From the iconic royal weddings we'll never forget to the secret ceremonies that cost millions, these are the biggest celebrity weddings ever.
With millions to spare, celebrity weddings can feel like an otherwordly phenomenon. Celebrations filled with expensive free-flowing champagne, caviar walls and £8,000 cakes aren't what most of us are used to and are certainly not ideas we've ever considered jotting down when planning our bashes. But when it comes to royalty, showbiz or not, there is no limit to the extravagance on display.
So with unlimited budgets, star-studded guest lists and bubbles to spare, here are the 32 biggest, best (and often most expensive) weddings of all time...
32 of the biggest celebrity weddings of all time
1. Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles
Perhaps one of the most memorable weddings of the 21st century, the wedding of the then-Prince Charles and the late Lady Diana Spencer was held at St.Paul’s Cathedral on July 29th 1981. It was watched by 750 million people around the world and was said to have cost around £57 million. For the special day, the stylish princess wore one of the best royal wedding dresses of all time, which cost a pretty penny too (£9,000 to be precise). It was later valued at a whopping £151,000 in 2019 and its value continues to grow.
2. Grace Kelly and Prince Rainer of Monaco
It wasn’t just the cost of this wedding that made it one of the biggest affairs of all time, it's the story behind it too. On 19 April 1956, Prince Rainier III of Monaco married the 26-year-old Hollywood actress Grace Kelly. The meeting of the two worlds and the Hollywood-star-turned-princess story garnered huge media attention and masses of people tuned in to watch their nuptials. At the time, it was the biggest wedding in recorded history with around 30 million people watching.
3. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas
From start to finish, this star-studded wedding was quite the spectacle and Zeta-Jones’ £335k engagement ring set the tone for what would be a spectacular wedding. Costing an estimated upwards of £1.5 million, the event’s guest list included stars such as Brad Pitt, Jack Nicholson and Tom Hanks. The wedding was also shrouded in controversy as the couple sold the exclusive rights to their wedding photos to OK! Magazine for £1 million but Hello! magazine reportedly took secret photos, which they published. Following a High Court battle, Hello! reportedly paid out more than £1 million between Zeta-Jones, Douglas and rival OK! A spectacle in itself.
4. Celine Dion and Rene Angelil
On 17 December 1994, Dion and Angelil tied the knot in front of 500 guests at the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. The cost of the wedding was said to be around half a million dollars, with the flowers alone reportedly costing around tens of thousands of pounds. Dion’s dress allegedly took around 1,000 hours to make, while her statement tiara was over three kilos and was covered in around 2,000 crystals.
5. Prince William and Catherine Middleton
It’s no surprise that one of the biggest royal weddings of our time cost a pretty penny, with Prince William and Princess Kate’s wedding costing an estimated £30 million. Of course, with all royal weddings, a large chunk of that goes on security, however, the flower arrangement and two wedding cakes were also in the hundreds of thousands. It also brought us some of the best dressed royal wedding outfits and for that, we will always be thankful.
6. Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas
This three-day wedding began with a Christian ceremony, officiated by Nick Jonas’ father and was followed by a weekend full of traditional Hindu wedding traditions and rituals, including a show-stopping firework display. For the multiple venues, caterers, weddings and set-ups the celebrations were estimated to cost around $584,000 (approx. £457,600).
7. Mariah Carey and Tommy Mottola
A wedding that unfortunately wasn't the fairytale it seemed to be, Carey and Mottola met when she was 18 and he, as a big boss at Sony, had a lot of control over her career. The wedding, held in June 1993, apparently cost around half a million dollars and was inspired by Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ nuptials. Carey’s Vera Wang dress cost $25,000 - around £19,591 - alone.
8. David Beckham and Victoria Adams
Perhaps one of the most anticipated weddings at the time, there wasn’t a bigger couple than the Beckhams in the 90s. When the two finally tied the knot at Luttrellstown Castle, it cost around £750,000 and included two thrones and an iconic purple outfit change. The guestlist for the reception was every bit as star-studded as you might imagine, however, the ceremony itself was intimate, with only 29 guests there to watch the couple exchange their vows.
9. Eddie Murphy and Nicole Mitchell
Held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City in 1993, this showbiz couple's wedding cost an impressive $1.5 million (that's around £1.2 million to us). With over 500 guests, the nuptials were said to be one of the most expensive celebrity weddings at the time, and the cake alone reportedly cost tens of thousands. The couple were married for a very happy 13 years and had five children together.
10. Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky
There are so many reasons that this is one of the biggest weddings of our time. It was held on Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch in 1991, it was between one of Hollywood’s biggest stars and a construction worker and cost upwards of $1.5 million (£1.2 million). Fortensky was also 20 years younger than Taylor. People Magazine bought the rights to the photos of the wedding - which the couple had otherwise tried to keep private - for $1 million (around £780k) which Taylor used to set up The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
11. Elton John and David Furnish
In 2005, after the UK legalised same-sex civil unions, Elton John and David Furnish said "I do." The ceremony itself was intimate however the reception included 600 guests all in luxury tents on the ground of their Windsor mansion. The cost of the wedding is unknown but estimated at between £1.5-£2m, with free-flowing caviar and pink champagne. The guestlist was a star-studded affair with guests including the Beckhams, Donatella Versace and Claudia Schiffer - to name a few.
12. Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren
Woods and Nordegren tied the knot during sunset on a beach in Barbados on the 5th of October in 2004 in an extravagant destination wedding. Woods spared no expense and even booked the Oscar-winning band, Hootie and The Blowfish to play for hours at the wedding. The Barbados Daily Nation at the time reported that the event cost $1.5 million (£1.2m) but as ever, no one truly knows just how much the lavish nuptials cost.
13. Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman
Not only was this couple's wedding an expensive one, costing an estimated $2 million (£1.6m) but it also had an elaborate winter wonderland theme. The reception tent, which was at an estate in Napa Valley, was covered from top to bottom in an assortment of white hydrangeas, roses, birch trees and custom chandeliers.
14. Madonna and Guy Ritchie
We wouldn't expect anything less from Madonna than a lavish, star-studded affair. The reported cost of the two’s shindig was estimated at over £2 million. Not surprising, as they booked an entire castle in the Scottish countryside for their wedding guests. And of course, Madonna’s wedding gown was an event in itself - it's not known how much it cost exactly, but it sold at auction in 2014 for $81,250 (£63,700).
15. Arun Nayar and Elizabeth Hurley
Their wedding, held in the Cotswolds, cost an estimated £1 million with the celebration lasting over a week and spanning two countries, England and India. The millionaire and British model also splurged on private jets and accommodation for their guests.
16. Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise
They were one of Hollywood’s biggest couples at the time, so when they married a year after meeting you can be sure it was a big deal. In 2006, Cruise and Holmes married in Italy at a 15th-century castle in a lavish wedding that was estimated to cost over $3 million (£2.35m). As can be expected, the guestlist was overflowing with stars, and the Scientology leader David Miscavige was also present.
17. Paul McCartney and Heather Mills
It wasn't just this couple's divorce that was particularly expensive, but their wedding had a larger-than-life price point too. Their wedding, held in a castle in Glaslough, Ireland had a firework show worth around an estimated £118,000 and the flowers around £114,000. So it's no surprise the ceremony reportedly cost the pair well over £2 million.
18. Liza Minnelli and David Gest
Everything about this wedding was big, from the 850-person guest list to the cake alone costing $40,000 (£33.7k). The 2002 wedding was filled with some of the most iconic stars, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Elton John to name a few. As ever, the exact costs have never been confirmed but reports at the time suggested the wedding clocked in at around $3.5 million (£2.75m) in total.
19. Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello
This wedding was certainly one to remember. The ceremony was held at the Venetian ballroom at The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida in 2015 and lasted for around three days from start to finish. The celebrations were said to have cost $3 million (£2.35m), with both the ceremony and reception ballroom filled to the brim with hundreds of roses and orchids.
20. George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin
Now this is an extravaganza we wish we'd been invited to! For an estimated £3.6 million, Clooney and Alamuddin hosted their Italian ceremony for over 100 guests, providing tens of thousands of pounds worth of champagne and personal Venetian boats for each guest. Add in the actual ceremony, dresses and accommodation and we're not surprised it came to millions!
21. Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel
As ever, it's not known exactly how much this wedding cost, but we do know it was *a lot*. Sources at the time, including E! Online estimated the costs of Timberlake and Biel's 2012 wedding at an eye-watering £5.1 million. What we do know is that they had a destination wedding in Italy, Biel wore a stunning custom Giambattista Valli gown and the guests all received a gift bag with local fresh goods.
22. Michael Jordan and Yvette Prieto
Brace yourself, as this star-studded wedding reportedly cost a jaw-dropping $10 million (that's £7.8m to you and me). The ceremony, which was held in Florida at The Church of Bethesda-By-The-Sea was as luxurious as it gets. Prieto's couture gown was covered in Swarovski crystals, there were over 2,000 guests and their reception party was held in a 40,000 square-foot tent.
23. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
Italy is easily one of the most romantic places in the world - so it's no surprise that so many celebrities choose to have destination weddings there. Kim and Kanye's Florence-based ceremony came to a massive estimated £9.4 million with the venue, The Forte di Belvedere, costing around £324,000 alone. Per MailOnline, Kardashian wore a custom Givenchy couture gown which was said to cost the bride around £400K.
24. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
As is expected with a royal wedding, the bill for this event was a significant amount, coming in at an estimated £32 million. However, £30 million of that was reportedly spent on security alone with the more personal aspects of the wedding such as flowers and reception costs covered by The Royal Family. The wedding was said to have injected approx. £80 million into the country's economy and we will simply never stop thinking about Meghan Markle's stunning wedding dress.
25. Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z
The pop icon's wedding is something of a mystery as each guest was asked to check their phones in on arrival - so there's not a lot of information about the 2004 event. We do know it was held in Jay-Z's NYC penthouse and if Beyonce's £2.5 million engagement ring is anything to go by we're sure the nuptials were a very luxurious affair.
26. Sofia Richie and Elliot Grainge
The daughter of musical icon Lionel Richie, Sofia Richie married music mogul Elliot Grainge in 2023 at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the South of France. It was hinted that the wedding cost over £3 million and with Sofia's three Chanel outfit changes it certainly makes sense why.
27. Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian
It wasn't just the wedding that screamed luxury, but instead Serena's gown. The Alexander McQueen dress had a huge ball gown skirt, with a stunning sweetheart neckline bodice and reportedly came to an astounding £2.6 million. The two married in New Orleans' Contemporary Arts Center and was a ceremony overflowing with love and star-studded guests.
28. Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson
This was a party that just didn't want to end, Simpson and Johnson's wedding went on for an impressive 96 hours. The four-day ceremony with its 275 guests cost the couple an estimated £1.1 million and was held at San Ysidro Ranch in 2014.
29. Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz
With Nicola Peltz being the daughter of a billionaire it's no surprise her wedding was extraordinary and its estimated £2.3 million total isn't such a shock. The wedding was held at Nelson Peltz's Palm Beach estate which overlooks the ocean and was attended by scores of a-list celebrities.
30. Anne Hathaway and Adam Shulman
Hathaway and Shulman's wedding was somewhat intimate with around 180 guests so it's not the lavish affair that many celebrities have. Costs are unknown - some have estimated it was up to £780k - but the couple reportedly spent $100,000 in flowers (£78.4k) so we can assume it was still a luxurious affair. Hathaway wore a stunning custom Valentino gown for the ceremony which was held in Big Sur on the California coast.
31. Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries
This may be not only one of the most expensive weddings but also the most public, as the whole ceremony was aired as a two-part special alongside the Keeping Up with the Kardashian series. The wedding, which reportedly cost the couple around £7.9 million was held in Montecito California and had a star-studded guest lift with 440 attendees.
32. Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt
As the IT couple of the noughties, Pitt and Aniston's wedding was the talk of the town when it happened in 2000. There were around 200 guests for the Malibu ceremony and per Pitt's request, the couple were surrounded by 50,000 roses and tulips. As ever, the precise costs are unknown but it was estimated to cost around $1 million (£780k).
