Maria Menounos is feeling major gratitude toward her parents following her glamorous wedding in Akovos, Greece.
The TV personality, who remarried Keven Undergaro on Saturday after initially saying “I do” in an impromptu New Year’s Eve ceremony last year, paid tribute to her parents Constantine and Litsa on Instagram.
On Tuesday, Menounos, 40, posted a sentimental black-and-white snapshot with her dad at the wedding. In the picture, the father-daughter duo have their arms wrapped around one another as Menounos shows off her billowing Celia Kritharioti gown.
“Love my dad so much,” she captioned the post. “This was a dream for him. He was born and raised in Akovos. Though he’s the proudest American you will find, he is also equally proud of his roots.”
“Growing up we saved all the spare change we found on the nightclub floors we cleaned in Boston to save up and visit Greece,” Menounos continued. “It meant so much to him for us to be connected to our heritage, to know the language and the traditions. Both my parents wanted that. It took years but finally we visited in 1988 when I was 10. I loved it. We spent almost a month in Akovos and it always held a special place in my heart. Returning to get married there was my wildest dream come true. All of our friends and family helped make it truly the most special moment of all our lives.”
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Menounos also revealed that her father had health problems right before the wedding: “My poor dad got so sick a week before the wedding and we almost lost him. Luckily my friends and family helped him get better all while keeping me in the dark. This is why I feel so blessed.”
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With her wedding hashtag #mariaandkevensbigfatgreekwedding, she concluded, “To have my parents at my wedding I know wasn’t easy between dad’s diabetes and mom’s cancer. I know many who weren’t as lucky and I will never take that for granted.”
Menounos has shared all the details of her gorgeous nuptials on Instagram, which included a multi-layer cake, cheerful lemon centerpieces, yellow plants, yellow-hued drinks and pastries and almost 1,500 decorative lemons.
She also gave her fans peeks at her impressive arrival at the church — she rode in on a carriage surrounded by a swarm of people — and the celebration that followed the vows.
Before the wedding, she took a moment to reflect.
“I’ve been planning this for maybe a month but really been planning this for a long time in my heart because I always wanted to return to Greece and do our wedding here,” she said on Instagram. “Greece means so much to us and our village and our roots and I’m so beyond thankful to all of our friends who put this together.”
