Dua Lipa and Callum Turner throw a big Italian wedding
Hundreds of guests joined Dua Lipa and her husband
Barbie Latza Nadeau
Rome (CNN) — On a warm Saturday night in the heart of Sicily’s capital, hundreds of guests piled into the Villa Valguarnera to celebrate the wedding of pop star Dua Lipa and actor Callum Turner.
The monumental gardens of the 18th century palace in Palermo were dotted with chairs draped in satin bows, sugary Sicilian almonds and hand embroidered “stay mad with me forever” handkerchiefs in a nod to the island’s various traditions. Each chair was also adorned with a handmade fan to ward off the late afternoon heat, according to Italian media. Among those in attendance were Charli XCX and Donatella Versace.
After a ceremonial exchange of vows, Elton John serenaded the couple with a special rendition of “Your Song.” Guests were then treated to a dinner by Michelin chefs, Italian media reported, before partying to the music of DJs Carl Cox, Martin Garrix, David Guetta and Peggy Gou, who were allowed to play beyond the villa’s standard midnight curfew. The grand finale was a massive fireworks display seen across the city.
Not all that long ago, the palace — now owned by writer-princess Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca, the Italian translator of The Lord of the Rings, whose inner circle famously includes Mick Jagger (and, in earlier times, the late Salvador Dali) — served as a mafia hideout for decades until it was brought out of ruin in 2020 as part of an urban renewal plan.
More recently, the Villa Valguarnera was represented in the opening credits of season two of “The White Lotus,” which was filmed in Sicily. The lavish €6,000 ($6,900) a night Villa Igiea — a Rocco Forte property where the newlyweds and several guests stayed — was a film set for the HBO series. (HBO, like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery).
The days-long wedding celebrations kicked into high gear on Friday, when 30-year-old Dua Lipa, draped in a white leather woven Bottega Veneta dress with ostrich feathers, and Turner, the 36-year-old British actor, threw a street party in the city center alongside several hundred of their closest friends, transforming the 18th century Croce dei Vespri square into a vintage bookstore in a nod to how they met while reading the same novel.
Guests were serenaded by a big brass marching band and given gold bracelets with microchips that allowed them into various venues, including a private tour of the city’s impressive Galleria d’Arte Moderna, which the couple rented out for a reported €10,000 ($11,500) for the evening, CNN affiliate Sky24 and local media reported. They then headed to the Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi, where they dined and danced to a swing band in the same ballroom depicted in Luchino Visconti’s 1963 film “The Leopard.”
The festivities came a week after the couple officially tied the knot in a civil ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall in London on May 31. A representative for Lipa did not respond to a request for comment.
Local Sicilian media has been reveling in the celebrations, describing the events as the most important wedding since Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino) got married on the island in the 1972 classic “The Godfather.” And it may well rewrite the island city’s history.
The couple’s Palermo celebrations left an estimated €268 million ($307.7 million) economic impact on the city’s metro area, according to a report by JFC research institute cited by ANSA, the Italian news agency.
Several protesters demonstrated ahead of the party with signs reading “Palermo is not for the rich” and “Palermo is not for rent.” Many of them were part of the same group that protested the wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez in Venice last summer.
Palermo Mayor Roberto Lagalla, who reportedly led the Saturday night ceremony, celebrated the three-day party, however. “There is a clear return that leaves a lasting impression,” he told La Repubblica newspaper. “I understand the inconvenience caused by events of this magnitude, and I’m sorry if anyone will have to face temporary restrictions,” he said. “We must not forget the image boost Palermo receives from occasions like this. The international visibility generated by events of this magnitude helps strengthen the city’s attractiveness and generate widespread economic benefits.”
The couple were spotted in the city in 2025 around the time of their engagement, and the singer posted on Instagram about her love of the city, alongside selfies with Turner, at the time.
The only misstep during the extravaganza, was the reported loss of a pair of shoes belonging to Dua Lipa’s mother Anesa Rexha, which remain unaccounted for.
The-CNN-Wire
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