Anant Ambani wedding: most expensive weddings in the world

Weddings are celebrations of love, but for some, they can rank up a fortune. No matter who you are, the costs can add up quickly: outfits, videography, photography, food, drinks, venue, and decorations. Still, the rich and famous seem to have an insatiable desire for the most elaborate and extravagant weddings.

The Guardian’s calculations estimate that Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding will likely cost approximately $600 million in US dollars after pre-wedding celebration expenses such as musical performances from the likes of Rihanna and Justin Bieber, security, luxury cruises and private jets, and lodging are taken into account. According to reports, the groom bought each guest a wristwatch worth 200,000.

The Dubai monarch paid more than $137 million for the five-day wedding in 1979. 20 jewelled camels carried the bride’s gifts during the ceremony. The wedding still holds the Guinness World Record for the most expensive wedding.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ 1981 wedding was the most lavish royal wedding of the 20th century. Diana’s gown had an intricate 10,000 pearls covering it, and the pair chose to have 27 wedding cakes instead of just one.

When adjusted for inflation, the wedding’s expenses came to more like $110 million (£84.7 million), although it cost roughly $48 million (£37 million) at the time and was therefore not eligible for inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records.

The most expensive wedding ever officially recorded by the Guinness World Records took place in Versailles, France, in 2004, with a price tag of $55 million (£42.4 million). The couple were Vanisha Mittal and Amit Bhatia. Vanisha’s father is the Indian billionaire steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who was, at the time, the third richest person in the world.

The six-day event included an elaborate engagement ceremony and guest perfomances. Over 1,000 guests attended the event, each flown from India to Paris on 12 jets and accommodated in the five-star Hotel le Grand Intercontinental.

The 2011 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, which took place at Westminster Abbey in London, was one of the most expensive weddings to date; it costs around $34 million. Kate Middleton wore a gorgeous Alexander McQueen gown, and the wedding was watched by millions of people around the world.