With pre-parties featuring performances by pop stars Rihanna and Justin Bieber, the wedding of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant was never going to be a low-key affair.
The groom is the son of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, and the bride is the daughter of the founders of a pharmaceutical company.
While the festivities have been the fodder of tabloids and have snowballed into a pop culture phenomenon (more on that later), this weekend marks the culmination of all the hype, akin to a grand final of fashion.
It’s been dubbed the wedding of the year.
Their wedding celebrations kicked off in Mumbai on Friday with all the fanfare of a Hollywood red-carpet event.
While the ceremony was on Friday, there will be another three days of celebrations with some big names expected to attend, including:
- Media personalities Kim and Khloé Kardashian
- Boxer Mike Tyson
- Former UK prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson
- Soccer legend David Beckham
- Singers Adele and Lana Del Rey, and rapper Drake
Here are some of the looks we’ve seen so far:
A massive build-up
The wedding events kicked off back in March with a three-day party for 1,200 guests with performances by Rihanna, Akon and Diljit Dosanjh.
Among the guest list were former world leaders, tech tycoons and Bollywood megastars — to give you an idea of the scale of the event, tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates were there.
In May, the family took guests on a three-day cruise from Italy to France, which reportedly included performances by Katy Perry as well as Pitbull.
Then, last week, Bieber sang at a pre-wedding concert that included performances by Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh and Salman Khan.
It’s been a pretty big deal.
The hype is so intense that Indian TV news channels are broadcasting minute-by-minute details of the celebrations.
As for what goes on inside, that’s a bit of a mystery.
Photographers from news agencies like Reuters and Associate Press were there to capture pictures of people arriving, but media access was reportedly restricted.
“Most of Ambani’s celebrations are closely guarded,” Reuters reports.
An unnamed guest told Reuters they expected organisers to put tape on the camera lenses of guests’ phones to stop them from taking photos.
But we’ve already seen a few snippets on social media, including ones from Kim and Khloé Kardashian showing off their wedding outfits.
Here’s a screenshot of the two sisters, posted as a temporary story on Khloé’s Instagram account:
With more festivities planned for the newlyweds, we’re expecting more to come as the weekend unfolds.
SOURCE: ABCNEWS
