‘RHOM’: Guerdy Reflects on Her and Russell Abraira’s 2002 Wedding
Guerdy Abraira joined The Real Housewives of Miami in 2021 when Peacock rebooted the show after a nearly decade-long hiatus. The world-renowned event planner is married to Russell Abraira, who appears on the show along with their two kids. They’ve been together for most of their lives, and their wedding in 2002 was a day neither will ever forget.
Guerdy and Russell Abraira have been together since high school
Guerdy and Russell Abraira have a long history together. The two were high school sweethearts and went on to get married when Guerdy was 25 years old.
Guerdy, an accomplished wedding planner, knew even back then how to do a wedding right, and where to save money while planning.
“Oh, I rented my wedding dress,” she told People magazine in February 2023. “I was like, ‘Why am I buying a $25,000 dress that I’m never going to wear again? I’m not doing that! I’ll just rent a dress for a day, give it back after I’m done, and save room in my closet for couture, honey!'”
“Look, just cause I don’t have the dress and I don’t care about the dress doesn’t mean I expect everyone else to be like me,” she continued. “This is just the way I did it. I wanted to spend money on our venue, the Ancient Spanish Monastery in Miami Beach, ’cause I had studied abroad in Spain and wanted a Spanish-themed wedding. So I chose to splurge on my venue. And I have no regrets.”
She edited her wedding dress for the ceremony
To get her look just right for the big day, Guerdy chose to make some small changes to her rented dress.
“I actually modified it a little bit for the ceremony and added a strap that I took off before the reception,” she said. “I wanted classic and timeless look — but I also wanted to be able to move around later on the dance floor!”
Russell, for his part, was overwhelmed when he saw his wife approaching the altar. “I’m not that much of an emotional person,” the firefighter said. “But when I saw her walking down the aisle, I started to cry. Tears were coming and it really surprised me. I didn’t think I was going to do that.”
Guerdy’s favorite moment was their first dance
Guerdy opened up about what sticks out to her from the reception. Her and Russell’s first dance to George Michael’s cover of the 1957 folk song “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face.”
“The first dance was easily my favorite,” the RHOM cast member recalled. “It was really nice, and it was just the two of us up there, together. I still get chills thinking about it.”
Their relationship remains strong today
Having been together for so long, Guerdy and Russell have created a bond that continues to get stronger with each passing year.
“I picked right,” Guerdy said. “There’s an aura around Russell that I just love. Every time he walks in the room, even to this day I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I’d still hit that.’ And that’s what I find so attractive about him. He’s very powerful and sexy and he walks with this confidence where no one can penetrate him. I don’t know how to explain it. He’s his silent giant. Like, ‘I ain’t got to prove nothing to nobody.’ And that was him in the high school hallway, too. He’s always just been that way.”
Russell, meanwhile, loves that his wife continues to amaze him today.
“We’re opposites, obviously, in a lot of things. But her boldness in life — it’s like I kind of feed off of that, you know?” he said. “That’s where it all started, in the hallway, like she said. And from the beginning, we were inseparable. She has such a good heart and is such a good mother and partner. I consider ourselves lucky to have found one another.”
