The couple tied the knot at a vineyard-lined villa in Tuscany earlier this month.
Top Gun: Maverick's Jay Ellis is married! Ellis and his longtime love, Nina Senicar, tied the knot in a dreamy wedding in Italy on July 9. Held in a vineyard-lined villa in the small town of San Casciano, the couple was surrounded by friends and family as they said "I do" under the Tuscan sun, with their 2-year-old daughter, Nora, serving as their flower girl.
In photos shared by Vogue, Ellis wore a Bordeaux-colored suit, while his bride was as gorgeous as ever in a strapless custom gown by Dolce & Gabbana. Guests were asked to wear earth tones for the ceremony, which took place at sunset.
While the wedding was absolutely stunning, it was Senicar who stole the show, with Ellis telling the outlet that he was "in awe" of his bride when he saw her in her dress for the firs time.
"There was a moment when I was standing there in front of everyone waiting for the giant wrought iron gates to open and to see Nina but the moment kept going and going. So I yelled out 'Baby, you coming?' There was another beat or two after where Nina didn’t answer, so I turned to the crowd and said 'I guess that’s a no, there’s a space up here if anybody wants to get married today,'" the Insecure star recounts. "And in perfect timing as everyone laughed Nina yelled out, ‘I’m coming, baby!’ Everyone laughed at us and then the gate opened and I was in awe when I saw Nina in her dress for the first time."
Senicar was just as dialed-in to her groom, telling Vogue that she didn't see anybody else but him.
"I was very emotional and tried really hard not to cry," says Senicar, who walked down the aisle with her father as "Thinkin Bout You" by Frank Ocean led the way. "Honestly, I didn’t see anybody else but Jay—I was so focused on his eyes and just being present."
Originally set for July 2020, the couple set their wedding back two years after the pandemic hit, with its impact felt particularly hard in Italy during the early months of that year.
"At the time, Italy was one of the hardest hit areas in the world, on a strict lockdown and closed to tourists," Ellis shares. "Like everyone else in the world, we weren’t sure how widespread it would be or how long any of it would last, so we had to cancel everything."
With Senicar adding, "As the world slowly started to open up in 2021, we had a family loss that caused us to be away from home for about eight or nine months which resulted in our having to change our plans again. And we finally landed on July 9, 2022."
Even with the setbacks, they knew they always wanted to get married in Italy and were determined to make it happen.
"We always knew we wanted to get married in Italy because going there was the first trip we ever took together," Senicar explains.
And it was worth the wait, with Ellis calling the intimate Italian affair "amazing."
"It was amazing. After everything that everyone has been through over the last few years to bring over 190 people together for three days in Tuscany and celebrate was surreal," Ellis gushes. "Seeing all of our friends from different parts of our lives together smiling and laughing, connecting, forming their own friendships was such a huge part of what we wanted out of the weekend and the celebration. We wanted to create moments and memories that would last the rest of our lives."
The couple met in 2015 at a bar in Los Angeles, after being introduced by a mutual friend. Ellis proposed to the actress and model in January 2019 during a trip to Bali. They welcomed their daughter 10 months later in November.
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