ByOlivia Craighead,
a news writer for the Cut who covers pop culture and celebrity.Previously, she wrote about pop culture and entertainment at Gawker.
Photo: Vijay Bate/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
The biggest wedding of the year took place this past weekend. Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant tied the knot after months of anticipation. The couple had previously thrown two huge pre-wedding celebrations — a multi-day party in India and a Mediterranean cruise — but their actual nuptialswere even more grand. Here, everything you need to know about the wedding.
Who are Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant?
Anant Ambani is the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in Asia. Mukesh is the head of Reliance Industries, one of those massive conglomerates that deal in energy, oil, telecommunications, and entertainment all at once. Radhika Merchant’s father is Viren Merchant, the billionaire CEO of Encore Healthcare. Both Anant and Radhika work for their respective fathers’ companies.
The couple has been together since 2017 when they met through mutual friends. “That first meeting just sparked something special between us, and it wasn’t long before we started dating,” Merchant told Vogue in March. The two have a shared passion for animals, with Ambani recently opening Vantara, the largest animal-rehabilitation center in the world. Merchant told Vogue she hoped the spectacle of their wedding festivities would bring attention to the sanctuary.
They have already had two lavish pre-wedding celebrations.
I feel like I already heard about these two getting married, you may be thinking to yourself. That is probably because Ambani and Merchant have had two high-profile pre-wedding celebrations, both of which scored a coveted Vogue Weddings placement.
In March, the couple kicked things off with a massive weekend-long party in Jamnagar, India. You might have seen videos of Rihanna performing (which she reportedly did for a cool $9 million). The guest list at the party featured many big-name CEOs including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Bob Iger, and Sundar Pichai. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner scored invites. And from the Bollywood world, Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan both attended.
Then, in May, the couple kept the good times rolling with a four-day Mediterranean cruise. As with the other pre-wedding event, the guest list included 1,200 people, many of whom were friends of the couple who live in the U.S. or Europe and couldn’t make it to India for the first celebration. The couple settled on a cruise after struggling to find a venue that could accommodate 1,200 people. Instead of Rihanna, the cruise attendees were treated to Backstreet Boys and a DJ set from David Guetta one night, performances from Katy Perry and Pitbull on another, and on the last night, guests enjoyed a sunset performance of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” from Andrea Bocelli. In their second Voguefeature, Merchant told the magazine, “It was just the most magical evening.” I bet!
Justin Bieber performed at a pre-wedding ceremony.
This past Friday, the couple held their sangeet — a pre-wedding ceremony focused on music, dancing, and celebrating the happiness of the couple. As part of the celebration, Justin Bieber performed a set that included hits like “Sorry,” “Love Yourself,” and “Where Are U Now.”
According to reports from Times of India, the singer was paid a whopping $10 million for his set. That’ll buy a lot of organic diapers for the little nugget he’s expecting with Hailey.
Look at that smile; he looks so happy! You probably would be too if you were about to make $10 million for performing in your street clothes.
Their wedding is going to be huge.
After months and months of buildup, the couple will finally tie the knot on the weekend of July 12. It will be another multiday affair, this time in Mumbai at the Ambani family home, a 27-story building called Antilia. For the Bieber concert, they used the Ambani-owned Jio World Convention Centre, which can fit more than 16,000 people.
Who is on the guest list?
On Thursday, just before the festivities were set to kick off, Kim and Khloé Kardashian arrived in Mumbai for the wedding. Since touching down, the sisters have been dutifully posting about their time in India on their Instagram stories. In one post, Kim wrote, “Duh we’re filming The Kardashians too so you guys can see Kim and Khloé Take India.” I salute them for knowing what the people want.
The Times of India reports that other entertainment-adjacent guests include the artist Jeff Koons and self-help guru/professional famous-person friend Jay Shetty. On Friday, professional wrestler and actor John Cena arrived in Mumbai for the wedding, opting for a dadcore outfit of a navy T-shirt and cargo shorts.
Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas are also on the guest list. Jonas shared a video of himself and Chopra on the way to a wedding event, having a big laugh to Aqua’s “Barbie Girl.” They also revealed that the wedding hashtag is simply #AnantAndRadhika. No pun … classy!
The wedding didn’t just bring out stars. There were some serious players from both politics and business at the function as well. Former U.K. prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson werethere alongside former secretary of State John Kerry. CEOs from companies like Lockheed Martin, Adobe, Morgan Stanley, and BP werealso in attendance, presumably vying to get selfies with the Kardashians to send to their children. On Saturday at the wedding reception, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, made an appearance.
The big names started trickling in to Ambani and Merchant’s ceremony on Friday, including Chopra and Jonas, Blair, Cena, and Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.
Photo: Raju Shinde/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Photo: Raju Shinde/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Photo: Prodip Guha/Getty Images
Photo: Raju Shinde/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Anant and his parents were also there, of course, dressed to the nines and looking very much like this is just another family event for them.
Photo: Raju Shinde/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Who did they get to perform?
Given the big names that appeared at the pre-wedding celebrations, it was hard to guess who was going to perform at the actual wedding. You’ll actually never believe who they booked.
Yeah, they got Luis Fonsi to play “Despacito.” If I had all the money in the world, I would also probably hire singers to show up and perform my favorite song.(“Yes, I’d just like Ms. Gomez to sing ‘Hands to Myself’ and then she can leave.”) According to the New York Times, there were also performances by Afrobeats star Remaand the Indian singerSukhbir. On Sunday, guests were treated to a performance from Indian music legends A.R. Rahman and Shreya Ghoshal.
What did Merchant’s wedding dress look like?
Of course, there wasn’t just one. Merchant didn’t walk the carpet alongside her husband, but thankfully her stylist, Rhea Kapoor, shared all of her outfits. On Friday, Merchant wore an ivoryzardozi-cutwork lehenga by the designer Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla.
On Saturday, Merchant wore another Khosla design, this time in collaboration with the artistJayasri Burman. Burman spent a month painting 16 hours a day on Italian canvas in order to create Merchant’s pink lehenga.
Finally, on Sunday, Merchant wore a Dolce & Gabbana corset and a custom sari from Anamika Khanna.
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