Jillian Michaels & DeShanna Marie Minuto got married in a 3 day celebration in Italy
I feel like Jillian Michaels was at one point a big promoter of diet culture, given that she was a trainer on that show The Biggest Loser. I avoided that show when it aired as I’ve always thought the entire setup was pretty cruel. In recent years Jillian has said some remarkably reasonable things about Ozempic and keto diets, so I have softened towards her a bit. I’m grateful someone in the “wellness” space will defend carbs these days. Jillian just got married to DeShanna Marie Minuto, a designer, at an opulent ceremony at the Aman hotel in Venice. They’ve been together since 2018 and got engaged in 2021. This is technically the third time they’re getting married. They had a courthouse wedding in Miami last year, followed by another private ceremony in Namibia. I think this is their big “party” wedding with all their friends and extended family. People has the photos and details about the wedding weekend. The food sounds extremely fancy.
Their welcome dinner sounds delicious: Guests arrived by mahogany Venetian boats where they were greeted with champagne before a three-course dinner of tomato steak salad with samphire and pumpkin seed sauce, ricotta and spinach mezzelune with aged parmesan, plus scallops with a pistachio sauce and potato puree.
Jillian didn’t believe in marriage before DeShanna: “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.”
Zuhair Murad designed both of their wedding dresses: During the ceremony, which was planned with the help of Design Anarchy Studio, DeShanna wore a boat neck mermaid Zuhair Murad gown adorned with cascades of asymmetrical handmade beadwork with a faille overskirt and bow detailing. The dress took over a year to create. Jillian also opted for a black dress with sheer sleeves and beaded applique by the same designer.
The wedding dinner sounds even better: 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. Following dinner, guests took boats to Chiesetta della Misericordia, a historic church that was converted into custom nightclub for the masquerade after party, where dancing went on late into the night and acrobats performed on a disco ball.
I like how Jillian wore black and DeShanna wore white. Seeing the way that queer couples interpret wedding style is one of my favorite things because it’s so unique to each couple. The white dress comes across a little bit overdesigned to me but the silhouette is beautiful. Jillian and DeShanna look gorgeous. And yes, I am fixated on the descriptions of the food. But you know, food at weddings is usually a little bit bland, and everything sounds amazing. Saffron and Amarone reduction? Sign me up for whatever that is! I suppose you’d expect as much if your wedding is in Italy, right?
One of these days I’d like to go back to Venice and stay in one of the nicer hotels. The last time I was in Venice I stayed at a youth hostel. On the very first night there, I saw a bed bug crawl across my pillow and I “noped” out hard. Only Edward Cullen is authorized to make a blood meal out of me, my friends. I slept outside on the stone balcony and the sofa in the common room. When we got back to London, where I was studying at the time, I went straight to the laundromat and washed everything in hot water for two cycles. Then I threw my suitcase in a dumpster, because bedbugs can hide in the linings of a suitcase. My friends teased me for being dramatic. But bedbugs are almost impossible to get rid of, so being paranoid is not unreasonable! Needless to say I’d love to experience Venice the right way, sans bedbugs, because it is so beautiful. I won’t have the budget Jillian and DeShanna have, but it’s nice to dream.
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