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For better or worse, day-long weddings have become commonplace in cultures around the world. Between Friday night cocktail parties and Sunday brunches, weddings that used to last half a day can easily stretch to three or four days.
But a seven-month wedding is an anomaly — even in The World of Indian Weddings.
On Friday, Anant Ambani — the younger son of Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of India’s largest private sector conglomerate, whose net worth is estimated at $1.5 billion — announced his $1.5 billion fortune. More than $122 billionAccording to Forbes, pharmaceutical heiress Radhika Merchant will take up a position at you will finally get marriedThe couple have been celebrating their engagement since January, with an event every six weeks.
From a star-studded engagement party to performances by stars like Rihanna and Justin Bieber, no expense was spared. If you’ve lost track of the Ambani family’s wedding celebrations and the lavish parties that took place, read on for a complete timeline of what’s set to be the wedding of the year.
On December 29, Anant Ambani kept things quiet when he proposed to Radhika Merchant at a temple in the northern state of Rajasthan surrounded by family and close friends.
Niharika Kulkarni/X07351/Reuters
Actor Ranveer Singh and his actress wife Deepika Padukone attended an engagement party in January.
Merchant attended a traditional mehendi ceremony on January 18, where her hands and feet were decorated with henna. The following day, the couple hosted their Gol Dhana engagement party, which attracted some of the biggest names in Bollywood. Actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh were among the famous faces who attended the event.
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Actors Salman Khan, Ram Charan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan perform during the pre-wedding celebrations.
Don’t be fooled by the name. We meet The Ambani wedding preceded the actual ceremony by more than four months. The event was held in the city of Jamnagar, in the western state of Gujarat, and the event (which took place in 2008) Guest list includes 1200 peopleThe event featured Bollywood-style dancing, fireworks, and a 500-course feast prepared by around 100 chefs. The evening also saw Rihanna perform for only the second time in six years.
The event was a gathering of the rich and powerful. Tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates were in attendance, both Wearing traditional embellished Kashmiri coats – While Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner arrived with their daughter. Before the ceremony, the Ambani family also hosted a mass dinner for over 50,000 villagers outside Jamnagar.
The Ambani family embarked on a four-day European cruise on a chartered luxury liner, starting in the Sicilian city of Palermo and ending in Rome. Despite a strict no-phones policy, videos leaked on social media showed onboard concerts by the Backstreet Boys, Pitbull and David Guetta.
There were a few stops along the way, too: a masquerade ball at the Chateau de la Croix des Gardes in Cannes featured a performance by Katy Perry, while an evening event in Portofino on the Italian Riviera saw the main square closed to the public, before Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli performed for guests.
July 2-5: Mass wedding and music night
Divyakant Solanki/EPA/Shutterstock
Brides and grooms perform rituals during a mass wedding for underprivileged couples hosted by Anant Ambani’s parents, Nita and Mukesh.
On July 2, the couple held a mass wedding, also known as a “Samoh Vivah,” in the town of Palghar, about 70 miles from Mumbai. More than 50 underprivileged couples were invited to receive gifts ranging from gold ornaments to a year’s worth of groceries.
A few days later, at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (an arts centre in Mumbai founded by Anant’s mother, Nita), the Ambanis hosted a traditional night of music and dance, known as a “sangeet,” which included a live performance by Justin Bieber.
On Monday, the couple took part in a “haldi” ceremony, a pre-wedding ritual where friends and family bless the couple by applying turmeric paste to their heads, faces or bodies. The couple appeared to have kept the event private, though photos later shared online showed the couple dressed in matching gold and yellow outfits — a jewel-encrusted merchant in Custom group Designed by famous Indian fashion designer Anamika Khanna, the groom is in Kurta and jacket Written by Sandeep Khosla.
Friday: Main Event
The wedding is set to kick off on Friday at the 16,000-capacity Geo World Convention Center, complete with a red carpet showcasing A-listers dressed — according to the dress code — in classic Indian garb. Rumors are swirling online about the lineup of artists involved, from Adele and Drake to Lana Del Rey, but one thing is certain: no expense will be spared.
PUNIT PARANJPEE/AFP/Getty Images
The Ambani family home, Antilia, which will host some of the weekend’s celebrations, has been lavishly decorated ahead of the ceremony.
The day after the wedding will witness one of the final stages of the Hindu wedding calendar: the “Shob Ashirwad” or divine blessings ceremony. Here, the couple seeks “ashirwad” or blessings from the elders of their community, and is usually showered with rose petals or rice as they walk down the aisle again.
The lavish celebrations will conclude on Sunday with a final celebration for the couple: the reception. Guests will be dressed in “Indian chic.” The events are expected to take place Saturday and Sunday at the Ambani family’s 27-storey residence in Antalya.
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