After months of elaborate pre-wedding celebrations, India’s wealthiest family is reportedly spending over $100 million on their son’s nuptials, potentially making it one of the most expensive weddings in modern history.
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s extravagant four-day wedding is anticipated to feature stunning decorations, numerous celebrity performances, and esteemed guests from politics, business, sports, and the arts.
Anant Ambani is the youngest child of Mukesh Ambani, director of Reliance Industries and the 11th richest man in the world according to Forbes. Radhika Merchant also hails from a prominent background, with her parents being multimillionaire pharmaceutical executives.
While the exact amount spent on the wedding hasn’t been disclosed, estimates suggest expenses ranging from $150 million to over half a billion dollars. These costs cover booking musicians, chartering private jets, and hosting a feast for nearby underprivileged communities, as reported by the BBC and the India Times.
Due to the significant number of international and Indian politicians attending – including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee – Mumbai police have designated the wedding a public event, according to the BBC. Roads near the event venues have been restricted to non-wedding guests, with the groom leading a convoy of luxury vehicles to kick off the festivities.
This weekend signifies the culmination of the couple’s celebrations, which have included numerous pre-wedding events. In March, the Ambani family hosted over a thousand guests, including Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton, and Ivanka Trump, at their estate in Jamnagar, India. They constructed a glass palace inspired by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Palm House for the occasion and hired Rihanna for her first full-length concert in nearly a decade.
“I wanted to be fun, free, and young,” Merchant told Vogue about the all-night party following Rihanna’s performance. “An Indian wedding is incomplete without a lot of dancing.”
In late May, Ambani and Merchant hosted another pre-wedding celebration on the Mediterranean Sea. They welcomed 1,200 guests for a four-day cruise starting in Palermo, Italy, and stopping at various locations. In Cannes, guests were surprised with a Katy Perry concert. After returning to the ship, Pitbull performed a second concert.
One of the cruise stops in Portofino featured a performance by acclaimed opera singer Andrea Bocelli, which Merchant described to Vogue as “the most magical evening,” adding, “I had goosebumps.”