Sydney McLaughlin and Andre Levrone Jr. are married!
The Olympic track and field athlete and the former NFL star tied the knot in Madison, Virginia, on Friday, nine months after getting engaged in August 2021, PEOPLE can exclusively confirm.
"We've been waiting for this day for a very long time so just excited that it's finally here and we can say we're married," McLaughlin, 22, says.
The couple's ceremony and reception were held at Madison, Virginia's romantic and rustic Early Mountain Vineyards, as planned and designed by Amore Events Co.
McLaughlin wore a Pallas Couture dress, with a veil by Vera Wang and Jimmy Choo heels and accessorized with jewelry from Zales. Her bridal hairdo was created by Jess from Beyoutiful Bride, makeup look by Michele Eva, and nails perfected by Phil Tran.
The groom, 27, wore a suit by Brian Alexander with Salvatore Ferragamo shoes and a Tag Heuer watch.
During the ceremony, the couple exchanged wedding bands — his by Blue Nile, her's Tacori — under the guidance of Pastor Greg Hendricks. The emotional and romantic nuptials were accompanied by music from Chandler Moore & The Gospel Group.
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It was easy to settle on Virginia for the site of the most important day of their lives, the couple says: both grew up on the East coast, and Levrone Jr. calls Charlottesville, Virginia, his "second home" as a graduate of the University of Virginia.
"We figured we wanted to be close enough to family in the northeast but far enough south that the weather was nice," he explains. "It's a great spot."
The vineyard was made even more special with florals created by Sophie Felts Floral Design, and the venue was outfitted with decor rented from Emerson James, MS Events, Something Vintage, with the ceremony aisle and dance floor coming from Rent E Quip Rentals.
Even more important than the look of the ceremony, though, was the couple's ability to just be "present" during the day, they both say.
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"The day goes by so fast," says McLaughlin. "So I told our wedding planner, our videographer, our photographer, 'I just want everything to be at a place where we can truly just enjoy every moment' and I think the best wedding advice I received was that no wedding is perfect, there's always something that's going to go wrong, so making sure that you're truly in the moment and just enjoying it and taking it for what it is, because before you know it, it's over."
Echoes Levrone Jr., "With having the majority of all of our planning and whatever anxiety out of the way beforehand, as we stood at the altar and looked each other in the eye, we literally, like, held eternity in that moment."
It's been a long time coming for the sweet couple — McLaughlin (who won gold in the women's 400m hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics) says she knew Levrone Jr. was the one just days after meeting. For Levrone Jr., he was 100% sure by their third date.
He says his new wife is "down to earth, she's cool, she's not super materialistic. I was like, 'This is the type of woman I want to be with.' "
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Their friends and family see the connection — and were there Friday, by their sides. Several of McLaughlin's training partners and some fellow Olympians were present, while some Levrone Jr.'s former NFL buddies served as groomsmen.
Later on in the night on Friday, guests hit the dance floor to music by Zandi Entertainment and treated their sweet teeth with an impressive wedding cake by Maliha Creations. The whole affair was captured by photographer Nicole Ivanov, with videography by Film & Flourish.
Now, the couple is looking forward to growing together in marriage — and not being long-distance anymore ("Ultimately, just getting to wake up next to your best friend and tackle whatever challenges the day has is so exciting," says McLaughlin).
"I have a vision in life, she has a vision in life, and we just kind of merged our visions," says Levrone Jr. "And being able to just model that the two of us are partners and what I like to call 'co-laborers' in life. And in this season of life, me primarily supporting her and her dream and her calling, is fun for me. And just knowing how supportive she is of me as well and in the long term."
Also in the long term? An eventual honeymoon — the pair is waiting until after the track season and eying a getaway in September or October.
Says McLaughlin, "We're still figuring out where we want to go and what we want to do, but we're definitely not taking that off of the calendar at all."
