Wedding of superlatives: These seven bizarre celebrity marriages make headlines
It's going to be a wedding of superlatives: Amazon founder and multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez are getting married in Venice. According to speculation, the mega-event will cost between $10 and $20 million. There will be over 200 high-profile guests, 90 private jets, and a massive security presence. Venice is set to become a wedding metropolis.
But Bezos and Sánchez are by no means the only celebrity couple who spend a lot of money on what is known as the most beautiful day of their lives – and celebrate exuberantly.
Anyone who thinks the Amazon founder and the former journalist spent a lot of money on their celebrations hasn't heard of this couple's wedding: In July of last year, the Indian billionaire's son, Anant Ambani, and his longtime girlfriend, Radhika Merchant, tied the knot in Mumbai. The cost of their wedding: approximately $600 million.
The wedding of Anant Ambani and his long-time girlfriend Radhika Merchant was a mega-event that is estimated to have cost around $600 million.
Source: AP
For the multi-day event, the couple had their own indoor world, complete with shops, built. According to Vogue, 14,000 guests attended the wedding, including celebrities such as Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra and her husband Nick Jonas, and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. They were flown in especially for the festivities. Justin Bieber provided musical entertainment – with a fee of around ten million dollars.
Bezos and Sánchez aren't the only ones who have recognized how beautiful a wedding in Italy can be: In 2006, former actor couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes rented a castle in Bracciano for their wedding. The cost of the ceremony was over three million dollars.
In 2006, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise married in Bracciano, Italy.
Source: CRISTINA QUICLER
But the ceremony had a bad aftertaste: The actor has been a member of the controversial Scientology sect since 1986. Apparently, the wedding celebration was also held according to Scientology customs. Cruise reportedly gave his bride a cooking pot, a comb, and a cat, among other gifts, at the ceremony.
According to media reports, the sect was the reason for the couple's separation in 2012. According to "Merkur," the actor has not left to this day and is still a very active Scientology member.
The record for the shortest marriage is likely held by singer Britney Spears and her childhood sweetheart Jason Alexander. The couple married in Las Vegas in 2004 and annulled the marriage after just 55 hours. Spears' wedding outfit: flip-flops, a top, and a trucker hat. According to "Gala," the then 22-year-old was not mentally competent during the ceremony.
Britney Spears and husband Jason Alexander were only married for 55 hours.
Source: Mühlberg, Christine
Meanwhile, the tensions between the former couple have hardened. In 2022, Alexander was convicted after breaking into Spears's home during her wedding preparations with Sam Asghari. The court imposed a restraining order.
For this couple, not only was the wedding celebration a mega-event, but their engagement was also a public spectacle: To propose to his then-girlfriend Kim Kardashian, rapper Kanye West rented a baseball stadium in October 2013 and staged an engagement show with 50 musicians and a fireworks crew. The engagement ring: a diamond ring.
In 2014, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian married in Italy.
Source: AdMedia/ImageCollect
The wedding celebration was no less lavish. The engaged couple first celebrated at the Palace of Versailles. They then exchanged vows at Fort Belvedere, a 16th-century fortress in Florence. According to media reports, Kardashian's wedding dress alone cost $400,000. The flowers were imported from France and Belgium. The couple is now divorced.
One day of celebration wasn't enough: Actress Elizabeth Hurley and her husband Arun Nayear celebrated a marathon wedding. The couple first exchanged vows in a small ceremony in England, then traveled to India for the rest of the celebration. There, numerous Hindu customs were on the agenda.
Elizabeth Hurley celebrated her wedding for a week.
Source: Getty Images for Empire State Re
According to "Stern," Naya rode a white stallion to the celebration at the Umaid Bhavan Palace in Jodhpur. A parade with decorated elephants, horses, and camels was planned after the ceremony. Among the approximately 250 guests were well-known celebrities, including singer Elton John. The couple separated in 2011, and Hurley is now in a relationship with singer Billy Ray Cyrus.
Actress Elizabeth "Liz" Rosemond Taylor married eight times, the last of which was with American Larry Fortensky. The couple married in 1991 at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. The ceremony was described on the Instagram profile of the actress, who died in 2016, as "glamorous and over the top in the best sense of the word." According to Forbes, the wedding, with a budget of two million euros (around 4.5 million euros today), was one of the most lavish ceremonies of its time.
To keep paparazzi away from the ceremony, the couple hired 100 security guards, led by a former Israeli army officer, according to "sfgate." Nevertheless, as the actress arrived at the altar, a paparazzo parachuted into the couple's presence. Taylor and Fortensky separated in 1996 but remained close friends until the actress's death.
Politicians' weddings are usually private affairs. Not so for former German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and his wife Franca Lehfeldt. In 2022, the couple married in St. Severin Church on the island of Sylt—despite both having left the church. The couple then left the church in a Porsche.
The wedding of Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Sylt has caused controversy.
The celebration took place at the "Sansibar" with around 140 guests, including former Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Marco Buschmann (FDP), and Armin Laschet (CDU). Many guests, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), arrived by private jet.
Critics described the wedding celebration as too decadent and ostentatious for a finance minister. However, Lindner and Lehfeldt stand by their Sylt wedding. After all, the celebration was paid for with their own money, Lindner said.
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