Everything There Is to Know About the Extravagant Ambani Wedding

There are weddings, and then there’s the Ambani wedding.

This weekend, all eyes will be turned to Mumbai as Anant Ambani—the youngest son of billionaire private-sector mogul Mukesh Ambani—and Radhika Merchant, the heiress to a pharmaceutical family dynasty, tie 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.

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 $100 million. And 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 mind is: Just how much will 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 $132 million to $156 million).

Other estimates have been even higher. The Daily Mail crunched the numbers and estimated that the wedding has to have cost approximately $320 million, considering the price of security, transportation, food, and money paid to performers. (When Rihanna showed up to the pre-wedding ceremony in March, it was believed she got a check for around $7 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 $123.3 billion, and he ranks as the 11th-richest man in the world.

Who will perform at the main event?

Although details are still unknown, it is believed the main wedding event will feature quite the headline-grabbing name, with several outlets floating rumors that Drake, Adele, or Lana Del Rey will perform at the ceremony.

None of these stars would come as a huge surprise, given that the list of musical performers for the pre-wedding festivities has looked like a Grammys lineup.

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 (casual). The evening also included sets bt 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 $10 million for.

Given that a previous Ambani wedding featured a performance by Beyoncé, we’re guessing that no prediction is too big at this point.

What celebrities will be in attendance?

While the musical performer is sure to be an A-lister, the guest list (rumored to be up to 1,200 people) will include plenty of major names as well.

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 in the area have included John Cena, Law Roach, Rajkummar Rao, and former British prime minister Tony Blair. According to Vanity Fair, invitations reportedly went out to other former prime ministers, like 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 will be slightly shut down this weekend, with the Evening Standard reporting that the wedding is being considered a “public event,” much like royal weddings are.

On Friday, the couple will have 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 will be rolled out for all the star attendees, and the dress code is classical Indian attire.

In addition, there will be other ceremonies taking place at Antilia, a 27-story Ambani family tower block that has been decorated lavishly ahead of the weekend. This residence, valued at $4.6 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 ahead of the ceremony.

This weekend, the wedding will take place over the course of three days, with the main ceremony at Jio World Convention Center taking place on Friday, July 12, followed by a “Shubh Ashirwad” divine blessings ceremony on July 13 and a “Mangal Utsav,” or reception, on Sunday, both of which will take 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.

This Sunday should mark the end of the nearly year-long wedding proceedings. And then we have the honeymoon to look forward to!

Joel is the editorial and social media assistant for HarpersBAZAAR.com, where he covers all things celebrity news. When he steps away from the keyboard, you can likely find him singing off-key at concerts, scavenging thrift stores for loud wardrobe staples, or perusing bookstores for the next great gay romance novel.