The wedding of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant was a 6-day event that took place from 12 July 2024 until the 30 July 2024 in the city of Mumbai, India at the Antilia building and Jio Convention Center.[1][2] The groom was the son of Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asia, and Nita Ambani. Mukesh Ambani is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, while the bride is the daughter of Viren Kumar Merchant, the CEO of a healthcare company.[1][3]
The wedding was described as India's "wedding of the year"[1][4] and "India's own royal wedding".[5]The New York Times described it as introducing "the world to [India]'s Gilded Age".[6] Estimates for the wedding's cost range from $300 million[7] to $1 billion,[8][9] leading to sharp criticism of wealth inequality in India.[10]
Radhika Merchant (born December 18, 1994) is the daughter of Viren Merchant, who is the CEO of Encore Healthcare and has been described as a pharmaceutical tycoon.[1] Radhika has served as the marketing director for her father's company after graduating from New York University.[1][3]
The two said they met in 2017 during a drive after being introduced by mutual friends.[1][3] On 29 December 2023, Ambani proposed at the Shrinathji Temple in Rajasthan.[3][11]
Pre-wedding festivities
The first pre-wedding celebration was held in Jamnagar, with around 1,200 invited guests at the beginning of March 2024.[12] A number of entertainers performed, such as Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, as well as Rihanna, who gave her first full-length concert in eight years.[12] Guests were told to wear jungle fever outfits when visiting Vantara, the animal rescue shelter run by Anant Ambani.[13] The second celebration was a four-day cruise through the Mediterranean in late May 2024.[12] Guests saw surprise performances from the Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry, and Pitbull.[12]
Leading up to the ceremony on 2 July 2024, the Ambani family organized a mass wedding ceremony for more than 50 underprivileged couples,[14] and the week after held a pre-wedding concert with performances by Justin Bieber, and Hindi film stars Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, and Salman Khan.[15] The sangeet ceremony for the couple, where the bride and groom, and their families performed choreographed dances on July 5, with several poojas and a mehendi ceremony following. On July 11, the bride and groom celebrated their haldi, where the couple are covered in turmeric paste as a blessing.[16]
The wedding dress was designed by the fashion house "Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla" owned by fashion and costume designersSandeep Khosla and Abu Jani (who had won the National Film Award for Best Costume Design for their work in Devdas (2002 Hindi film), Radhika's bridal lehenga featured zardozi cut-work with Gujarati cultural significance, a trailing ghagra with a second detachable trail, a 5-meter head veil, a blouse, and a tissue shoulder dupatta.[17] The ghagra, adorned with three borders of red, showcased the finest amalgamation of naqshi, saadi, and zardozi, with intricate floral booties decorated with stones, sequins, tamba tikkis, and red resham.[18] The head veil (dupatta) featured delicate jaali and cut-work, while the detachable trail boasted an 80-inch zardozi marvel. The fully embroidered red shoulder dupatta added maximal drama to the silhouette.[19][20]
Her lehenga also featured a personalised "AR" brooch which represents the initials of her name and her husband Anant's name.[21]
Jewelry
The jewelry pieces worn by Merchant on her wedding day included a central emerald and diamond necklace that was designed by Nisha Mehta of the Nisha M company based in Mumbai. The necklace was reportedly a five strand of diamonds with a large pendant of Zambian emerald and diamond suspended from it. She was also wearing heirloom family jewels gifted to her by her mother Shaila.[22]
Critical appraisal
India Today described the lehenga as "fairytale to life".[23] Another newspaper company described the lehenga as "Radhika's bridal ensemble was a vision of elegance and tradition, featuring a beautifully embroidered lehenga that showcased the designers' signature craftsmanship."[24][25]
Pinkvilla stated that the "Bride looks like a royal queen in her FIRST LOOK".[26]
The fashion of Merchant, has had a substantial impact on the clothing industry ever since the public revelation of her relationship with businessman Anant Ambani in 2017 until leading up to her wedding in 2024.[27]
Radhika wore a custom-made rose gold and pink Versace, which brought to mind Blake Lively's 2022 Met Gala ensemble. This ensemble embodied grace and elegance, especially when paired with an extravagant diamond necklace. During her wedding festivities Radhika wowed everyone with her exquisite dupatta made of fresh flowers for her Haldi. The floral dupatta perfectly complemented the vibrant yellow lehenga designed by ace designer Anamika Khanna. The intricately woven dupatta featured 90 yellow marigold flowers and thousands of fresh jasmine buds. She paired the outfit with custom-made floral jewellery which took around six hours to complete.[28][29]
On the Sangeet night of Radhika Merchant she looked dazzling in a golden lehenga adorned with 25,000 Swarovski crystals.[30] The skirt featured 3D floral prints too. The lehenga designed by designer Manish Malhotra was inspired by Victorian aesthetics.[31][32]
During her luxury cruise pre wedding function Radhika wore the bespoke gold sculpted dress that she wore for a theme party was from the Grace Ling couture. The golden gown created by merging gold and silver shades using aerospace aluminium technology created waves in the fashion industry. She completed the look with a pair of gold earrings and loose tresses. Fashion experts call this outfit a perfect fusion of art and technology.[33][34]
For one of the events, Radhika Merchant wore a gown by Robert Wun and added her own sentimental touch to it. The gown was imprinted with Anant Ambani's love letter that he gave to Radhika on her 22nd birthday.[35] Styled by Rhea Kapoor, the dreamy dress impressed many people and eventually becoming one of the most sensational dresses Radhika ever wore at a pre wedding event.[36][37]
On her wedding day the wedding lehenga was designed by Sandeep Khosla, Radhika's bridal lehenga featured exquisite zardozi cut-work with Gujarati cultural significance, a trailing ghagra with a second detachable trail, a 5-meter head veil, a blouse, and a tissue shoulder dupatta.[38] The ghagra, adorned with three borders of red, showcased the finest amalgamation of naqshi, saadi, and zardozi, with intricate floral booties decorated with stones, sequins, tamba tikkis, and red resham.[39] The head veil featured delicate jaali and cut-work, while the detachable trail boasted an 80-inch zardozi marvel. The fully embroidered red shoulder dupatta added maximal drama to the silhouette.[40][41] Her lehenga also featured a personalised "AR" brooch which represents the initials of her name and her husband Anant's name.[42]
Her post-wedding lehenga's 12 panels were hand-painted on special Italian canvas.[43] The garment featured Jayasri Burman's signature mythical aesthetic, celebrating Anant and Radhika's union through deeply meaningful imagery. Human figures representing the happy couple radiated a celestial aura, honoring the divinity in their love. The fauna reflected Anant's fondness for animals, particularly elephants, which were considered auspicious and beautiful. Blushing lotuses symbolized the purity of the couple's hearts and were also a hallmark of Abu Sandeep's style. The craftsmanship included meticulous hand embroidery with real gold zardozi. A glittering sea of sequins adorned the intricate spaces of Jayasri's art. The lehenga was paired with a blouse entirely hand-embroidered in resham by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla's master craftsmen.[44][45]
The reported $600 million,[46] four day wedding rituals began on 12 July 2024 with a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony followed by a reception that was planned to run through the weekend.[15] The wedding festivities were split between Antilia, the home of the Ambanis, and the Jio World Convention Centre (Jio is a subsidiary of Reliance).[10]
The venue was decorated with floral designs and sculptures created by florist Preston Bailey who was hired in April 2024. Among the designs by Bailey were 60 floral animal sculptures including tigers, elephants, monkeys and replicas of the couple's two dogs. Each sculpture, reportedly required between 100,000 to 200,000 flowers, which were majorly sourced from India.[47]
Some Indian politicians criticised the amount of money spent on the wedding, with Shahid Siddiqui, a former member of the upper house of Parliament, calling it the "most vulgar and ostentatious marriage ever seen" and Thomas Isaac, a former finance minister for Kerala and member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), stating that "...such ostentatious expenditure is a sin."[10]
Members of the Indian public were divided about the wedding. Some called the wedding an "awe-inspiring showcase" while others pointed to how it highlighted the uneven development, as its budget could possibly eclipse the yearly education budget of several small Indian states. Reportedly the most common reaction in the working class of Mumbai, was frustration on the system which has allowed the inequality of resources. One worker echoed a common strain of "Ambani earned his money, and it's his right to spend it on his own children", but bemoaned how the city could find resources to assist in the wedding security, but not keep up infrastructure concerns like potholes or flooding.[48]
