Kylie Lim has shared the first glimpse of her wedding day with James Packer in Italy. But amid the glamour, one deeply personal detail quietly became the sweetest part of the photograph.
“After 13 years…my heart and always will always be each other’s home ❤️”
With those words, Kylie Lim offered the clearest glimpse yet into a relationship that has stretched across more than a decade — through time apart, a reunion and, finally, marriage.
The 46-year-old socialite has shared her first photograph from her wedding to James Packer, 58, after the couple quietly tied the knot in Sardinia, Italy, last week.
Kylie revealed the image after making her Instagram account public on Thursday, giving followers a rare look at a celebration that had until then remained largely private.
And while the photograph carried all the glamour expected from a Mediterranean wedding, one small presence in the frame gave the moment a noticeably more personal feel.
A relationship that found its way back
Kylie and James’ wedding comes after a relationship that has unfolded over several chapters.
The pair were together for almost three years from late 2017 until 2020 before going their separate ways.
They later rekindled their romance, with their engagement confirmed in March after Kylie was spotted wearing a diamond ring while out in Aspen, Colorado.
At the time, James told news.com.au:
“We are very happy to be engaged and looking forward to the future.”
Their decision to marry appears to have followed quickly.
According to the original report, the couple were said to have been eager to make things official and began planning a ceremony during James’ annual Mediterranean retreat.
The result was an intimate wedding in Sardinia — a destination that already formed part of the couple’s recent travels through Europe.
Kylie gives a first look at the wedding
In the photograph Kylie shared, she wore a strapless white gown featuring floral appliqué, accompanied by a traditional veil.
She wore her hair loose and chose light makeup for the occasion.
Her bridal look was completed with several pieces of diamond jewellery, including two tennis necklaces and a tennis bracelet.
James stood beside her wearing a blue suit with an open-neck white shirt, black sneakers, sunglasses and a boutonniere on his jacket.
The image appeared to have been taken aboard his US$200 million superyacht, IJE, which had been spotted near Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda following time spent around Mallorca.
Yet alongside the gown, jewellery and yacht setting was something much more familiar to Kylie.
She held her beloved Cavoodle, Waffle, in her arms as she posed beside her new husband.
It was a small detail compared with the scale of the celebration, but one that gave the photograph a distinctly personal character.
Friends react to the newly shared moment
Kylie’s wedding post quickly attracted messages from friends and familiar Australian names.
Former Today host and longtime friend Karl Stefanovic responded:
“Exquisite. The big fella looks sharp.”
His wife Jasmine also congratulated the newlyweds, writing:
“Congratulations! Love you two.”
The wedding photograph was not the only new look into Kylie and James’ relationship.
After making her Instagram profile public, Kylie also revealed several photographs documenting their recent time together.
One image uploaded on July 2 showed Kylie and James close together aboard his superyacht, with her large engagement ring clearly visible.
Another, posted on August 2, showed Kylie wearing a dramatic purple gown while posing with James.
And in a more relaxed photograph from July 28, the couple could be seen riding a jetski — again with Waffle joining them.
Together, the images offered a much broader glimpse of a relationship the pair have generally kept relatively private.
A Mediterranean celebration after another family wedding
James and Kylie’s ceremony took place only days after his niece Francesca Packer and her husband Robert Bates held their own wedding celebrations in Mallorca, Spain.
Francesca and Robert had legally married in Australia in May before hosting a three-day celebration at La Fortaleza on the Spanish island.
Following those festivities, James’ superyacht was spotted off Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda region.
A spokesperson later confirmed that James and Kylie had married.
The Sardinia ceremony is believed to be Kylie’s first marriage, while James has previously been married twice.
James Packer’s earlier marriages and relationships
James married model Jodhi Meares in Sydney in 1999, with the pair separating in 2002.
He later married model and singer Erica Baxter in France in 2007. The former couple separated in 2013 and share three children — Indigo, Jackson and Emmanuelle.
James was also previously engaged to model Kate Fischer.
His most high-profile later relationship was with singer Mariah Carey. The pair became engaged in 2016 before separating later that year.
Kylie entered James’ life following that period, after the pair were reportedly introduced by mutual friends in Aspen.
Their relationship first attracted engagement speculation as far back as 2019, when Kylie was photographed wearing a diamond ring while holidaying with James aboard his yacht in Capri.
At the time, however, James suggested the pair were taking their relationship slowly.
Kylie’s place in James’ life
Over the years, James has spoken publicly on rare occasions about how significant Kylie had become in his life.
During a 2019 interview, he said:
“Kylie has been a wonderful influence on my life. I love her very much.”
He also spoke about their relationship in his 2018 biography The Price of Fortune: The Untold Story of Being James Packer.
There, James described Kylie as:
“a good person, a really good partner”
and said they were taking things “one day at a time.”
Author Damon Kitney also described Kylie as a consistent presence in James’ life during a difficult period.
That history gives Kylie’s newly shared wedding message an added layer of meaning.
This was not simply a relationship that moved directly from dating to engagement and marriage.
There had been years together, a separation, a reunion and a long period in which Kylie remained an important figure in James’ life.
“After 13 years…”
That is why Kylie’s own words may ultimately say more about the wedding than any detail of the dress or setting.
“After 13 years…my heart and always will always be each other’s home ❤️”
Her first public photograph from the ceremony brings together several parts of their story at once — the long history between them, the return to each other and the decision to finally marry.
And although the image was filled with the kind of luxury long associated with James Packer, it was perhaps the quieter details that made it feel most revealing.
Kylie was not simply posing beside her new husband in a wedding gown.
She was holding Waffle close, surrounded by the people and things that had become part of her life with James.
After more than a decade of twists in their relationship, the photograph offered something the couple have rarely shared publicly: a simple, personal snapshot of the moment their long-running story entered a new chapter.