10 Most Expensive Weddings of All Time
Some couples cut the cake and call it a day. Others apparently decide that a wedding isn’t complete without private jets, imported marble, or a guest list that reads like a world leaders’ summit. This list rounds up ten of the most expensive weddings ever documented, ranked by their reported price tags, from merely jaw-dropping to genuinely absurd.
We pulled these from widely reported figures in entertainment and business press, since exact receipts for billionaire weddings rarely become public record. Where estimates vary, we’ve leaned toward the most commonly cited numbers. Get ready to feel very normal about your own wedding budget.
#10. Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky
When the daughter of a former U.S. President gets married, the Secret Service alone adds a line item most couples never see. Chelsea Clinton’s 2010 wedding to investment banker Marc Mezvinsky took place at an estate in Rhinebeck, New York, with reported costs estimated at three to four million dollars. The event required rerouting local air traffic and sealing off the surrounding area for security.
Guests included Vera Wang, who designed the gown, and a substantial security detail that reportedly outnumbered the waitstaff. The ceremony blended Methodist and Jewish traditions, reflecting the couple’s backgrounds.
#9. Liza Minnelli and David Gest
Liza Minnelli’s 2002 marriage to producer David Gest at New York’s Marble Collegiate Church was less a wedding and more a Hollywood reunion special. Reported costs hovered around four million dollars, fueled by an A-list guest list that included Michael Jackson as best man and Elizabeth Taylor as matron of honor. The reception at The Regent Wall Street hotel featured elaborate floral displays and a star-studded performance lineup.
The marriage famously lasted barely over a year, making it one of the shortest unions on this pricey list.
#8. Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries
This 2011 wedding became a reality TV event as much as a personal milestone, with estimates of the total cost commonly cited around ten to twelve million dollars. The ceremony at a Montecito estate featured a Vera Wang gown, elaborate florals, and a guest list packed with celebrities. Much of the spending was tied to the broadcast special built around the event.
The marriage lasted just 72 days, making the cost-per-day of wedded bliss almost comically high.
#7. Petra Ecclestone and James Stunt
The daughter of Formula One magnate Bernie Ecclestone married art dealer James Stunt in 2011 at a 15th-century castle in Italy, with reported costs estimated in the range of fifteen to seventeen million dollars. The celebration reportedly included a Rolling Stones-style tribute performance and extravagant floral installations flown in for the occasion. Security and logistics for the private castle venue added significantly to the total.
The couple later divorced, but the wedding itself remains one of the most talked-about European society events of the 2010s.
#6. Prince William and Kate Middleton
The 2011 royal wedding at Westminster Abbey carried an estimated total cost around thirty-four million dollars, though the bulk of that figure came from security and policing rather than the ceremony itself. Millions watched the broadcast worldwide, and the event included a horse-drawn carriage procession and a public balcony kiss at Buckingham Palace. Kate’s gown, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, became instantly iconic.
Unlike many weddings on this list, much of the spending went toward public celebration infrastructure rather than private luxury.
#5. Prince Charles and Princess Diana
The 1981 wedding at St Paul’s Cathedral was a global television event, watched by an estimated several hundred million people. Adjusted for inflation, the total cost is often estimated near forty-eight million dollars, covering the elaborate ceremony, Diana’s dramatic silk taffeta gown with its 25-foot train, and a glass coach procession through London. Security, decorations, and the sheer scale of the public spectacle drove costs well beyond a typical royal affair.
The main wedding cake alone stood five feet tall and was reportedly just one of several cakes made for the occasion.
#4. Vanisha Mittal and Amit Bhatia
Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal spared no expense for his daughter’s 2004 wedding, with reported costs estimated between fifty-five and sixty million dollars. The six-day celebration spanned multiple European venues, including a 17th-century French palace for the main ceremony, and featured performances by Bollywood stars and lavish fireworks displays. Guests were flown in and housed at luxury accommodations throughout the event.
At the time, it was widely described by media outlets as the most expensive wedding ever recorded, a title it held for years before later being surpassed.
#3. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's Son's Wedding
Back in 1981, the wedding of the son of the ruler of Dubai was long cited as a Guinness World Record holder for the most expensive wedding ever, with costs estimated around forty-four million dollars at the time. Adjusted for inflation, that figure translates to well over one hundred fifty million dollars in today’s terms. Held in a specially built stadium, the celebration reportedly drew around 20,000 guests over several days, with performances, elaborate feasts, and extensive construction undertaken specifically for the occasion.
Later celebrations, including the Ambani weddings on this list, have since surpassed it in reported cost, but it’s still referenced as a historic benchmark for Gulf wedding extravagance.
#2. Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta
The 2019 wedding of Akash Ambani, son of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, to Shloka Mehta was reported by multiple outlets to have cost well over one hundred million dollars across its various pre-wedding events and ceremonies. Festivities spanned months and continents, including a guest list featuring global celebrities and political figures. The scale of catering, decor, and security reportedly rivaled state events.
The celebrations included multiple elaborate pre-wedding functions, each reportedly rivaling the main ceremony in scale and spectacle.
#1. Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal
Topping the list is the 2018 wedding of Isha Ambani, daughter of Mukesh Ambani, to businessman Anand Piramal. Widely reported estimates place the total cost of the celebrations, which stretched across multiple cities and countries over several weeks, at over one hundred million dollars, with some reports suggesting figures approaching two hundred million when all pre-wedding events are included. International celebrities performed at various functions, and the guest list included global business and political elites.
Reports indicated that Beyoncé performed at a pre-wedding event in Udaipur, while Coldplay performed at another segment of the extended celebrations, cementing its reputation as the priciest wedding ever recorded.
Somewhere between Chelsea Clinton’s Rhinebeck estate and the Ambani family’s multi-continent extravaganzas, the definition of an expensive wedding got completely rewritten. Whether these price tags represent love, status, or sheer spectacle probably depends on who’s footing the bill, but one thing is certain: the cake at any of these events was definitely not from a grocery store.
