From royalty to reality TV, Forbes compiled a list of 15 outrageously pricey weddings from around the world. Some were decadent and others more discreet, but all subscribed to the notion that bigger is better.
When it comes to getting married, the rich are really no different than you or me: They want to have weddings to remember. Their financial firepower just gives them more ways to pump up the drama than the average U.S. bride and groom with a $24,000 budget.
1. Princess Salama to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
$100 million, 1981 (today’s dollars)
To hold a really large wedding it helps to have a large venue, such as the 20,000-seat stadium specially built for the crown prince of Abu Dhabi for his 1981 wedding to Princess Salama.
2. Charles, Prince of Wales, to Diana Spencer
$70 million, 1981 (today’s dollars)
There are special expenses when royalty weds, including mob control. Part of the millions spent on the fairy-tale wedding of the decade was allotted to ensure tight crowd surveillance. The joy of the occasion would later turn to ashes, proving that the amount spent on the wedding does not necessarily equate to the likelihood it will succeed.
$60 million, 2005
Six days, 100 guests, the Palace of Versailles, free jet transportation to France for the ceremonies, five-star hotels, fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, can-can girls, all these expenses add up–in this case, a total of $60 million.
$30 million, 2005
Entertainment was an important part of the wedding between this Russian billionaire and model, with performances by Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, and Julio Iglesias, each of whom raked in an estimated $3.6 million for the gig.
$20 million, 2006
Take 600 guests for a 10-day wedding celebration and jet them from city to city in India, and you have the foundation for an over-the-top opulent wedding. Chatwal (nicknamed the “turban cowboy”), owner of luxurious hotels such as Dream New York, managed to bring the event in at a tidy $20 million.
6. Coleen McLoughlin to Wayne Rooney
$8 million, 2008
When you’re a soccer star like Wayne Rooney, you get paid $4 million by a magazine like OK! for exclusive access to your wedding. Rooney made the wedding a week-long celebration for 65 of the couple’s closest friends, on the Italian Riviera.
7. Delphine Arnault to Alessandro Vallarino Gancia
$7 million, 2005
When one of the richest women in France marries the heir to an Italian wine dynasty, one would expect certain extravagances in the ceremony, such as a reception at the Chateau d’Yquem, home of the world’s most famous sauterne wine.
8. Chelsea Clinton to Marc Mezvinsky
$5 million, 2010
The world watched Chelsea Clinton grow up, but when it came time to wed, the nuptials were performed in front of a much smaller audience at the Astor Courts estate in New York, built originally for John Jacob Astor IV.
9. Trista Rehn to Ryan Sutter
$4 million, 2003
Talk about having a large audience for your wedding–Rehn and Sutter, who met on the ABC show The Bachelorette, were married in front of 17 million viewers, with the $3.7 million price tag paid for by the network.
10. Liza Minnelli to David Gest
$3.5 million, 2002
With Michael Jackson as best man and a host of the famous, from Elton John to Barbara Walters, in attendance, who would have thought that Minnelli’s fourth wedding, to the tune of $3.5 million, would be in shambles less than a year and a half later?
When it comes to getting married, the rich are really no different than you or me: They want to have weddings to remember. Their financial firepower just gives them more ways to pump up the drama than the average U.S. bride and groom with a $24,000 budget.
1. Princess Salama to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
To hold a really large wedding it helps to have a large venue, such as the 20,000-seat stadium specially built for the crown prince of Abu Dhabi for his 1981 wedding to Princess Salama.
2. Charles, Prince of Wales, to Diana Spencer
There are special expenses when royalty weds, including mob control. Part of the millions spent on the fairy-tale wedding of the decade was allotted to ensure tight crowd surveillance. The joy of the occasion would later turn to ashes, proving that the amount spent on the wedding does not necessarily equate to the likelihood it will succeed.
3. Vanisha Mittal to Amit Bhatia
Six days, 100 guests, the Palace of Versailles, free jet transportation to France for the ceremonies, five-star hotels, fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, can-can girls, all these expenses add up–in this case, a total of $60 million.
4. Aleksandra Nikolic to Andrey Melnichenko
Entertainment was an important part of the wedding between this Russian billionaire and model, with performances by Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, and Julio Iglesias, each of whom raked in an estimated $3.6 million for the gig.
5. Priya Sachdev to Vikram Chatwal
Take 600 guests for a 10-day wedding celebration and jet them from city to city in India, and you have the foundation for an over-the-top opulent wedding. Chatwal (nicknamed the “turban cowboy”), owner of luxurious hotels such as Dream New York, managed to bring the event in at a tidy $20 million.
6. Coleen McLoughlin to Wayne Rooney
When you’re a soccer star like Wayne Rooney, you get paid $4 million by a magazine like OK! for exclusive access to your wedding. Rooney made the wedding a week-long celebration for 65 of the couple’s closest friends, on the Italian Riviera.
7. Delphine Arnault to Alessandro Vallarino Gancia
When one of the richest women in France marries the heir to an Italian wine dynasty, one would expect certain extravagances in the ceremony, such as a reception at the Chateau d’Yquem, home of the world’s most famous sauterne wine.
8. Chelsea Clinton to Marc Mezvinsky
The world watched Chelsea Clinton grow up, but when it came time to wed, the nuptials were performed in front of a much smaller audience at the Astor Courts estate in New York, built originally for John Jacob Astor IV.
9. Trista Rehn to Ryan Sutter
Talk about having a large audience for your wedding–Rehn and Sutter, who met on the ABC show The Bachelorette, were married in front of 17 million viewers, with the $3.7 million price tag paid for by the network.
10. Liza Minnelli to David Gest
With Michael Jackson as best man and a host of the famous, from Elton John to Barbara Walters, in attendance, who would have thought that Minnelli’s fourth wedding, to the tune of $3.5 million, would be in shambles less than a year and a half later?
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