Over the weekend, Simone Biles married Jonathan Owens in a civil ceremony in Houston. They posted pics of their special day to Instagram and a few days before that they had posted about getting their marriage license. But, getting the license and having the private, legal ceremony were just the beginning. Simone and Jonathan are planning a big, beachy destination wedding with all their family and friends. This sounds lavish and I love their for her.
Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens are married! On Saturday, April 22, Biles and Owens shared photos of their special day, taken by Rachel Taylor of Raetay Photography, on their respective Instagrams with sweet captions celebrating their first day as husband and wife.
“I do 🤍 officially owens 🤍,” Biles wrote alongside a carousel that features her in a white tiered wedding dress and Owens in a tan suit. The happy couple beam in their photos as they exchange their vows and share two kisses. The NFL player shared a similar set of photos on his own grid, which he captioned, “My person, forever ❤️💍.”
The photos reveal the couple had a legal ceremony at a courthouse but still have a big wedding to come where they’ll be surrounded by their friends and family. The couple — who first got together in 2020 — got engaged in February 2022, and they’ve been sharing their wedding planning process ever since. On April 15, Biles even shared that she and Owens had obtained their marriage license.
Then, on Sunday, April 23, Biles did a Q&A with her fans on her Instagram Story and answered some major questions about both her courthouse ceremony and the couple’s imminent beach destination wedding. The Olympic champion revealed that though she’s spent months planning her big wedding, she ordered everything for the courthouse “this week” — including her dress, shoes, wedding bands, and bouquet. “Not quite prepared for courthouse ceremony as I am for the big wedding,” she wrote. And the courthouse moment wasn’t without a hitch because her sister, Adria, showed up late.
Biles explained, “My sister showed up as soon as we finished courthouse ceremony. . . so she missed the entire thing. Granted it was quick but still.” She added, “Typical Adria,” with a laughing emoji.
Biles also teased what guests and fans alike can expect from her destination wedding. According to her, she’s wearing four dresses in total. “Kind of dramatic but you only have a wedding once,” she wrote, also sharing that the biggest expense for the event was the flowers. Biles said she and her husband are expecting roughly 135 to 140 guests and are “waiting on a few passports” still. A follower also asked about the total budget for the courthouse ceremony and wedding combined, and Biles wrote, “We went so over budget we’ve decided there is no longer a budget. You only live once.”
For their wedding, Owens has seven groomsmen, while Biles has eight bridesmaids. Biles also shared that they’re still planning on doing a full honeymoon separate from their wedding but haven’t picked a location yet.
In a 2022 interview with E! News, Biles revealed details about what her wedding guest list will look like. “We have some of my teammates that I’d be inviting. But other than that, it’s really close family, friends and people that have watched us grow throughout our relationship and will share that love on that day,” she said.
While answering a series of questions on her Instagram Stories in August 2022, Biles then said the most stressful thing about wedding planning has been “locking in the date and getting the venue, but once that happened, everything has been smooth sailing.” She added, “I know exactly what I want, I have a great wedding planner.” For Owens, it’s been putting the guest list together.
On the flip side, Biles has really enjoyed “seeing the vision come to life.” She says, “That for me has been the most exciting, and putting like, my dream wedding board together.”
Simone got on Instagram over the weekend after their legal wedding ceremony and answered a bunch of fan questions. This wedding sounds huge. They’ve having a big, 15-person wedding party and 135-140 guests. All their family and friends are going to be there, as well some of her teammates from gymnastics. They’re so over budget that there is no budget, and the biggest expense was the flowers. Simone is going to change dresses four times! I know someone who did three dresses at her wedding, so four doesn’t seem that much extra for an Olympian at her destination wedding. I hope we get a picture of each and every one of those dresses and we hear a lot about the food and cake. This wedding sounds amazing. So which international beach location are we guessing for Simone and Jonathan? The Caribbean? Mexico? Southern Europe? Costa Rica? Somewhere in the South Pacific? Her bachelorette was in Belize so I’m kind of expecting somewhere cool and not cliche.
Four dresses is obscene.
If you’re going by the “you should wear fewer dresses at your wedding than the number of Olympic medals you’ve won,” she’s all good.
Their wedding. Their day. Their money. I say Mazal tov and wish them a lifetime of happiness.
Exactly. I’ve been to a couple of weddings with 3 dresses and they’re regular people. Their wedding, their choice. .
Relax. It’s their day, and their money. Their vision of how the want to celebrate.
She’s fine let her enjoy her wedding as she wants.
Meh, my sister’s wedding was over four days, five (or more, I can’t remember now) outfit changes, and we’re not famous, just desi. To each their own, as long as they’re happy!
@Ang- SO many celebrities nowadays display levels of wealth and frivilousness that are nothing more than vulgar, ostentatious, and tacky.
But Simone Biles is not not one of them.
They are adorable! You only mentioned her teammates but I think he’ll have some of his teammates too. I can’t wait to see the dresses. The courthouse one was beautiful.
They seem very in sync and very much in love. I like that she had the confidence to slide into his DMs, not that I blame her one bit. Wish them and their dogs all the best.
While she is deservedly famous for her athletic accomplishments, knowing she was a foster kid and what she’s overcome is what I find endearing.
Good health and happiness to them both!
Hello from the UK, I’m very confused here and would love it if someone could explain to me – they are already married, right? So the destination wedding is… not actually a wedding and basically like acting out a wedding ceremony? Genuinely not trying to be snarky, not sure how these things work in the US!
They went to the court registry by themselves to get a US marriage certificate, this could be done before or after their planned overseas ceremony to celebrate with loved ones.
To ensure your marriage is legal in your home country, this is a very common way to do things, not just in the US- whatever your home country is, it’s unlikely you could have a wedding certificate from Italy that would be legal in your country. I’m not married but have been to a destination wedding, I don’t think the planned ceremony will feel less real.
People are already married (or make it official once they return) for many/most destination weddings and the ceremony and reception are for the family and friends.
I was curious too so I looked it up. Some countries will only do a marriage if you are a legal resident meaning you have to live there for a certain amount of time and meet other requirements. So this basically is a vow renewal and not a legal ceremony.
ETA: not a “vowel” renewal, it’s still early lol!
Simone has a Belize passport if iirc (Mom was born there), and I am guessing her wedding celebration will be there too. Maybe they didn’t want to deal with Jonathan’s potential immigration/citizenship issues with Belize?
That makes sense, thanks for explaining!
Basically, as an American, if you get married in another country it can be difficult to prove you are actually married. You may be asked for certified copies of your marriage license and some bureaucracy or company may decide that your overseas license doesn’t “count.” There is also the factor that if you ever get divorced, doing so as a non-resident of a far away country you once spent a weekend in can be expensive, difficult and sometimes impossible.
So the solution is to have a civil ceremony in the US and a religious (or personal) one elsewhere. Isn’t that how they do it in France and most of Europe?
I have no idea how they do it in France… in the UK you can get your marriage certificate at a church wedding, you can have either a civil or a religious ceremony and the end result is still the same. I guess you could also have both, and people obviously do 🙂 I’ve just read so many stories on here about people having 2+ weddings (Kravis etc) and was really confused because surely only the first one is the wedding and the others are basically play acting lmao!
Anyway, thanks for explaining! Avoiding overseas certificate faff sounds like a very sensible thing to do.
Yes re France, when my cousin got married we had the legal wedding Friday afternoon at the local town hall with family and a few frequents then the big religious wedding on Saturday in the church.
@El Eno
You do know it’s not a U.S. thing and that people in the UK do the same thing as well as people all over the world.
It’s just easier to get your Marriage license in the country you live in then go though the hassle of getting one overseas and that goes for what ever country you live in.
@El Eno: You do remember that Charles & Camilla did the same thing, don’t you? They had got married at a Registry Office before later doing the the church thing with guests. Why do you say it’s maybe a US thing?
I guess that slipped my mind – I know you can get your marriage certificate at a church wedding and never really paid much attention to Chuck and Cam’s nuptials!
What an all around wonderful human, her joy is always infectious. He’s a snack, my gawd.
However they want their wedding, their business. 👍
That guy has dimples to die for AND he looks like he worships the ground she walks on, Well on you Simone
Simone is adorable, as always. Him? What’s with the weird icky hair?
I don’t really understand the whole “multiple dresses” for weddings LOL. I can perhaps understand changing into something more simple for the reception, but so many weddings now have brides doing it. Hey, to each his own – but I guess I just don’t get it. I got married over 20 years ago and still love my wedding dress to this day.
It sounds awesome! 💗 My daughter had a destination wedding and I was not that excited about it initially (thinking of those who would not be able to attend).
It was the best week of my life! There were 40-50 of us and every day, every night was so fun! So much less stress than planning a regular wedding and reception would be.
Plus, we got to know the groom’s friends so much more than we would have otherwise. (I did have a big party with a band to celebrate back home which was the usual combination of stress and fun.)
I am so happy for Simone and I’m sure she will rock every one of those dresses!
This sounds like a fabulous party. I’m so happy for her. And yes! PICS PICS PICS please.
Beautiful couple! Wish them many years of love and happiness! 🍻 👏🏼 ❤
Congrats to Simone! From one gymnast to another! And you wear as many dresses as you want, Simone! It’s your day!
Also, her fiance/husband is a hottie! Look at those dimples! And those eyes! They will have GORGEOUS children!