Stephanie Rice has taken her third set of bridal portraits in Rome after having two weddings in her hometown of Perth – travelling with her Alex Perry gown from the Maldives to Paris and Austria.
Last month, the 38-year-old former Olympic swimmer married pastor Mark Lassey after just ten months of dating.
The newlyweds have brought their wedding photographer along with them for the shoot, with Stephanie tagging Sydney-based photography studio Navarre in videos shared to social media on Tuesday.
‘Arrived in Rome,’ she captioned a video of her dragging her Alexander Perry bridal gown through the mud on the way to the famous Trevi Fountain.
In the video, Stephanie held up either side of the ‘Audrey’ gown as the streets of the ancient city stained the white satin hem.
‘Taking our wedding portraits today,’ she added over the clip.
Stephanie Rice has taken her third set of bridal portraits in Rome after having two weddings in her hometown of Perth
The former Olympic swimmer was seen dragging her white gown across the dirty pavements
Instead of wearing traditional white pumps for the photographs, Stephanie packed a more casual look for Rome.
She paired her gown with a set of pearl drop earrings and white Nike Airforce sneakers.
‘Forgot to bring my wedding shoes…or any heels in fact. So Airforces it is,’ she captioned a video of her pristine shoes hitting the rain-soaked pavement.
Mark meanwhile looked dapper in a cream suit with a white shirt worn partially unbuttoned.
‘We’re so blessed,’ the former Olympic swimmer told her husband as they posed in front of the 18th-century fountain. ‘You look so handsome.’
‘But my wedding dress is absolutely trashed!’
Stephanie’s strapless pleat wedding gown retails between $4,000 and $8,000.
Steph wore the dress last month, as she exchanged vows during a vineyard ceremony with the Aussie pastor.
‘My wedding dress is absolutely trashed,’ she laughed as the couple posed in front of the Trevi Fountain
Stephanie paired her gown with a set of pearl drop earrings and white Nike Airforce sneakers
Days later, the couple held a second wedding, with Steph changing into a $3500 halter neck ‘Goldie’ gown by Grace Loves Lace, which features a dramatic low back and draped neckline.
‘Because one night wasn’t enough. We had the most amazing night celebrating our marriage and farewell with our favourite people, on the most amazing rooftop, in this beautiful city, under the presence of God,’ she wrote in her Instagram caption.
‘Thank you to all our family and friends who flew from across the world to make these the most memorable days of our lives,’ the athlete continued.
‘And to all of our family who prayed, encouraged and honoured our love story. You all mean so much to us and made these two days so special.’
The fourth leg of the couple’s honeymoon in Rome comes as Steph shared how her friends and family feared she’d ‘joined a cult’ when she first expressed her strong interest in Christianity.
‘A lot of people thought I’d lost my mind or fallen under some cult or something and that’s fine,’ she told the Courier Mail.
Steph says that she rebuffs these concerns by asking, ‘Aren’t you happy for me that I’m in a good place?’
Mark is a pastor with Kingdom City in Perth and has been with the church for more than 10 years, while Steph joined more recently.
Stephanie and Mark held a second wedding in Perth in January because ‘one night wasn’t enough,’ with the athlete wearing a $3500 Grace Loves Lace dress the second time (right)
The athlete says she has thrown herself into religion ‘100 percent’ and that doing so ‘saved her’.
The couple met at the start of 2024 and got engaged in September after seven months of dating, and plan to start their married life in Dubai.
‘We would love to (have a family) if that’s something we’re able to do,’ she said.
‘Mark has three kids so if he didn’t want to have any more kids that would’ve been a really hard thing for me to weigh up because I’ve always wanted to be a mum.’
