We are used to reading about the increasing cost of weddings these days, as more people try to emulate the lavish celebrity nuptials of the likes of Kim Kardashian. But despite the average cost of weddings coming to around £15,500 in the UK these days, Britons will still have a long way to go before coming close to the top five most expensive celebrity weddings. Let’s take a look:
1) Charles and Diana. At a whopping £31.2 million, this wedding is the most expensive on record in UK history – and that was back in 1981. Adjusted for inflation, the cost today would be an eye-watering £71.5 million. The Royals remain cagey on the breakdown of the costs, such as the hire of St Paul’s Cathedral for the wedding venue. The puff ball meringue wedding dress with 25-foot ivory taffeta train and antique lace, the five-foot main wedding cake and 27 lesser cakes, plus the expense of providing wedding catering and wedding favours for the dozens of royals, celebrities, politicians and VIPs who made up the guest list.
2) Vanisha Mittal and Amit Bhatia. Taking place just a few years ago, in 2005, at a cost of over £39 million, this wedding of businessman Amit to steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter saw guest receiving invitations in silver boxes – which included flights to Paris and accommodation in a five-star hotel – and a celebration which took place at a 16th-century chateau and lasted five days, including a show by Kylie Minogue. For wedding favours, guests received jewel-packed designer bags.
3) Prince William and Kate Middleton. The latest Royal Wedding only took place on 29 April last year and cost some £24 million, with £520,000 being spent on flowers, the wedding cake costing £52,000 and the lion’s share of the cost being accounted for by the high levels of security demanded by the UK government.
4) Wayne Rooney and Coleen McLoughlin. Back in 2008, this marriage of the Premier League footballer to his high school sweetheart caused a massive tabloid buzz and cost a reported £5.2 million. Wedding guests took a chartered plane to Genoa and attended a masked ball on a luxury yacht, shuttling between the opulent vessel and a five-star hotel.
5) Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky. As the daughter of former US President Bill Clinton, Chelsea’s marriage to investment banker Marc was never going to be done on the cheap. However, it turned out to be one of the most expensive on record, coming in at around £3.2 million.