People get married all the time and in most cases, it costs them a pretty penny. We know it’s meant to be the most important and special day of their lives, and maybe we can sort of understand why they choose to spend thousands on it. But that’s hardly the limit, there are people out there who spend not just thousands, not even hundreds of thousands but literal millions on their wedding. And the most expensive ones aren’t even destination weddings. Are you intrigued? Let’s take a look at some of the most expensive weddings of all time.
1. Prince Charles & Lady Diana – $110 million
Prince Charles and Lady Diana sure knew how to throw a memorable wedding. Back in the day, it cost them $48 million, but if you take into consideration currency fluctuations and inflation and adjust what that money would amount to today – it’s $110 million. The ceremony took place in St. Paul’s Cathedral, Diana wore a very impressive dress with a 25-foot train made of antique lace. They had 27 cakes made for the wedding (so you can imagine the number of guests) and the main one was 5 feet tall.
2. Vanisha Mittal & Amit Bhatia – $66 million
First and foremost we should mention that Vanisha Mittal is the daughter of one of the richest men in the world, so it’s probably not that surprising that her wedding was so expensive. First, she had an engagement ceremony at Versailles and then she married Amit Bhatia in France at the historic 17th century Chateau Vaux le Vicomte in 2004. They had Kylie Minogue perform at the wedding (she got paid $330,000 for her 30-minute performance) and then they had fireworks launched from the Eiffel Tower. It was quite a memorable wedding, too bad it didn’t last and they split in 2013.
3. Prince Harry & Meghan Markle – $55 million
The most recent crazy expensive wedding was, of course, the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The ceremony took place in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. The actual location was free for Harry and Meghan, so was the transportation, those are the perks of being a royal. But the security cost them almost half a million dollars and catering amounted to $700k. The wedding was attended by countless celebrities and televised around the world.
4. Prince William & Kate Middleton – $34 million
Prince William also had a very lush wedding, but somehow managed to make it $20 million cheaper than his younger brother. It took place in Westminster Abbey and after the ceremony, William and Kate rode around London in a horse-drawn carriage. It’s been said that just all the flowers at the wedding cost $800K and they had an $80K wedding cake. Makes you wonder what made that cake so special. At the time the wedding was called The Wedding of the Century. It was the first royal wedding in ages and the amount of attention it garnered was absolutely insane.
5. Petra Ecclestone & James Stunt – $16.7 million
Petra is a British heiress, model and fashion designer, daughter of a Formula One billionaire was bound to have a massive and impressive wedding. She wore a $112,000 wedding gown by Vera Wang. The guests attending the wedding got to drink vintage Louis Roederer Cristal champagne and Chateau Petrus wine which costs $5,600 per bottle. The Black Eyed Peas performed at the wedding, there were not one but two firework displays, hot air balloons, and even acrobat performances.
6. Kim Kardashian & Kris Humphries – $10 million
Even though this marriage only lasted 72 days the wedding itself cost $10 million. The wedding had a black and white theme, their wedding cake cost $20K. Kim had three wedding dresses that all amounted to $60K and wore $40K worth of diamonds. Many famous celebs attended the wedding, including but not limited to Ryan Seacrest, Demi Lovato and Robin Thicke. But we all know how that ended, don’t we?
7. Michael Jordan & Yvette Prieto – $10 million
You know it’s going to be an expensive wedding when arguably the greatest basketball player gets married to a gorgeous model. Yvette wore a beautiful silk gown with Swarovski crystals designed by J’Aton Couture and the wedding took place at a church nearby Michael Jordan’s mansion in Florida. The guest list included all sorts of legendary NBA players and they had Robin Thicke and Usher perform at the wedding. It was definitely a party to remember.
8. Wayne Rooney & Coleen McLoughlin – $8 million
Wayne Rooney was the highest paid football player in 2008 and when he married a working-class girl he was dating since he was 16, he made sure to give her a Cinderella wedding. First, they flew their guests to Genoa on a charter plane, then partied on a very expensive yacht, then spend a couple of days partying at 5-star hotels. The actual wedding took place in a gorgeous 17th-century villa and the reception happened at a medieval abbey so all in all, it was a very impressive wedding.
9. Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel – $6.5 million
Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel had an amazing wedding. She wore a custom made Giambattista Valli pink strapless dress that cost $107K and Justin wore a Tom Ford tuxedo. The wedding took place in Italy at the Borgo Egnazia, which is a castle with 63 rooms that’s been converted into a hotel. It was a relatively small wedding that only had 150 guests but the security costs were high and so were the fireworks they had in celebration.
10. George Clooney & Amal Alamuddin – $4.6 million
When you take into consideration that we’ve all been wondering if George Clooney will ever get married for ages $4,6 million isn’t that bad. Amal Alamuddin wore a custom designed dress by Oscar de la Renta that must’ve cost at least a few hundred thousand dollars. The wedding took place in a five-star hotel that can only be reached by boat, and the marriage was officiated by the former mayor of Rome. The guest list included Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Cindy Crawford and many other A-list celebrities.