The of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant is set to be the ultimate celebration of extravagance, exclusivity, and exuberance. The childhood sweethearts will tie the knot in a lavish three day ceremony held at the Jio World Convention Centre in , and if the pre-wedding parties are anything to go by, the ceremony will be the last word in luxury. Think nine pages of dress code for 1000 A-lister guests, custom Versace gowns, $152 million dollar budgets, performances from the likes of Rhianna and Justin Beiber, and an 800-person Mediterranean cruise with a Roman toga party to boot.
Yes, that’s all the big day. It’s what you’d expect from ’s most powerful family: the youngest son of Asia’s richest man (and the world’s 10th richest), Mukesh Ambani, Anant is partial heir to the family's $118 billion fortune – and his bride-to-be, Merchant, is the daughter of similarly wealthy pharmaceutical tycoons. Recently, an inside source vouched for the sheer star power of the Ambani celebrations to : ‘They flex huge social and financial influence .
.. no one would turn down an invitation.
They’re a marker of the social pecking order.’ So it’s the word on everybody’s lips, the talk of the town, the subject of months worth of spiralling rumours: who has their name on the Ambani wedding guest list? Which of the great, the good, and the gilded have bagged an invitation to this most illustrious of events? The Hollywood elite have already been flying in to kick off the celebrations at the Ambani wedding. Khloe and Kim Kardashian were photographed arriving in Mumbai, bringing some Calabasas sunshine to the so-called City of Dreams.
Actress and model Priyanka Chopra and her husband Joe Jonas embodied jet-setting chic in relaxed knit co-ords as they touched down in India. Also announced on the estimated 1,200-strong invite list? The upper echelons of British , with a cross-bench alliance swapping party politics, well, . Former prime ministers and Tony Blair are apparently set to attend, both no doubt with plenty to say about the recent General Election – though perhaps they’ll put partisanship behind them to celebrate the Ambanis’ big day.
And it’s not only British politicians rumoured to be making their way to Mumbai for the event. The former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, will join former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, former US Secretary of State John Kerry, and Hilary Clinton at the wedding. And from politics to penalties: David and Beckham are reportedly joining the international elite to celebrate Anant and Radhika.
Joining them will be swathes of international business billionaires, from banking CEOs to pharmaceutical giants. And they will certainly be entertained. According to the , those lucky enough to have a seat at this most prestigious of parties will be serenaded by the likes of Adele, Drake, and Lana del Rey.
Safe to say, the Ambanis know how to throw a party. Who could forget their pre-wedding celebration in March? Among the household names present at the festival were Karlie Kloss, Ivanka Trump, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. They were joined by legends of cricket, politicians, the King and Queen of Bhutan and Larry Fink.
Along with the hundreds of other guests, these global elites travelled to Jamangar, Gujarat, , to revel in the three day celebration. The 1,200 guests enjoyed the world’s largest drone show, and an exclusive set from superstar singer Rhianna. The dress code formed an interesting part of the Ambanis' approach to curating the atmosphere.
The theme of the first night was ‘An Evening in Everland’; the second was ‘Walk on the Wild side’ (which prompted an animal parade from the groom’s 3000-acre animal sanctuary); and for ‘Mela Rouge’, the guests dived into a French reverie. The theme for this week's big day? Formal Indian attire. Expect the height of luxury.
That was swiftly followed by hosted by the pair for 800 of their A-lister friends at the end of May, which involved a three-day sail from Palermo to Portofino, with a masquerade ball and a Roman toga party to boot. So far, no expense has been spared on this wedding-to-end-all- . Merchant marked her bachelorette last month with a ‘Princess Diaries' themed event, bringing together some of her closest friends for the big bash.
Janhvi Kapoor posed images of the party to her page, writing, ‘A Princess Diaries Royal slumber party for the most special bride.’ The snaps revealed the bride opted for a pair of white feathered pyjamas and glittering slippers, while her friends donned matching pink pj sets and tiaras. The group were treated to an evening of and frivolity, dining on pink treats and even sliding down an huge installed slide on girly-pink cushions.
Outside of their undoubtable party planning skills, the family have plenty of passions to complement their superstar status. Concerned about animal welfare since childhood, Ambani recently launched Vantara, a 3,000-acre animal shelter, which was toured by VIP guests during the couple's pre-wedding party in Jamnagar. Merchant has said that she hopes the wedding will bring ‘global attention to Vantara’, calling it ‘a project that my husband and I hold very close in our hearts’.
The pair's shared commitments are clearly a bond for them, and Ambani has previously expressed his adoration his wife-to-be. Speaking at their pre-wedding festivities, he said: ‘I am 100% the lucky one. It feels like I met Radhika yesterday, but every day, I fall more and more in love.
’ The groom’s parents are key influences on his life, and he – and Radhika – are frequently pictured with them at events, and no doubt they’ll be looking forward to their son’s big day this weekend. Mukesh is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries (one of the largest private sector corporations in India); his wife, Nita, is a prominent philanthropist, patron of the arts and a champion of women's rights. The family has ties with the UK on several fronts.
Firstly, 2019 saw Mukesh Ambani purchase the stalwart of the British high street, for an undisclosed sum. The Ambanis also own the grand Stoke Park in , which was reportedly bought for a grand sum of £57 million. The spectacular Georgian pile is a remarkable feat of British design, from the Capability Brown parklands to the James Wyatt architecture.
The family home was turned into an English country club in 1908, where its members included Prince Albert. The is a stone’s throw from and Cliveden, firmly placing the Ambanis in the centre of British countryside society life. Their home in is similarly regal, with an Indian-based socialite previously telling that their vast apartment block ‘looks nothing like Buckingham Palace but essentially it is Buckingham Palace in that it’s the most luxurious real estate in Mumbai and the general will know the .
’ The ‘tower’, called Antilia, boasts a ballroom, a 50-seat , a temple, three helipads, a 168-car garage and enough space for a staff of 600. The source goes on to explain that whilst ‘everyone in Mumbai knows who the Ambani family is,’ the family are reasonably private. Until, that is, they throw what promises to be one of the most extravagant events of the year.
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