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The Longest, Biggest, Most Expensive: Wedding Dresses That Set Records

Ever wondered what the largest wedding dress made out of cake looked like? Read on…

November 30, 2024 | 10:00 AM // By Salva Mubarak
Most Crystals on a wedding dress Guinness World Record

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It’s a universally accepted fact that every wedding dress is special and unique. But some wedding dresses are more special and unique than others. You can even say that they redefine what it means to be ‘one-of-a-kind’! We’re talking wedding dresses that have broken (and set) Guinness World Records over the years. Think dresses whose eye-watering price points match the cost of a small (beach-view) apartment. Or the largest wedding dress that is actually made out of cake. 

We decided to dig deep and discover some of the most iconic record-breaking wedding dresses of all time so take a look…

Record-Breaking Wedding Dresses

Most Expensive Royal Wedding Dress

Queen Letizia of Spain wedding dress Guinness World Record
Image credit: Getty Images

When former journalist Letizia Rocasolano married the future King of Spain, she wore a stunning dress designed by royal couturier Manuel Pertegaz. The dress was made more special by the fact that it is the most expensive wedding dress to be worn by a royal. It was priced at $8 million (almost INR 67 crores) and featured a 4.5m long train and embroidery using real gold thread. 

Most Expensive Wedding Dress

Most expensive wedding dress Guinness World Record
Image credit: Guinness World Records

While Queen Letizia’s wedding dress might be the most expensive one worn by a royal, the most expensive wedding dress of all time, royalty-approved or otherwise, was created exclusively for a bridal show in 2006. The Luxury Brands Lifestyle Bridal Show in California was host to a wedding dress that cost a whopping $16.2 million (almost INR 136 crores). A joint effort by Martin Katz Jewellers and bridal couture designer Renee Strauss, the dress was bedecked in 150 carats worth of diamonds!

Most Pearls On A Wedding Dress

Most Pearls on a wedding dress Guinness World Record by Yumi Katsura
Image credit: Japan Today

Pearl has emerged as the front runner amongst all the wedding fashion trends for the season and one can be compelled to ask: How many pearls are too many pearls for one dress? Turns out, there is an answer to that question. The record for ‘Most Pearls On A Wedding Dress’ was set by the iconic Japanese bridal couture designer Yumi Katsura. The designer presented a wedding dress adorned with 13,262 genuine Akoya pearls in 2012 as part of her Grand Collection in Bunkyo, Tokyo.

Most Crystals On A Wedding Dress

Most Crystals on a wedding dress Guinness World Record
Image credit: Michela Ferriero

In 2023, Michela Ferriero unveiled a dress at the Si Sposatalia Collezioni fashion show in Milan, Italy, that would set a new record for the ‘Most Crystals On A Wedding Dress’. The form-fitting gown was covered in 50,890 hand-sewn Swarovski crystals. The classic- Opera length gloves were also covered in crystals from tip to top. The Italian designer unseated the Turkish label Zden Gelinlik Moda Tasarim Ltd. and their record of a wedding dress adorned with 45,024 crystals with their offering.

Largest Wearable Wedding Cake Dress

Largest wearable cake that's a wedding dress Guinness World Record
Image credit: Guinness World Records

There are wedding dresses you admire and then there are wedding dresses that make you wonder “How on Earth could someone dream this up?”. An example of the latter was presented at the Swiss Wedding World, a wedding fair held in Bern, Switzerland, in 2023. Sweety Cakes, a bakery run by Natasha Coline Kim Fah Lee Fokas, gave us a new phrase: Wear your cake and eat it too! The wearable cake was declared the largest in the world at a circumference of 4.15m, a height of 1.57m and a diameter of 1.319m. It weighed 131.15 kg, effectively earning its place in the Guinness World Records.

Longest Wedding Dress Train

Longest train on a wedding dress Guinness World Record
Image credit: Dynamic Projects

One way to create an impact at a wedding is to have a long and exaggerated train. It is theatrical, a conversation starter and would make for great photographs. In 2017, construction company Dynamic Projects took this thought and ran with it. The company presented a wedding train that was so long that it could cover the entirety of Mount Everest at a length of 8km. The company had previously set a record for the same title back in 2006 with a train that was 1km long but was dethroned by a Chinese bride in 2014 who wore a wedding dress with a 4.5km long train. The 2017 version by Dynamic Projects broke all records and was part of a fundraising event in Caudry, France.

Heaviest Costume In Film

Still from Marie Antoinette (1938) wedding dress
Image credit: MGM

The record for the heaviest costume used in a film is held by actress Norma Shearer’s wedding gown from the movie Marie Antoinette (1938). The movie based on the iconic historical figure featured 2,500 costumes. Designer Gilbert Adrian created the dress out of 500 yards of white silk satin fabric which was hand-embroidered with fleur de lis made from silver thread and edged with pearl beads. When combined with the steel-frame crinoline and 10 petticoats, the outfit weighed close to 50kg. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Salva Mubarak is the Digital Editor of Manifest. In her free time, she likes to read murder mysteries, discover new KitKat flavours, and rank movie makeovers (not necessarily in that order). View Profile