After months of elaborate pre-wedding events, India’s wealthiest family will reportedly spend upwards of $100 million, possibly more, on their son’s marriage, making it one of the most expensive weddings in modern history.
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s four-day wedding is expected to feature stunning decorations, numerous celebrity performances, and guests from politics, business, sports, and the arts.
Anant is the youngest child of Mukesh Ambani, the director of Reliance Industries and the 11th richest man in the world, according to Forbes. Radhika Merchant also comes from a notable family, with her parents being multimillionaire pharmaceutical executives.
Although the Ambanis haven’t publicly disclosed their wedding expenses, estimates range from approximately $150 million to over half a billion dollars. These costs include booking musicians, chartering private jets, and hosting a feast for local underprivileged communities, reports suggest.
Given the high number of international and Indian dignitaries attending—such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee—Mumbai police have declared the wedding a public event. Roads near the event venues were closed to non-guests, and the groom led a convoy of luxurious vehicles to kick off the festivities.
While this weekend marks the culmination of the couple’s celebrations, it is just one of many events honoring Ambani and Merchant. In March, the Ambani family hosted over a thousand guests at their estate in Jamnagar, India, including notable figures like Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton, and Ivanka Trump.
For this occasion, the family built a glass palace inspired by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Palm House 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 that followed Rihanna’s performance. “An Indian wedding is incomplete without a lot of dancing.”
In late May, Ambani and Merchant held another pre-wedding celebration on the Mediterranean Sea. The couple hosted 1,200 guests for a four-day cruise starting in Palermo, Italy, with stops throughout the region. In Cannes, guests were treated to a surprise Katy Perry concert. After reboarding the ship, they enjoyed a second concert featuring Pitbull.
A stop in Portofino included a performance by renowned opera singer Andrea Bocelli.
“It was just the most magical evening,” Merchant told Vogue about Bocelli’s performance. “I had goosebumps.”