Just about every bride and groom has to deal with the stark reality that their wedding has a budget. The average American wedding costs about $32,000 according to the latest survey by The Knot. While this figure has most couples holding their breath, it is nothing compared to what some of the rich and famous have dished out for their lavish weddings. We have made it our mission to find the 10 most expensive weddings of all time and we have found them.
You will have to see to it to believe how much the most expensive wedding of all time cost!
All of the total costs have been adjusted for inflation so you can see the cost in today’s dollars.
We have also included some of the key features that helped make each wedding so, well, expensive. From top performing artists, castles and stadiums being custom built for the bride and groom, to $1.3 million dollar wedding dresses, these couples have pulled out all the stops.
Enjoy perusing the lifestyles of the million and eh billionaires!
10. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, 2014
Key Notes
Look back at Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s wedding by the numbers: https://t.co/WOPnTtCoHE pic.twitter.com/PUD9nagD4L
— POPSUGAR (@POPSUGAR)
Cost: $20 million
Bride: American reality star, socialite, and model
Groom: American hip hop singer and songwriter
- pre-wedding party at Versailles
- performances by John Legend and Lana Del Rey
- ceremony in a 16th-century Florentine fortress
- a custom Givenchy Haute Couture gown
9. Petra Ecclestone and James Hunt, 2011
Key Notes:
Petra Ecclestone dressed cost £80,000 couture wedding gown by designer Vera Wang pic.twitter.com/FyDTPYD
— Nathalie Gutierrez (@nathaliegut) August 30, 2011
Cost: $21 million
Bride: British heiress (daughter to Formula 1 billionaire Bernie Ecclestone), socialite, fashion designer, and model
Groom: British entrepreneur and businessman
- medieval Italy town closed down just for them on their wedding day
- performances by Black Eyed Peas ($2.5 million) and David Guetta
- ceremony in a castle
- a Vera Wang gown ($1.3 million)
- an acrobatic and a fireworks display
8. Sanjay Hinduja and Anu Mahtani, 2015
Key Notes:
Cost: $23 million
Bride: Indian fashion designer
Groom: Indian heir and businessman
- 200 private jets chartered
- pre wedding party at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel
- performances by Jennifer Lopez and Nicole Scherzinger
- ceremony in Jagmandir Island Palace in Udaipur, India
7. Angela Yeung and Huang Xiaoming, 2015
Key Notes
Cost: $31 million
Bride: Hong Kong model, actress, and singer – nickname “Angelababy”
Groom: Chinese actor, singer, and model
- pre wedding photo shoot in Paris with multiple Elie Saab couture gown changes
- custom made Christian Dior gown
- 10 foot carousel wedding cake
- mobile phone wedding favors
- 5 carat pear shaped diamond ring ($1.5 million)
6. Kate Middleton and Prince William , 2011
The Royal Wedding: Prince William and Kate Middleton https://t.co/LEfk0bxvkN
Key Notes
Cost: $36 million
Bride: British Duchess of Cambridge
Groom: British Prince and Duke of Cambridge
- security totaling in $32 million – leaving $2 million for actual wedding stuff
- Alexander McQueen gown made by Sarah Burton
- performance by Ellie Goulding
- televised ceremony with 2 billion watchers from around the world
- ceremony in Westminster Abby with luncheon at Buckingham’s Palace
5. Andrei Melnichenko and Aleksandra Kokotovic, 2005
#ข่าวสั้น มหาเศรษฐีชาวมอสโค Andrei Melnichenko จ้าง Christina Aguilera ค่าตัว 115 ลบ.โชว์เพียง 3 เพลงในงานแต่งของเขา pic.twitter.com/3FbzPmIGlv
Key notes
Cost: $37 million
Bride: Serbian fashion model and former Miss Yugoslavia
Groom: Russion industrialist and billionaire
- on the Cote d’Azur in France
- performances by Whitney Houston and Christina Aguilera
4. Vanisha Mittal and Amit Bhatia, 2005
Obscene! “@EXPENSlVE: Most Expensive Wedding – Vanisha Mittal & Amit Bhatia wedding cost $55 Million (253 crore). pic.twitter.com/LH7cIXPrVL”
Key Notes
Cost: $74 million
Bride: Indian daughter of billionaire steel-magnate
Groom: British bred owner of Swordfish Investments
- invitations mailed in silver boxes including plane tickets and 5 star Paris hotel rooms
- five days of celebrations at the Palace of Versaille in Paris
- a wooden castle built just for the wedding
- performances by Kylie Minogue and Shah Rukh Khan
- designer gift bags filled with jewels for their 1,000 guests
3. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Princess Salama, 1981
Key Details
Cost: $119 million
Bride: UAE philanthropist
Groom: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces
- a stadium constructed from scratch for the wedding and their 20,000 guests
- a 7 day affair
- gifts delivered to the bride from the groom throughout the week by 20 camels decked out in jewels
- the couple visited the towns of their country on horseback with food and other goods for their people
2. Prince Charles and Lady Diana, 1981
Key Details
Cost: $127 million
Bride: English daughter of Earl Spencer
Groom: Crown Prince of England and second in line to the throne behind his mother, Queen Elizabeth II
- 27 cakes that took 14 weeks to prepare
- at least 3,000 guests at the ceremony
- more than 700 million televised viewers and 2 million spectators for the wedding parade, which included a glass coach for the wedding couple
1. Khadija Uzhakhovs and Said Gutseriev, 2016
Billion-dollar Russian wedding between Said Gutseriev & Khadija Uzhakhovs, who wore a £25,000 Elie Saab wedding gown
#BillionDollarWedding: Lavish wedding of oil billionaire’s son Said Gutseriev to Khadija in Moscow cost $1billion! pic.twitter.com/duhTcgKoVX
Key Details:
Cost: $1 billion
Bride: A dentistry student in Moscow
Groom: Russian son of an oil tycoon
- performances from Jennifer Lopez, Sting, and Enrique Iglesias
- custom made dress by Elie Saab worth over $25,000 and weighing about 28 pounds due to all the beading and embellishments
- jewel box wedding favors
- fireworks display
- upscale Moscow wedding venue with just about every inch covered with flowers and lights