannis was spending his maiden season in Milwaukee Bucks while Mariah, as a graduate of the Sports Management department of Rice University in Houston, did her internship in the American basketball league.
Coming from a sports family, as her father Pat was a basketball player, Riddlespriger and the same in sports and indeed with claims. She was an avid volleyball player, as were her two sisters Makayla and Maya, and even managed to be named MVP of the College Championship her senior year.
The wine, however, with her name and surname is not the first and it will certainly not be the last act of snobbery by Giannis towards her. In the book “Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP” by journalist Mirin Funder released in 2021, a narrative has been included regarding the odyssey of a surprise NBA superstar to his beloved. In 2018, Antetokounmpo wanted to give Mariah a doodle dog, which she adored.
John located the only breeder in the State of Wisconsin, but his busy sporting commitments made it impossible for him to make an eight-hour trip the same day to acquire him. With the help of Bucks management, he assigned the task to an apprentice team employee. After toil, suffering and many hours of driving across the vast State, after the mediator lost his way several times, the puppy finally arrived on time at the Bucks stadium. After his match, Giannis offered the young dog to Maria, they named her Mila and made her famous enough to have her own Instagram account.
Mariah was a terrible volleyball player
The rock of the “Greek Freak”
Riddlespriger, in turn, often expresses through social networks the blessing of being the symbiosis, the mother of the children and the fiancee from 2023 – they announced it on the sidelines of a press conference last fall – of Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, she claims for herself more than just the role of the superstar's wife.
She may have declared that there is nothing she would like more than to further expand her family with Giannis, but the 31-year-old American is still active professionally and herself having launched the casual clothing brand “Sincerely, Mariah” – it was an idea which was born in her mind during the pandemic, when she had begun to lose faith in herself and was looking for a way to reverse the negative thoughts that overwhelmed her – but also by actively participating in the activities of the “Charles Antetokounmpo” charity foundation, which family created in memory of its late patriarch.
Mariah is considered by many to be the rock that supported Giannis Antetokounmpo after the untimely death of his father in September 2017. In her interviews, she has not hidden the deep thoughts she had then that the loss of Charles had such a decisive influence on psychology of Giannis so that he could act as a rampart in his frenzied racing career. The couple, however, learned to overcome difficulties together and to live in the same way each defining moment, such as the births of their children, in which Giannis was present and cried non-stop, although he is not one of the types to let his feelings go to pay them.
Mariah was also the reason that the “Greek Freak” revised a very solid, almost compulsive pattern of life. Before he met her, his daily life moved exclusively between the house and the field. She showed him that there are other, small and big joys in life besides those defined by the basketball court. The least he could do in turn to repay her was a wedding in Greece, the country where she had dreamed of traveling since she was a child. He didn't think he would ever make it, but Antetokounmpo was here to upend the odds once again. His old art.
