The world’s most expensive wedding begins this weekend, with Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant set to mark their nuptials with three days worth of celebrations, totalling an estimated $600m.
The Ambani wedding is a big deal for two reasons. Firstly, money: Anant Ambani is the son of Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asia. Secondly, fame: as well as the Ambani’s already high profile status in India, their wealth has afforded the event an unbelievably high star quality globally, with pre-wedding performances from the likes of Rihanna, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, who all allegedly pocketed multi-million dollar cheques.
The event is being referred to as “India’s own royal wedding” by domestic media, with other commentators claiming that the Ambanis want to be seen as “the Windsors of India.”
It’s expected to be the most expensive wedding in the world, dethroning the last Ambani wedding, between Mukesh Ambani’s daughter Isha Ambani and her husband Anand Piramal in 2018. But it’s just another drop in the ocean for the Ambanis, with the $600m price tag only making up 0.5 per cent of their total wealth. For context, on a median UK salary of 35K, with no additional assets, that’s like spending £175 on your entire wedding. And Rihanna performs for £3.
It’s insanely opulent, but Mukesh’s status as a self made man means that many Indians view the family as aspirational rather than self-indulgent. Here’s what has happened so far at the Ambani wedding and pre-wedding celebrations, and what you can expect from the weekend.
Pre-celebrations: Rihanna and Justin Bieber perform, the Italian police are called
The Ambani wedding first filtered into Western consciousness when videos emerged of Rihanna performing at the pre-wedding celebrations this March. The singer-turned-beauty mogul’s performance marked her first concert in eight years, apart from her stint at the Super Bowl in 2023. She’s rumoured to have been paid $6m for the appearance.
The 1,200 guests were later entertained by performances from Diljit Dosanjh, the first Punjabi singer to perform at Coachella, and Akon, as well as a light show made up of 5,500 drones. The guest list included Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, Ivanka Trump and Mark Zuckerberg, who were all issued a nine-page dress code to match the “jungle” theme.
Following this, there was a wedding party cruise around the Mediterranean in May, with 800 guests and a $150m price tag. The starry performances continued, with Andrea Bocelli, Katy Perry, the Backstreet Boys and Pitbull all performing. Onboard, the revelry became so raucous that it outraged the locals of Portofino, and residents of Genoa even called the police, who did nothing.
Then, last week, the pre-wedding celebrations were topped off by Justin Bieber performing to the wedding party in Mumbai, at a reported cost of $10m. All in all, the pre-wedding celebrations have been taking place for five months.
This weekend’s three-day celebrations span a tower block empire and an entire convention centre
With the Ambani wedding properly kicking off this weekend, roads will be closed and traffic diverted in Mumbai as the city comes to a relative standstill for the event. The nuptials are marked a “public event”, leading many to liken it to a royal wedding.
The celebrations will take place across two locations. First, the whopping 27-storey, $4.6bn Antilia towerblock that the Ambani family call home, and then the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex. The total for the wedding guest list is currently unknown, but the Jio World Convention Centre has a capacity of 16,500, so it’s not like anyone’s going to have to awkwardly hover at the back.
The weekend comes with its own lavish invitation, an engraved box filled with trinkets that play Hindu mantras when opened. The dress code is traditional Indian formal wear, and you bet guests will be taking it seriously.
Even for the pre-wedding celebrations, loud luxury was everywhere, especially in the lavish jewellery worn by the bride and her wedding party. This was the work of Viren Bhagat, the “mysterious genius” who was described by Vanity Fair as “among greatest jewellers of our time.” One of the items, a gargantuan emerald necklace worn by mother-of-the-groom Nita Ambani to the pre-wedding celebrations in March, is estimated to be worth between $48-60 million. You can be sure to see more of his handiwork this weekend.
Plus, the men have their bling too. Anant Ambani, the groom, is a well-documented watch lover, with an impressive collection of Patek Philippe and Richard Mille timepieces with price tags that range from $200,000 to an eye-watering $9 million.
And the food will be a matter of excess, too. According to the Economic Times, the Ambani’s have enlisted local restaurant Kaashi Chaat Bhandar to serve some of their signature dishes, including tikki, tomato chaat, chana kachori, palak chaat, and kulfi.
If it’s anything like the last Ambani wedding, which saw Beyoncé perform and the likes of Hillary Clinton, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas in attendance, we can expect big things.
A star-studded guest list with performances from Drake and Adele
If you were wondering who could top Rihanna and Justin Bieber, Drake and Adele are rumoured to be the performers set to play the actual wedding celebrations.
If that sounds a little incongruous, just wait until you hear this guest list. Current rumoured attendees include Hillary Clinton, two former Prime Ministers in the form of Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, David and Victoria Beckham, Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Mark Zuckerberg, Samsung Electronics chief Jay Lee, Saudi Aramco’s Amin Nasser, Lockheed Martin’s Jim Taiclet, and FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. One of the only big names you can expect certainly wont be there is Jeff Bezos, who has long been at war with Mukesh Ambani over retail dominance in India.
The predictions are lining up to be correct, with Kim and Khloé mobbed by paparazzi as they touched down in Mumbai last night ahead of the celebrations. Meanwhile, John Cena and Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao have also already arrived. With many more set to come, all eyes are firmly fixed on Mumbai.
