Teresa Giudice and Luis Ruelas Celebrate One Year of Marriage! A Look Back at Their Over-the-Top Wedding (2024)

Teresa Giudice and Luis “Louie” Ruelas are celebrating one year of marriage!

Sunday marked the couple’s first wedding anniversary since Giudice, 51, and Ruelas, 48, tied the knot in front of 220 guests at the Park Chateau Estate & Gardens in East Brunswick, New Jersey, on Aug. 6, 2022.

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star’s wedding was one for the books. The event was even filmed for a special that aired on Bravo in May titled Teresa Gets Married, as PEOPLE previously reported.

On her wedding day, Giudice donned a custom Mark Zunino Atelier blush mermaid gown that featured more than 300 yards of hand-draped English netting. The train was more than 100 inches long, covered in crystal and pearl details, with long white beaded evening gloves to match. Her veil was embroidered with three hearts and the words sempre insieme, which mean "always together" in Italian. She paired the gown with white lace gloves and a diamond crown.

The bride’s wedding glam included day-to-night makeup looks, plus a headline-grabbing hairstyle that included $7,000 worth of extensions and 1,500 bobby pins.

The reality star walked down the aisle to violin players and "Ave Maria," a song chosen to honor her late parents. She told PEOPLE exclusively of the moment, “My favorite memory is when the doors opened and I began my walk down the aisle to 'Ave Maria. It was so magical and so surreal."

Giudice’s four daughters — Gia, 22, Gabriella, 19, Milania, 17, and Audriana, 13, whom she shares with ex-husband Joe Giudice — joined the couple in the lighting of the ceremony's unity candle, which was officiated by Ruelas' sister, Dr. Veronica Ruelas. Ruelas’ sons, David and Nicholas, from a previous relationship were also in attendance.

Guests at the black tie affair included Giudice's RHONJ costars Jennifer Aydin, Dolores Catania, Margaret Josephs and Jackie Goldschneider, plus Real Housewives of Dubai breakout Chanel Ayan, Real Housewives of Miami's Alexia Nepola, Real Housewives of Potomac star Ashley Darby, Real Housewives of New York City alums Dorinda Medley and Jill Zarin, and past and present Real Housewives of Atlanta stars Kenya Moore, Phaedra Parks and Cynthia Bailey.

Giudice's brother, Joe Gorga, and sister-in-law, Melissa Gorga, were excluded from the nuptials shortly before the wedding. At the time, a source told PEOPLE that "Teresa betrayed them in a way that's unforgivable" and they were "not going to celebrate Teresa's new marriage when all she does is try to tear apart theirs," referencing how Teresa played a part in spreading rumors that Melissa, 44, cheated on Joe, 43. (Melissa vehemently denied the "baseless" allegation at the time.)

After the couple said “I do,” the pair had their first dance to Ruelle’s “I Get To “Love You” with smoke covering the floor as they twirled around. The couple and their guests danced alongside a wedding band, and at one point a group of professional dancers performed a choreographed number to "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack.

"We did have a lot of entertainment," Giudice told PEOPLE ahead of the premiere of her wedding special in May. "That's the thing. This time around, our wedding, everything we did was for us. I didn't think about everybody else."

As for the décor, the affair featured gold accents, white linens and lush floral arrangements, including two oversized hearts made of white flowers and tall, cascading centerpieces.

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Guests were treated to a multi-course menu that included “the biggest cowboy steaks” Zarin, 59, had ever seen, as well as Shake Shack and both a pizza and candy truck.

"Seeing the people that I love, my friends and family, many of whom were crying and each step getting closer to the altar, seeing the smiles and tears on my girls faces and the smiles on Louie's sons faces and then standing there face to face with the love of my life, the man I am going to spend the rest of my life with, this is my favorite memory from my wedding," Giudice told PEOPLE.