The world’s most expensive wedding celebrations have drawn to a close, following five months of festivities which spanned Mumbai to Portofino.
You might not have had Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant on your radar before, but after their lavish pre-wedding parties, which included performances by Rihanna, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber as well as the big day attended by the Kardashians, Tony Blair and Priyanka Copra, the name Ambani has been on everyone’s lips. And given the events are estimated to have totalled around $600 million, the bride’s looks were as extravagant as you’d expect.
The new Mrs Ambani — who is the daughter of a prominent Indian businessman, and now the wife of the son of India’s wealthiest man, Mukesh Ambani — worked with stylist Rhea Kapoor on her looks for many of the celebrations over the past few months. The stylist is a big name in her own right, with a cool 1.2 million followers on Instagram
For the long line of glamorous pre-wedding events, including an Italian cruise, Radhika Ambani wore pieces from the likes of New York-based Grace Ling (who designed the breast plate worn by J-Lo that got everyone talking) as well as Versace and Australian couture bridal designer Tamara Ralph.
July 5 finally signalled the start of their nuptials, with a traditional pre-wedding sangeet, several poojas (or, ceremonial prayers) as well as a mehendi ceremony for Radhika and her wedding party, along with a baraat, which is the groom’s wedding procession. For the couple’s official wedding day and the after-party, Radhika’s outfits were created to give her spin on Gujarati tradition as well as the chance to borrow from her family’s archive of heirloom jewels.
For the wedding ceremony itself, Mrs Ambani wore a take on Panetar, the Gujarati tradition of red and white bridal looks. “A fairytale come to life,” Kapoor called the look by Indian designer Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, which was was worn with a multi-emerald ranihaar, a bridal necklace passed down between three generations and previously worn by her sister in 2020.
The bride wore a trailing ghagra (long skirt) with ornate red borders featuring Zardozi metal embroidery, which was layered with a trail, a five-meter long veil and a sheer dupatta (a traditional shawl).
“The head veil has impossibly delicate jaali and cut-work, while the detachable trail is a Zardozi marvel of 80 inches. The outfit is complete with a fully embroidered red shoulder dupatta that uplifts the silhouette with its maximal drama,” wrote Kapoor on Instagram.
Her second look by Manish Malhotra (a designer she also wore for her sangeet) created a red sunset effect, combining a blouse with real gold embroidery, a veil and a multi-paneled brocade lehenga, which Kapoor described as “a tribute to India’s timeless elegance.”
For the evening, Ambani wore a handmade tribute to the Indian artist Jayasri Burman. The twelve panels of her lehenga were hand-painted on an Italian canvas, no less. As well as figures representing the couple, there were natural images to depict her husband’s fondness for animals and in particular elephants.
And last but not least, continuing the Italian-Indian marriage of design, Ambani wore a Dolce & Gabbana corset style top from the Alta Moda Sardegna 2024 collection with a custom Anamika Khanna Couture sari — all in gold.
The title of bougiest bride has well and truly been earnt by Radhika Ambani, though we’re sure it’s just the start of her fashion show as the new Mrs Ambani.
