No one can deny that the tennis champ and the Reddit co-founder had an amazing year. From celebrating their engagement and welcoming a baby girl to tying the knot in style, the couple had a 2017 to remember.
Right after Christmas and just days before the ball dropped to ring in a new year, Serena had a new ring of her own because Alexis popped the question! The tennis champ announced that she said yes on Reddit to the websites co-founder.
@SERENAWILLIAMS/INSTAGRAMSerena Williams solidified her status as one of the greatest athletes in all the world by winning her 23rd Grand Slam at the Austalian Open against her sister Venus. Little did the public know, the tennis champ was pregnant at the time which just makes her super hero status undeniable!
GETTY IMAGESThe tennis champ announed that she was adding another title to her illustrious resume–she’s a mama-to-be!
Serena shared a photo of her growing baby bump on Snapchat at the 20 week mark of her pregnancy and the best part is, she did it completely by accident!
The star told Gayle King later in the month that while she is the queen of the court she isn’t the queen of tech just yet.
“Well, actually it was an accident. I was on vacation just taking some time for myself and I have this thing where I’ve been checking my status and taking pictures every week to see how far along I’m going,”she said. “I didn’t tell a lot of people to be quite honest and I’d been saving it. On social media, you press the wrong button and… Thirty minutes later I missed four calls and I’m like, ‘That’s weird.’ But it was a good moment. I was only going to wait five or six more days [to share].”
A few weeks after confirming her pregnancy, the 36-year-old penned a beautiful letter to her unborn baby.
For the first time, Serena and Alexis stepped out in the public eye since announcing their engagement–and her pregnancy–at the Met Gala. Basking in her love and her pregnancy glow on the red carpet, the couple was certainly a beautiful sight to see. With her baby bump adorned in an emerald Versace gown and dripping in jewels, the Williams looked like a true goddess and Ohanian didn’t look too shabby either!
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Prepping to walk down the aisle, Serena headed off to Miami with her family and friends to have a bridal shower weekend extravaganza. With yoga, spa treatments and lounging by the pool on the itinerary, the girls trip was said to have been full of relaxation and fun for the bride and mom to be.
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As Serena took our breath away on the cover on Vanity Fair, we certainly cried happy tears as she and Alexis retold their love story with the magazine. We learned eight super cute things about their relationship including that they met in May 2015 in Rome at the Cavalieri Hotel. The two had their first real date in Paris and lasted for six hours, involved going to the zoo and eating candies. To make their love story even more of a fairy tale, Alexis and Serena returned to the site of where they first met, at the pool of the Cavaliere and he popped the question! Perhaps the cutest part of their story, Serena took six–yes six–pregnancy tests before she believed that she was actually pregnant. Whe she told Alexis, he was just as surprised as she was!
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Serena Williams was ready to shake, rattle and roll at her 50’s themed baby shower! With friends like Ciara, La La Anthony, Kelly Rowland and more, the star and her girls rocked vintage costumes and hairdos complete with props from the era.
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To bring in the fall, Serena gave birth to a beautiful baby girl! The world class athlete and her fiancé welcomed their first child together —during the week of the US Open— named Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. The bundle of joy weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces. Serena shared the sweetest video as she welcomed a little one into the world with behind the scenes moments from her pregancy and her birthing process. Later in the month as she adjusted to motherhood, the star penned a thank you letter to her own mom to express her appreciation for being a wonderful example. So sweet!
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Right before the Thanksgiving holiday, Serena and Alexis had a lot to be thankful for–they were officially husband and wife! The two tied the knot in New Orleans in front of an intimate group of family and friends including Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Ciara, La La Anthony. The ceremony included a Beauty and the Beast theme, tennis-inspired trophies as wedding favors and a traditional brass band that captured the spirit of the Big Easy. Members of New Edition —Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ronnie DeVoe, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant— also performed for the wedding. Guests enjoyed musical performances, an outdoor cocktail reception, a custom-built carousel and doughnuts from local favorite District Donuts. Now that’s a wedding!
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