Cristiano Ronaldo is set to marry Georgina Rodriguez next weekend at Funchal Cathedral on the island of Madeira — the city where he was born, grew up in poverty, and left at 11 to chase a football dream. After the Quinta da Regaleira estate in Sintra fell through as a rumoured venue — largely because it stayed open to the public on the supposed wedding weekend — Portuguese media now points firmly to Funchal. The Savoy Palace hotel nearby has reportedly blocked two full floors for Friday and Saturday, with bar areas also taken offline.
Why is Cristiano Ronaldo getting married in Madeira specifically?
This is not just a venue decision. Funchal is where Ronaldo came from, before the Ballon d’Or wins, before the £175 million-a-year contract in Saudi Arabia, before his name went on the city’s airport. A bronze statue of him stands in the city centre. He owns a hotel there. But what makes the choice quietly powerful is the contrast: the man who once shared a single room with his siblings is now returning to get married in the island’s oldest cathedral, built in 1514 and located less than two miles from the hospital where he was born.A source close to the Savoy Palace confirmed the lockdown: “Guests at the hotel have been told two floors will be out of use on Friday and Saturday, as well as several bar areas.” Weddings at Funchal Cathedral traditionally begin at 3pm, with receptions following nearby. The hotel boasts four restaurants and sits a short drive from the cathedral, making it the natural choice for the scale of event this is expected to be.The timing also matters. Ronaldo had told Piers Morgan ahead of the World Cup: “I hope to arrive at my wedding with the champion’s trophy.” Portugal did not oblige — Spain knocked them out in the Round of 16. But the wedding, it seems, is happening regardless. Ronaldo also made his intentions clear in the same interview: “I’m going to marry her because I believe it’s the right time. Not just because she’s the mother of my children — but because she’s the person I love most.“
How did Ronaldo propose to Georgina and what do we know about their relationship?
The proposal itself happened in the most unplanned way. It was past 1am when Ronaldo, with a ring borrowed from a friend, went to give it to Georgina and then two of his daughters walked in. He told Piers Morgan exactly what happened: “One of my friends gave me the ring to offer Gio, and as I was giving her the ring, my two kids come in and say, ‘Daddy, you’re going to give the ring to mum and you’re going to ask her to get married.‘ I said, ‘Wow, this is the right moment to say yes.’ It was the time. I knew that I was going to do it one day, but I hadn’t planned to do it then.”On finding the ring itself, Ronaldo was equally candid: “She asked me for a ring to offer her because it was one of her dreams to have a good stone. And I work hard, work hard and finally I find what she loves.” Georgina confirmed the news on Instagram in August 2025 with a simple caption — ‘Yes, I do’ — alongside a photo of the ring.They met in 2016 when Georgina was working as a sales assistant at a Gucci store in Madrid, a detail that has become one of football’s more unlikely origin stories. Together they have daughters Alana and Bella. The family also includes twins Eva Maria and Mateo, born through surrogacy, and Cristiano Jr from a previous relationship. Bella had a twin brother, Angel, who passed away shortly after birth in 2022. In the days leading up to the reported wedding, the couple were photographed in Majorca on a yacht, both wearing diamond rings. Georgina’s social media post from a beach carried the caption ‘Shinrin-yoku’ — the Japanese concept of finding calm in nature.
