The sea of content around the wedding of Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani's youngest son, for which the word extravagant would also be an understatement, must have caused a fatigue to social media users after the endless videos and pictures of the unending festivities. However, the query how an event of such a scale was managed runs parallely amid the enervating amount of information from the grand wedding of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant.
Amid the tonnes of visuals that leaked out or were released from the wedding of Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani's youngest son Anant Ambani with pharmaceutical heir Radhika Merchant, the most noticeable was coloured wristbands on celebrities, something that got the social media curious.
The colour-coded wristbands were part of the multi-layer security setup that was put in place for the security of the Ambani wedding guests, many of whom were VVIPs.
How The Ambani Wedding Was Secured
Entry based on a QR code messaged on personal mobile phones, colour-coded paper wristbands for access to different zones were among the measures taken to ensure a smooth conduct of the over-the-top Anant Ambani-Radhika Merchant wedding that took place on July 12 at Ambani-family-owned Jio World Centre at Mumbai's BKC.
As per information given in a news agency PTI report, the invited guests were asked to confirm their presence through an email or Google Form.
Those confirming their presence received a message that read: "We have received your RSVP and we look forward to welcoming you... the QR codes will be shared 6 hours prior to the event."
Wristbands: The QR codes messaged to the mobile phones and emailed were scanned to allow entry into the venue where different coloured paper wristbands were tied on the wrist of all the guests that gave them access to different zones depending on the colour.
Several film stars and cricketers as well as business tycoons like Korean electronic giant Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and his wife sported a pink wristband on their wedding day and a red one on Saturday.
Employees, security and service staff wore different coloured wristbands.
Ushers and a multi-layer security cover secured the sprawling venue, two sources aware of the matter said.
Another source said the time between the QR Code being sent and the actual event was cut this time as in the previous Ambani wedding some had "sold" the access to non-invited people.
Ambani Wedding Invitation
Three different invitations were sent out for the wedding and the receptions, according to the PTI report. Apart from a reception for family, friends and other guests on July 15, the Ambani family hosted a reception for mediapersons as well on July 16.
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's wedding took place on July 12 but the first batch of pre-wedding festivities took place in March this year in Gujarat's Jamnagar, the second part was a luxury cruise from Italy to France in June and the final instalment of the festivities took place in Maharashtra's Mumbai in the days leading and following the big day.
The top-run guests were sent a large red box that contained an intricate chest incorporating a mini silver temple featuring gold idols of various Hindu deities, including Lord Ganesh, Radha-Krishna, and Goddess Durga.
The invitation revealed different cards for each wedding function with one crafted from silver and resembling the main gate of an ancient temple. It included several keepsakes, such as an embroidered cloth with the initials 'AR' for Anant and Radhika, a blue shawl and a silver box filled with more gifts.
The dress code for all the events was Indian and international guests too wore designer traditional clothes such as embroidered sherwanis and bandhgalas. John Cena paired a powder-blue sherwani with white pants while Nick Jonas wore a pink sherwani and white pants. Samsung head too came dressed in a sherwani for the event.
Most guests wore different clothes for the 'baraat' or wedding procession and the actual wedding on Friday. The Saturday event featured all the guests invited for the wedding as well as some additional important people.
Ambani Wedding | Guests
Global celebrities, business tycoons, cricketers, filmstars and politicians of all hues attended the wedding at Ambani-family-owned Jio World Centre at Mumbai's BKC on Friday and a 'blessing ceremony' for friends and family members titled 'Shubh Ashirwad' on the following day.
A wide range of guests - from employees to business associates - were invited for another reception, titled 'Mangal Utsav', on Sunday at the same venue.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the venue on Saturday to bless the couple.
The guest list includes former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin H. Nasser, reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her sister Khloe, Nigerian rapper Rema, and footballer David Beckham.
Business tycoon Gautam Adani came to the wedding holding hands of his little granddaughter with his son Karan and wife Preeti in tow. Kumar Mangalam Birla too came with his family.
Almost the entire top rung Bollywood actors -- from Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan to Ajay Devgn, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Tiger Shroff and Varun Dhawan -- were present, most with their families, while superstars Rajinikanth, Ram Charan and Mahesh Babu led the entourage from down south.
Indian cricketers, including icons Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, too were present.
The notable persons missing were T20 World Cup winning captain Rohit Sharma who was watching the Wimbledon semi-final in London and Virat Kohli.
Politicians who attended the wedding included Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, his wife Dimple and Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray.
NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Sachin Pilot and Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar were also among the attendees at the event.
Shankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth Swami Sadananda Saraswati and Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath Swami Avimukteshwaranand as well as yoga guru Ramdev too attended the event.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his deputy Pawan Kalyan, too, were in attendance.
The Ambani Family & Their Wedding Expenses
The groom, Anant, 29, oversees the oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd's renewable and green energy expansion while the bride, Radhika Merchant, also 29, is the daughter of pharmaceutical tycoon Viren and Shaila Merchant and is the marketing director for his company, Encore Healthcare.
Rs 5-6 Lakh Per Invitation Box: Even though the Ambanis have not revealed how much Anant's wedding costed, the gala scale of the celebration included a Rs 5-6 lakh per piece select invitation box and three Falcon-2000 jets being rented to ferry wedding guests to the event.
Audemars Piguet Watches: Anant Ambani gifted friends Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar limited edition watch. In multiple reports, the price of the watch was mentioned to be around Rs 2 crore.
How Much Were Rihanna, Bieber Paid: It was rumoured Rihanna had been paid $7 million for her performance and Bieber $10 million (close to Rs 84 crore).
Mukesh and Nita in the past have hosted lavish weddings for their other children too, with Beyonce performing at daughter Isha Ambani's 2018 nuptials that saw guests like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. A year later Coldplay's Chris Martin performed at Aaksh's pre-wedding bash in St Moritz, Switzerland, and Maroon 5 at his wedding in Mumbai.
The 2018 wedding of Isha was billed as the most expensive wedding in India to date with some estimates putting the cost up to $100 million.
Mukesh Ambani, 67, is at present the world's 11th richest man. As per Forbes, Mukesh Ambani’s net worth is $123.2 Billion (Rs 10,28,544 crores) in the year 2024. He has expanded Reliance industries, founded by his father in 1966, in the two decades as a stodgy oil and petrochemicals giant, into a global empire spanning telecoms, retail, financial services, cricket and luxury fashion.
Anant Ambani is the youngest of his three children, all of whom are on the board of Reliance Industries.
