Everything you need to know about the extravagant Ambani wedding
There are weddings, and then there’s the Ambani wedding.
All eyes were on Mumbai as Anant Ambani—the youngest son of billionaire private-sector mogul Mukesh Ambani—and Radhika Merchant, the heiress to a pharmaceutical family dynasty, tied the knot in a formal wedding ceremony after seven months of headline-grabbing festivities.
Since their engagement in December 2023, Ambani and Merchant have been building up to their big day by hosting increasingly lavish events that sounded almost too extravagant to be true. Whether that meant a European cruise featuring performances by the likes of Katy Perry and Andrea Bocelli, or a pre-wedding party with a rare appearance by Rihanna, the two have spared no expense in the run up to the big day.
Of course, with Ambani being the youngest member of the richest family in Asia, and Merchant being the heir to her own billionaire bloodline, it’s no surprise the families have been going all out. We got a good example of what this wedding would be like back in 2018, when Anant’s sister, Isha, got married and the costs were estimated at upward of £77 million. With Anant being the last of the Ambani children to tie the knot, it’s clear the family wants to go out with a bang.
Here, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about the official Ambani wedding weekend—from the cost to the star-studded guest list, and everything in between.
How much did the wedding cost?
The big question on everyone’s lips is: just how much did this wedding cost?
The Ambanis have remained mum about total figures, but an event management owner estimated to the BBC that the cost is at least somewhere between 11 billion and 13 billions rupees (around £101 million to £120 million).
Other estimates have been even higher. The Daily Mail crunched the numbers and estimated that the wedding has to have cost approximately £246 million, considering the price of security, transportation, food, and money paid to performers (When Rihanna attended the pre-wedding ceremony in March, it was believed she got a cheque for arund £5.4 million).
Of course, this is just a drop in the bucket for the Ambani family. Anant’s father is currently the richest man in Asia, after all, with an estimated net worth of £94.95 billion, and he ranks as the 11th-richest man in the world.
Who performed at the main event?
Videos shared on social media show the Ambani family dancing with Indian singer Daler Mehendi, while Afrobeats perfomer Rema dazzled the guests with his hit song Calm Down.
Elsewhere, clips of Priyanka Chopra dancing to popular Bollywood songs were also shared on Instagram.
It's of little surprise the main event had such talent on the roster, with the family's warm-up parties boasting a list of musical performers that resembled a Grammy's line-up.
In March, the pre-wedding party included the performance by Rihanna, whose last previous high-profile appearance was when she headlined the Super Bowl in 2023. The evening also included sets by Akon and Diljit Dosanjh, the first Punjabi singer ever to perform at Coachella.
Then, when the families hosted a European cruise in May, the roster of performers was equally impressive, with Katy Perry, Andrea Bocelli, the Backstreet Boys, and Pitbull all taking the stage. As if that weren’t enough, Justin Bieber showed up for a surprise performance last week at a pre-wedding event in Mumbai, a gig he was reportedly paid £7.7 million for.
Which celebrities were in attendance?
The guest list (rumored to be up to 1,200 people) has plenty of major names as well, with showbiz A-Lister's rubbing shoulders with world leaders.
In the lead-up to the nuptials, pre-wedding festivities have been attended by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, Ivanka Trump, and Bollywood stars like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Ranveer Singh.
We know even more famous faces will be in attendance at the main event. On Instagram this week, Kim and Khloé Kardashian shared snaps as they arrived at their hotel in Mumbai ahead of the wedding. Meanwhile, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas also arrived on Thursday, which comes as no surprise, given that Anant and Radhika both attended the couple’s wedding festivities back in 2018.
Other celebrities spotted included John Cena, Law Roach, Rajkummar Rao, and former prime minister Tony Blair. According to Vanity Fair, invitations reportedly went out to other former prime ministers, such as Boris Johnson, as well as celebrities like Mike Tyson, David Beckham, and former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Where will the wedding take place?
Mumbai was slightly shut down this weekend, with the Evening Standard reporting that the wedding was being considered a “public event,” much like royal weddings are.
Last Friday, the couple had their main event at the Jio World Convention Center in the Bandra-Kurla Complex, a venue that can hold up to 16,500 people. According to CNN, a red carpet was rolled out for all the star attendees, and the dress code is classical Indian attire.
In addition, other ceremonies took place at Antilia: a 27-story Ambani family tower block that was decorated lavishly ahead of the weekend. This residence, valued at £3.5 billion, was lit up ahead of the nuptials with various colors, and it was also decorated with strings of flowers, while musicians performed live music outside the building hours before of the ceremony.
The wedding took place over the course of three days, with the main ceremony at Jio World Convention Center taking place on Friday 12 July, followed by a “Shubh Ashirwad” divine blessings ceremony on July 13 and a “Mangal Utsav,” or reception, on Sunday, both of which took place in Antilia.
How long have the wedding festivities been going on?
While the wedding proper is only a weekend long, the Ambani wedding festivities are going on seven months now, with the first event—the engagement party—having taken place back in January.
At the beginning of the year, Merchant took part in a mehndi ceremony, where her hands and feet were decorated with henna. The following day, there was an engagement bash, or gol dhana.
Over the months that followed, the celebrations have only gotten bigger and more extravagant, with the families throwing a “pre-wedding party” in March in the city of Jamnagar, where the celebration included fireworks, a feast, and the aforementioned Rihanna performance.
May saw the European cruise, which traveled to various spots across the Mediterranean and included such events as a masquerade ball.
And earlier this July, the couple held a mass wedding, a sangeet (a night of music and dance) and a haldi blessing ceremony.
Sunday marked the end of the nearly year-long wedding proceedings. Now, we have the honeymoon to look forward to!
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