Recently, everyone has been talking about Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s big wedding. Anant is Mukesh Ambani’s youngest son, and Mukesh is a very rich and famous businessman in India. Radhika is the daughter of another well-known businessman, Viren A. Merchant.
The wedding took place from July 12 to 14 at the Jio World Convention Center in Mumbai. It was a huge, shiny event with lots of famous people and splashy decorations.
The wedding started on a Friday and went on past midnight. The couple did traditional rituals, like exchanging garlands and walking around a holy fire.
A Fancy Wedding Party
After the wedding, people couldn’t stop talking about the expensive gifts Anant gave his close friends. Reports say Anant gave each of his groomsmen a very fancy Audemars Piguet watch worth $200,000.
These watches were a hot topic online. Guests shared videos showing off the watch gift hampers, and everyone was amazed by Anant’s generosity.
Anant ordered 25 special edition Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Luminary Edition watches. Some of the famous people who got these watches include Shah Rukh Khan, Ranveer Singh, Shikhar Pahariya, Veer Pahariya, and Meezaan Jafri. Social media posts showed these celebrities with their new watches.
The watch has a 41 mm pink gold case, is 9.5 mm thick, and has a see-through back with a secure crown. It also has a pink gold dial with a unique pattern, blue counters, pink gold hour markers, and glow-in-the-dark hands. Moreover, it shows the week, day, date, moon phase, month, leap year, and time.
Gifts for Reliance Employees
Anant’s friends weren’t the only ones who got gifts; Reliance employees also received something. Many employees posted photos and videos of a red gift box on social media. Inside the box was Haldiram Bhujia (a tasty Indian snack), and there was gold lettering on it that said: “With the divine grace of our gods and goddesses, we celebrate the wedding of Anant and Radhika. Best wishes, Nita and Mukesh Ambani.”
High Profile Guests
The celebrations didn’t stop there. The Ambanis held a special “blessing ceremony” for friends and family to meet the couple and wish them well. Even India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, came to a reception on Saturday night. The newlyweds showed respect by touching Modi’s feet and asking for his blessings.
Some international stars attended too! Reality TV star Kim Kardashian and professional wrestler John Cena were there. Kim and her sister Khloé even took a ride in a motorized rickshaw around Mumbai before joining the wedding. Many international guests wore traditional Indian outfits created by famous Indian designers. Cena and Nick Jonas also wore embroidered sherwanis (a traditional Indian outfit).
The guest list was full of bigger-than-life personalities like former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, former U.S. special envoy John Kerry, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser, and stars like Adele, Lana Del Rey, Drake, and David Beckham. Bollywood legends Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Ranbir Kapoor danced at the wedding. Famous cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and others were also there.
Star-Studded Performances and Entertainment
A Nigerian artist named Rema performed at the wedding for a reported $3 million. The Ambani family spent about $100 million on the wedding, but some think it might be even more – possibly up to half a billion dollars! This money went towards hiring musicians, booking private jets, and feeding nearby communities in need. Roads around the venue were closed to the public, and the groom led a parade of luxury cars to begin the celebrations.
Pre-Wedding Celebrations
The wedding finale was the highlight, but it wasn’t the first event for Anant and Radhika. In March, the Ambani family invited over a thousand guests to their estate in Jamnagar, India. Big names like Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton, and Ivanka Trump attended. High security and luxury were the order of the day.
In the months before the wedding, there were many events and performances. Stars like Rihanna, Akon, and Diljit Dosanjh performed. There was even a three-day cruise from Italy to France with shows by Katy Perry and Pitbull. The Ambani family also organized a mass wedding for 50 underprivileged couples as part of the festivities.
Before the wedding, Justin Bieber performed for hundreds of guests. Bollywood stars Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, and Salman Khan also did performances. Beyoncé had performed at events for Anant’s sister’s wedding back in 2018.
Background on the Ambani Family
Mukesh Ambani is one of the richest men in the world with $116 billion. His 27-story house in Mumbai is just one of his many properties. Anant, who is 29 years old, manages the company’s green energy business and runs an animal rescue center in Gujarat. Radhika, also 29, is the daughter of a pharmaceutical tycoon and is a director at Encore Healthcare.
This grand wedding has made people talk about the huge gap between the rich and the poor in India. Traffic around the wedding venue was rerouted to control the guest flow, amidst Mumbai’s heavy monsoon rains causing flooding and flight delays.