The wedding is a process of acceptance among a couple, but how much can this wedlock cost, speaks of the terrible money explosion on its accomplishment. Amid heart-rending poverty, pangs of hunger and unattended deadly aches of growing chaps with fatal ailments, the marriage ceremonial expenditures seem to laugh at the dying souls.
Last year an Aurangabad businessman gifted 90 houses to homeless poor on his daughter’s wedding in India. Manoj Munot had reportedly planned to spend Rs 70-80 lakh on his daughter’s wedding before he decided to use it for a better cause. This example can be used as a trendsetter to channelize the use of money on weddings in a more productive way.
Here are the five high profile most expensive wedlocks of the world with its statistical details,
1. Prince Charles & Diana – $110 million
Yes, her puff-sleeved, ruffled, silk taffeta gown–decorated with lace, embroidery, sequins, and around 10,000 tiny pearls–wasn’t exactly understated. But then neither was anything else about Diana’s royal wedding to Prince Charles in 1981.
Though their wedding took place decades ago, no other wedding has come close to Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s. Witnessed personally by 3,500 people and broadcasted to 750 million TV viewers from around the globe the Royal Wedding between Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981 is simply the most expensive wedding ever.
Princess Diana’s wedding gown was covered in 10,000 pearls and had a 25-foot train. She was chauffeured in a glass coach from her place to the cathedral. However, the marriage suffered greatly as both Charles and Diana participated in flirtations with other people. The royal couple divorced in 1996, a year before Diana met her tragic end in a car crash along with her lover, Egyptian businessman Dodi Fayed.
2. Vanisha Mittal & Amit Bhatia –$66 million
Vanisha Mittal is the daughter of Lakshmi Mittal, one of the richest men in the world. Not surprisingly, her wedding to Amit Bhatia is one of the most extravagant ever. The wedding was held at the historic 17th century Chateau Veaux le Vicomte near Paris in 2004. An engagement ceremony prior to the wedding took place at the Palace of Versailles.
International recording artists and actress Kylie Minogue was paid $330,000 to perform for just half an hour. After which, a firework display was launched from the Eiffel Tower. The marriage did not last long as the couple called it quits in early 2013.
3. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Princess Salama – $44.5 million
A ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum married Princess Salama in 1981, the wedding earned a place in the Forbes list of “Billionaire Weddings”. A stadium was built just for the occasion to entertain 20,000 guests for 7 days of luxury.
4. Prince William and Kate Middleton – $34 million.
Following in the footsteps of his parents, Prince William had a much anticipated and publicized wedding that was watched around the globe. With 1,900 people at the ceremony, 600 at a luncheon hosted by the Queen and 300 for a dinner hosted by the Prince of Wales, plus a $400,000 wedding gown, $80,000 wedding cake and $800,000 worth of flowers the bill rang up to $34 million.
5. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West- $20-30 million.
With both her weddings making the list celebrity and socialite Kim Kardashian’s union to rapper Kanye West bagged a bigger price tag. Celebrating in Italy and France over an entire weekend with a custom Givenchy gown, flowers worth $75,000, accommodations, transportation and all the total cost of the wedding was about $20-30 million.