Ambani-Merchant wedding: Modi’s blessing, Kardashian appearance — what happened at India’s wedding of the year | CNN

CNN
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India’s most anticipated wedding of the year came to a close on Sunday after a star-studded three-day celebration that even saw the country’s prime minister arrive to bless the young couple.

Billionaire heir Anant Ambani married his longtime girlfriend Radhika Merchant in Mumbai in a lavish ceremony attended by Kim and Khloe Kardashian, two former British prime ministers, Indian sports legends and some of Bollywood’s most famous personalities. The wedding was followed by a blessing ceremony on Saturday, during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his best wishes to the young couple and their families.

The weekend festivities ended on Sunday with an extravagant reception, or “Mangal Utsav” (festival of bliss), as participants left Mumbai.

The family that owns India’s largest private company, Reliance Industries, has spared no expense. Founded by Anant’s grandfather, the conglomerate is now run by his father Mukesh, whose fortune is worth more than $122 billion, according to Forbes.

The 16,000-capacity Jio World Convention Centre owned by Ambani, which hosted wedding events throughout the weekend, was transformed into a miniature version of the Indian holy city of Varanasi, with floral installations and extravagant decor adorned with gold and silver.

The couple underwent numerous outfit changes over the course of the three-day bash, appearing in a succession of intricate, bespoke pieces celebrating the country’s heritage and culture.

Merchant’s wedding dress was designed by Indian label Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla and featured ivory zardozi (a type of elaborate metallic embroidery) on silk and a 5-meter (16.4-foot) veil. She completed her look with jewelry that her aunts and sister wore to their own weddings. She then donned a lavish red and gold outfit for her “vidai,” the ceremony in which Indian brides symbolically bid farewell to their loved ones before joining their groom’s family.

Ambani, meanwhile, arrived on the red carpet in a gold sherwani paired with sneakers. For the wedding ceremony, he wore a custom red sherwani by Sabyasachi Mukherjee, with a large green necklace draped around his neck.

For Saturday’s blessing ceremony, Merchant once again donned a custom piece by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, who collaborated with contemporary artist and sculptor Jayasri Burman to create a one-of-a-kind piece embroidered with real gold.

The garment celebrates the couple’s union “through deeply meaningful imagery,” Merchant stylist Rhea Kapoor wrote on Instagram. “The human figures representing the happy couple radiate a celestial aura that honors divinity in their humanity. The wildlife depicts Anant’s affection for animals, especially elephants which are considered auspicious and beautiful.”

For Sunday’s reception, guests interpreted the “Indian chic” dress code by mixing classic Indian fashion with contemporary styles. Merchant wore a gold metallic corset from Dolce and Gabbana’s Alta Moda couture line, and a skirt and dupatta in the same hue by Indian designer Anamika Khanna.

It’s unclear exactly how much the Ambanis spent on the festivities, which included months of partying before the wedding, but industry estimates put the total in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Insiders worked for months to bring the couple’s vision to life, collaborating with the family to work out intricate details, from floral arrangements to decor.

Celebrity wedding designer Preston Bailey, who has worked with Serena Williams and LeBron James, was commissioned to create larger-than-life floral art installations for the weekend.

Speaking to CNN via email ahead of Friday’s ceremony, Bailey praised Ambani’s mother Nita’s attention to detail. “It was nothing short of pure genius and she is truly committed to showcasing India’s vast creative talent to the world through these weddings,” he said.

Bailey’s creations are inspired by the couple’s love of animals and Ambani’s recently opened animal sanctuary, Vantara, in the western Indian city of Jamnagar. His sculptural creations included a giant hot air balloon display and more than 60 floral animals, including giraffes, two enormous toucans, monkeys perched on trees inside the venue and a giant horse made of red and pink flowers.

“I have been in the business for over 40 years… (but) I have never seen anything as complex as this wedding and I believe it will bring positive feedback and awareness of the great creative culture of artists in India,” said Bailey, who has also worked on the weddings of Ambani’s two elder siblings, Akash and Isha.

Top Indian fashion designer and wedding creative director Manish Malhotra had earlier told CNN that “maintaining the essence of India” had been his “guiding principle”.

“Every detail, from the décor to the cuisine to the attire and ambiance; every event, from the vibrant Sangeet (a traditional evening of music and dance that featured a performance by Justin Bieber) to the ceremonial wedding day and grand reception, is designed to immerse guests in an atmosphere of joy, love and celebration,” he said via email.

Criticism and sustainability

Details of the celebrations dominated local newspaper headlines and went viral on social media, but many in India – the world’s most populous nation, with 1.4 billion people – criticised the opulence on display in a country where the wealth gap is stark and millions live in poverty.

“Shame on people who celebrate income inequality in a country where we need wealth redistribution,” tweeted comedian and social media critic Shamita Yadav, who posts on social media under the name The Ranting Gola.

“We are a really poor country,” Sushant Singh, a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, told the Indian newspaper The Wire. “This is something that is totally unacceptable. But the fact is that half of India’s mainstream media is owned by Mr Ambani, so it is unlikely that the mainstream media in India will say this is horrible.”

Beyond the financial cost of the wedding and the festivities, there is another, less visible cost: that for the planet.

According to Ashwin Malwade, co-founder of Greenmyna, a sustainable wedding consultancy based in Mumbai, an average Indian wedding of 300 people typically generates between 1.5 and 2 tonnes of waste and around 30 to 40 tonnes of carbon emissions – not including guest travel. Sources of emissions include large-scale banquets and the energy used for lavish lighting decorations.

An event as mammoth as the Ambani-Merchant celebration would emit far more carbon than the largest and most lavish Indian wedding, he added. Then there is the travel, with several high-profile guests leaving Mumbai via the private jet terminal at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

Malwade also highlighted the environmental footprint of the Ambanis’ wedding party in Jamnagar, which was attended by public figures from around the world including Mark Zuckerberg, Ivanka Trump, Bill Gates and Karlie Kloss; the four-day cruise the guests took in the Mediterranean; and the emissions required to bring in singers like Rihanna and Justin Bieber to perform at various events.