QR Code, colour-coded wristbands, standby medical teams secured year's most extravagant wedding

MUMBAI: Entry based on a QR code messaged on personal mobile phones, colour-coded paper wristbands for access to different zones, and a medical response preparedness reserved for heads of state helped Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani wed his youngest son Anant to pharmaceutical heiress Radhika Merchant in the year’s most extravagant wedding.

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.

Three different invitations were sent out for the wedding and the receptions with top-run guests being 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 simplest invitation was in a laptop-sized box with silver statues of three Gods and invitation cards.

The 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.” 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.

Detailed fire and other emergency plans were worked out while an elaborate medical response preparedness resembled one reserved for heads of state.

The medical response preparedness included doctors and paramedical staff with all emergency equipment at the venue. Ambulances had clearly demarcated routes to the nearest hospitals which had been primed in advance for dealing with any sort of medical emergency.

“The Ambanis did not want to leave anything to chance,” a source revealed.

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.

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.

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 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.

The three-day wedding extravaganza is the final stop in a string of lavish parties the family has hosted since March. The couple got engaged in January 2023 and the Ambanis have hosted three lavish pre-wedding parties.

First a three-day pre-wedding celebration was held in March in the group’s refinery township of Jamnagar in Gujarat that hosted tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner in the 1,200-strong guest list, and had an exclusive performance by Rihanna. David Blaine did magic tricks and the festivities also involved a trip to Ambani’s ‘animal rescue centre’ housing exotic animals.

In May, the Ambanis set off on a four-day Mediterranean cruise starting in the Italian city of Palermo, featuring on-deck concerts from the Backstreet Boys, Pitbull, and David Guetta, and a performance by Katy Perry at a masquerade ball at the Château de la Croix des Gardes in France. DJ David Guetta played at a toga party at sea. The cruise ended in Italy’s Portofino, where tenor Andrea Bocelli serenaded the party in the town square.

Last week, Justin Bieber performed at the ‘Sangeet’ or musical night.

The Ambanis have not revealed how much Anant’s wedding is costing. But 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.

Anant Ambani gifted friends Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar limited edition watch.

It was rumoured Rihanna had been paid USD 7 million for her performance and Bieber USD 10 million (close to Rs 84 crore).

An email sent to Reliance remained unanswered.

Mukesh and Nita in the past had lavish weddings for their other children too — Beyonce performed at daughter Isha Ambani’s 2018 nuptials that boasted guests like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, and 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 USD 100 million.

Mukesh Ambani, 67, is at present the world’s 11th richest man with a net worth of USD 119 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index. He spent the last two decades in transforming Reliance Industries, founded by his father in 1966 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.