Not too long ago, the wedding of Isha Ambani, the daughter of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, was considered one of the most extravagant Indian weddings of all time with a cost of 7 billion rupees.
Spread across Udaipur in India, Lake Como in Italy and the Ambani home in Mumbai, the lavish 2018 wedding even included a performance by Beyonce.
But the wedding celebration of Isha's brother Anant to Radhika Merchant, the daughter of industrialist Viren Merchant, seems to have eclipsed that many times over. Beginning in January last year, several pre-wedding celebrations have included eye-popping parties spanning continents, an European cruise party and a roster of international performers that would rival any respectable music festival, from Rihanna to Katy Perry and the Backstreet Boys.
It all culminates next week when Anant and Radhika finally tie the knot at a three-day celebration at the Jio World Centre, a 7.4 hectare business and cultural district in Mumbai owned by the Ambani family's Reliance Industries.
But a week before that, there's a small matter of sangeet, set to take place on Friday. The traditional pre-wedding musical night is themed “celebration of hearts” and promises guests a “night of song, dance and wonder”, according to an invitation seen by The National.
Here's a timeline of events in the Ambani wedding, starting with the engagement party.
The engagement: December 29, 2022
Anant and Radhika got engaged at a temple in Rajasthan in December 2022, surrounded by only family members and close friends.
“Anant and Radhika have known each other for a few years and today’s ceremony commences the formal journey of their marriage in the coming months," Mukesh and his wife Nita Ambani said then. "Both families seek the blessings and good wishes of everyone for Radhika and Anant as they start their journey of togetherness."
The mehendi ceremony: January 18, 2023
Celebrations finally began on January 18 with a mehendi ceremony. A pre-wedding celebration where henna is applied on the bride's hands and feet and on the hands of female members of the bride and groom's families, the event featured plenty of songs and dances. Videos from the ceremony showed Radhika dancing to the Bollywood song Ghar More Pardesiya from the film Kalank.
Pink was the predominant colour of the night as Merchant wore a custom-made fuchsia lehenga by Indian designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla.
“Radhika Merchant is the picture of romantic bliss in this custom-made multicolour resham lehenga embroidered with floral booties and mirrors at her mehendi ceremony,” the designers shared on Instagram.
The engagement party: January 19, 2023
Following the mehendi ceremony, the Ambanis hosted a glittering party on January 19 at their Dh3.6 billion home Antilia in Mumbai.
Anant and Radhika dressed in their traditional best and greeted and posed for photographers. They were soon joined by the rest of the Ambani family – parents Mukesh and Nita; sister Isha and her husband Anand; and brother Akash and his wife Shloka.
A number of Bollywood stars were also in attendance, dressed in traditional outfits. Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone added to the glamour while Shah Rukh Khan's wife Gauri Khan arrived with her son Aryan Khan as a plus one. Shah Rukh, who was then on a promotional tour for his film Pathaan, was also at the party but kept a low profile.
Other stars who attended include Akshay Kumar, Sara Ali Khan, John Abraham, Katrina Kaif and Karan Johar. Actor Arjun Kapoor arrived with his father, producer Boney Kapoor, while Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's date for the night was her daughter Aaradhya, 11.
The pre-wedding party: March 1 to 3, 2024
While Anant and Radhika were spotted together at various events following their engagement, including the star-studded opening of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in April last year, it would be almost a year before their wedding celebrations began.
And the headline-grabbing pre-wedding party in Jamnagar, Gujarat, kicked things off a notch.
Spread over three themed days, the guest list included a who's-who of Bollywood, business leaders, Indian cricketers, politicians and business tycoons.
Featuring choreographed Bollywood-style stage productions, massive fireworks and several themed parties, the pre-wedding event alone is rumoured to have cost more than 12 billion rupees ($144 million), according to India's Financial Express.
UAE businessman and Emaar Properties founder Mohamed Alabaar with his wife, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner as well as Bill Gates and girlfriend Paula Hurd were some of the guests seen arriving at the airport in Jamnagar, a city on the west coast of India.
Performers at the event included Rihanna, who has been on a musical hiatus since 2016 to focus on other projects as well as raising her two children with rapper A$AP Rocky, and Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh.
The event was crafted by ace fashion designer Manish Malhotra, who also dressed the Ambani family and a number of A-list guests.
European cruise party: May 29 - June 1, 2024
The talk of their eye-popping pre-wedding celebration had barely died down, when the Ambanis set off again on a four-day European jaunt, with top Bollywood stars in tow.
While a strict no-phones policy was reportedly in place, videos shared on social media showed performances by the Backstreet Boys and David Guetta aboard a chartered luxury cruise ship.
“It was a retreat for the people that have contributed to our life in different ways,” Radhika told Vogue India of the event.
The 1,200-person guest list included friends and family as well as employees at the Ambani's Reliance Industries, the Merchant family's Encore Healthcare.
The cruise began in Palermo, Sicily and sailed up the Italian coast to Rome. Then on the third day, it stopped at Cannes for a masquerade ball at Chateau de la Croix des Gardes. Perry performed that night, ending the evening with her hit Firework as fireworks lit up the sky.
Pitbull also performed aboard the ship on one of the nights.
The final event was held in Portofino where the Ambanis took over the main square. Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and his son Matteo Bocelli performed at the event.
The sangeet: July 4, 2024
A pre-wedding ceremony which literally translates to "music", sangeet is a musical night where the bride and groom's side perform dance numbers and take part in friendly competitions.
A personalised invite for the event, which The National has seen, reveals the event will take place on July 5 at the Grand Theatre in the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai.
The theme of the night is a “celebration of hearts” and promises guests a “night of song, dance and wonder” with a dress code of “Indian regional glam”.
The main wedding: July 12 - 14, 2024
The Jio World Centre at the heart of Mumbai will be the venue for the main wedding, with celebrations set to begin on July 12.
According to the invitation, the three-day celebration will begin with the “shubh vivaah” or auspicious wedding, with the dress code listed as “Indian traditional”.
This will be followed by “shubh aashirdwad” (the latter word means blessings) on July 13, with guests expected to be dressed in “Indian formal”.
Celebrations will culminate in “mangal utsav” or the wedding reception on July 14 with “Indian chic” being the dress code.
Who's performed at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's wedding?
Rihanna was first up with a rare performance of some of her biggest hits at the pre-wedding celebrations in Jamnagar.
Matching the “elegant cocktail" dress code, she wore a fluorescent green gown by Italian label The Attico.
“I’m here tonight in honour of Anant and Radhika, thank you for having me here. God bless your union, I wish you all the best, congratulations,” she said as she took the stage.
She added: “How many of you believe in love?” before performing her 2011 hit track We Found Love.
Other hits she performed include Diamonds, Work and Wild Thoughts, showcasing the success of her career that has produced eight albums and helped her win nine Grammys.
Dosanjh, a movie and music star, also performed at Jamnagar. Meanwhile, performers on the chartered luxury cruise ship on the Ambani's European cruise include Backstreet Boys, Pitbull and Guetta.
Perry performed at a private chateau in Cannes, while Italian singer Bocelli and his son Matteo Bocelli performed in Portofino.
“It was just the most magical evening,” Radhika told Vogue India. “I had goosebumps.”
Back in Mumbai, Justin Bieber has arrived, and is set to perform at the sangeet on Friday night. Videos shared by Indian media showed the pop star, who arrived via private jet, being escorted out of the airport, dressed in a pink sweatshirt and red bucket hat. Arriving with his entourage, the singer was quickly escorted to a waiting Rolls-Royce as photographers swarmed the car.
