with photosActor Dirk Zeelenberg (54) was the wedding official at the wedding of top football star Lieke Martens and former Sparta goalkeeper Benjamin van Leer. He himself has nothing to do with football, but that turned out to be an advantage. From a breathtakingly radiant Martens to the special ring bearer: Zeelenberg talks about the ‘dream wedding’.
Of course, Dirk Zeelenberg knew the name of Lieke Martens (30) when the Oranje Leeuwin recently sent him a message on Instagram. But it wasn’t until his sons fell head over heels that he realized that one of the best soccer players in the world wanted to call him. Zeelenberg was on Curaçao to marry another couple, Martens said she was in Paris. He could just swallow the question if she was there for a nice shopping. She plays at top club Paris Saint-Germain.
Martens asked whether Zeelenberg wanted to marry her. He met her and Benjamin (31) for lunch in the Gastrobar of star chef Ron Blaauw, he says. They filled out his questionnaires so he could prepare for the speech. One thing he had to mention: he did play in as an actor All stars, but has nothing to do with football. “How nice,” they said. The sport was not mentioned at all in the speech, this was about love.” And that love was there.
Read on under the photo
A bare back
At the picturesque event location Rancho del Inglés near Málaga, the couple received about a hundred people, including some celebrities, according to Zeelenberg. ,,But I can’t say anything about that.” The people made the wedding. “It’s not about oysters and castles, it’s about the people. And this was such a nice company, there was nothing gaudy about it. The weather was also great, with about 30 degrees.”
Martens married in the so-called Marlow dress from the Spanish brand Provonias, with flower shapes, beads on naked-colored tulle, a veil of 3 meters long and a price tag of more than 2600 euros. For the after party, she wore a more casual backless dress from the same brand, the Birget.
,,She looked so great, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life”, said Zeelenberg. “Even more striking: he too,” the actor refers to Benjamin. “He’s such a beauty, too.” The rings were brought by Iki, the couple’s 3-year-old dog, a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever.
Read under the post
Soon back in Friesland
Although Zeelenberg often marries people these days (and also talks to each other at funerals), the ceremony of Martens and Van Leer was also special for him. He calls them a bunch of treasures. ,,It sounds cliché, but it was exceptionally loving and really an honor.” Zeelenberg does not do more for celebrities than for unknown people. “Next time I will be back in Friesland in front of thirty people and a lukewarm Indonesian buffet. That is also beautiful. Acting has been my passion since I was 12, but this is better than acting.”
Martens, voted the best football player in the world in 2017 and the most beautiful sportswoman in the Netherlands in 2021, was previously seven years with Kevin Koolhof. In 2018, she said their relationship was over. Lieke quickly became world famous after the successful European Championship in 2017, but emphasized that the break had nothing to do with that. After all, she had ‘really not changed’. Later that year, she confirmed to be with Benjamin.
Read under the post
The couple had a long-distance relationship for almost 4.5 years: they met when she played for FC Barcelona and he played for Ajax. It worked well for them and the corona period was a test, Van Leer confessed. “Where suddenly, from seeing each other once a month, we were on each other’s lips 24/7,” he wrote. It went well: in 2021 he proposed to Martens, she said ‘yes a million times’.
Also listen to the AD Media Podcast below or subscribe via Spotify or itunes. Find all our podcasts at ad.nl/podcasts.
Watch our Show & Entertainment videos below:
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.
#Lieke #Martens #dream #wedding #Spain #civil #servant #Dirk #Zeelenberg