Jai Arrow and Berina Colakovic celebrated their wedding at Borgo del Carato in Sicily on Saturday 10 October 2026, five months after he revealed his motor neurone disease diagnosis. They had already married legally in a small civil ceremony in Sydney in July, and came back to the estate where he proposed in 2024, Vogue Australia reports.
Berina Arrow (née Colakovic), who is originally from Canada, was living in Sydney for work when they met. Their first date was a coffee in a park with their dogs, she told Vogue Australia, spent laughing and with her “trying to decode his Aussie slang”.
He proposed in 2024 while they were visiting Borgo del Carato. Berina was pregnant with their daughter at the time and had no idea it was coming. Jai had called her father beforehand to ask for her hand, and “my dad even kept it a secret”, she said.
Their daughter, Ayla Rae Arrow, was born in 2025. In May 2026 the former Rabbitohs forward revealed a motor neurone disease (MND) diagnosis and retired from the NRL. The league turned July into Jai July, a month of fundraising for MND research, and billed the Rabbitohs v Knights match as a party for his 31st birthday, ABC News reports.
That July they married at Martin Place in a small civil ceremony Berina called their elopement, with family friends the Beaths as witnesses and minding Ayla.
“Our lives have changed enormously over the past two years,” Berina said. “We’ve become parents, navigated incredible highs and faced challenges we never could have anticipated. Through it all, we’ve continued to choose each other, and I think that’s what makes our love story so special.”
On 30 September, ten days before Sicily, he received the Provan-Summons Medal at the Dally M Awards, ABC News reported.
“Sicily has this beautiful, almost timeless romance to it, and Borgo del Carato felt like somewhere we could completely escape the rest of the world,” Berina told Vogue. The look was elegant and understated, in espresso, burgundy and chocolate tones, with soft fabric draping and tapered candles, so the landscape could speak for itself. Sixty-five guests flew in from Australia and Canada, Nine reported.
The weekend opened on Friday 9 October with an all-black, Mafia-themed rehearsal dinner, served outdoors. A long table ran under festoon lights among the olive trees. Berina wore a Hera Couture corset with a custom Hera skirt from Aura Bridal.
Berina wore a strapless gown by Australian label Corston Couture, with a lace veil and pointed white Christian Dior heels. She wore a pearl necklace from her mother, which she plans to pass down to Ayla. Hair was by Rosario Hair and make-up by Tannaz Beauty, in a soft, classic European look, and her scent for the day was Diptyque’s Tam Dao. Jai wore a cream dinner jacket and a black bow tie.
The flowers were burgundy dahlias, chocolate lace flowers, dark calla lilies and cymbidium orchids, set against the estate’s rustic stone. The bridesmaids chose their own espresso brown dresses to match. “For me, the beauty was in the restraint,” Berina said.
Thunder, lightning and rain hit Sicily’s south-east coast in the lead-up to the ceremony, Vogue says, and the clouds cleared just in time for the vows. They said their vows with Ayla, then 18 months old, at the front.
Four days later Jai shared photos from the day captioned “Always by your side Mrs Arrow”, and the couple’s video of the vows brought followers to tears, New Idea reports.
For the reception, Berina changed into a halterneck sequin dress by Sydney label Dio Official, with a Simone Rocha bag, for a candlelit dinner with their guests. The day, she said, was about “celebrating the life we’d already built”. It was, she said, “one of those rare moments when you wish you could stop time”. From Sicily they flew on to honeymoon at the Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum, in Turkey.
Borgo del Carato is a restored 19th-century farmhouse estate on a 90-hectare private park of carob trees and centuries-old olives near Palazzolo Acreide, in the Siracusa countryside. Its rooms sit in the old storehouses and the quarters of the farm workers and the Baron, the estate says, and its restaurant is La Locanda del Borgo. It sleeps 65 guests and has a saltwater pool, a wellness centre and a Baroque chapel, Vogue Australia reports. See more estates like it in our Italy wedding guide.
Guests who want more of the island can extend the trip with the Sicily itinerary through Siracusa, Agrigento, Palermo and Cefalù. Sicily has hosted Charli XCX’s wedding and Lexi Hensler’s, and you will find more in our celebrity destination weddings in Italy.
The Arrows married legally in Sydney first, so the vows in Sicily were symbolic, with no Italian paperwork to file. Our guide to marrying legally abroad or having a symbolic ceremony explains both routes. Then plan the weekend in three steps.
Ask whether the whole property is yours for the weekend, since the estate decides your date and how many guests you can invite. Then plan a covered space big enough for everyone. The Arrows’ storm cleared just in time, and yours may not.
Say on the card that the legal ceremony has happened, and keep the word “wedding” for the Italian day if you like. A line such as “Married in Sydney in July, celebrating in Sicily in October” gives guests both facts without making the second day sound smaller.
Name a dress code for each event and say what it means. The Arrows asked for all black at the rehearsal dinner, and a line such as “all black, evening wear” tells guests exactly what to pack.
The Arrows opened with a dinner the night before, which gives a delayed flight room to land. Ask guests to arrive at least a day before that dinner, and arrange a transfer for every arriving flight, since the estate is about an hour from Catania airport.
Your Wedded Advisor holds the estate for your dates first. Then we book your suppliers at home and in Sicily, and your guests’ rooms, all through Wedded Concierge. You can also compare suppliers on the Wedded Marketplace.
Tell us where you want to go after the wedding, and your Wedded Advisor books the honeymoon with the rest of your plan, including the transfer from the estate. A second stop like the Arrows’ stay in Bodrum goes into the same plan as the wedding weekend, so nothing is booked twice.
At eligible Virtuoso, Four Seasons and Rosewood Elite hotels, Wedded Privileges can add breakfast, credits and upgrades where available. Benefits vary by property and booking. Eligibility and availability conditions apply.
Written by
Content and Creative Manager | Wonder Group
Joseph Joshua is the SEO & Content Manager at Wedded Wonderland, bringing an editorial and search strategy perspective to the publication’s coverage of luxury weddings, destination celebrations and bridal lifestyle. His approach to content centres on helping readers move from inspiration to informed decisions, with attention to the design, craftsmanship and personal details that give a celebration its character.
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