As London came to a standstill this weekend to celebrate and then commiserate the Euros, there was a wildly different public event shutting down the streets in Mumbai. Billed as the world’s most expensive wedding, the three-day long nuptials of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant — the son of Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, and the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoons — took place this weekend, totalling an estimated $600m.
As well as the Ambanis’ 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.
Kim and Khloé Kardashian attend the Ambani wedding
The event was frequently 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.”
Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas attend the Ambani wedding
The insane opulence has drawn criticism across the world for showing a “blatant disregard” for poverty in India. But due to Mukesh Ambani’s status as a self-made man, many Indians are welcoming the celebrations, which were marked as a “public event” in the city of Mumbai, shutting down streets and diverting traffic for days.
The wedding saw performances from Nigerian rapper Rema and Indian singer Daler Mehendi, with videos of the sets quickly picking up traction on social media. The Ambani wedding first filtered into Western consciousness when videos emerged of Rihanna performing at the pre-wedding celebrations this March. The singer’s performance marked her first concert in eight years, apart from her appearance at the Super Bowl in 2023. She’s rumoured to have been paid $6m for the appearance.
Law Roach, the stylist of Zendaya and Celine Dion, attends the Ambani wedding
At the same pre-wedding celebration, the 1,200 guests were also 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.
As for the outfits this time around: The groom wore a red and gold sherwani designed by Sabyasachi Mukherjee, while the bride wore a hand-embroidered bridal lehenga by Indian label Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla. Her outfit featured a 16-foot-long veil, as well as a seven-foot-long detachable train with her skirt.