If you thought Anant Ambani gifting his groomsmen limited edition watches worth the cost of a house is extravagant, think again…
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding will go down in global history as one of the most iconic weddings ever. Not only did the Ambanis give the world crossovers we weren’t ready for (Justin Bieber and Orry? Kim Kardashian and Mamta Banerjee?), but they also spared no expense to ensure the wedding would remain the talk of the town for years to come.
One of the most extravagant things from the wedding that occupied major real estate in news cycles recently was the INR 2 crore watch gifted by Anant Ambani to a few select guests.
Reportedly, the groom presented some of his closest friends, like Ranveer Singh and Shah Rukh Khan, with limited edition Audemars Piguet Royal Oaks watches on the day of his wedding.
A video from the event, where the gift recipients can be seen posing with their watches, went viral online, leading many people to question their choices in friends and the wedding gifts or favours they’ve received over the years.
But the Ambanis are far from the only ones giving and receiving extravagant wedding gifts. Whether it’s expensive home goods or royal edicts that pardon crime while the wedding ceremony is going on, there have been many iconic instances that accompany Anant Ambani’s luxury watch gift in the Wedding Gifts and Favours Hall of Fame. Take a look…
When Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin tied the knot back in 2018, the pop star went all out to present his to-be wife with expensive jewellery. Along with the engagement ring that was worth half a million dollars, Justin also presented Hailey with two Tiffany & Co. rings, a Tiffany Soleste band in 18k gold with diamonds (worth a whopping $3,125 or INR 2.6 lakhs approx) and a Tiffany Soleste V-shaped ring (worth $2,150 or INR 1.8 lakhs approx). He also gifted her a gold chain necklace with a ‘wifey’ charm. The groom also splurged and bought himself a gold Audemars Piguet watch worth $60,000 (or INR 50 lakhs approx).
When it comes to royal weddings and gifts, all bets are off. While there have been some unusual gifts (think tandem bikes and tennis courts), one of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s wedding gifts never fails to amaze and amuse us. The late monarch had received 500 tins of canned pineapple from Queensland, in Australia, since England was still facing wartime rationing in 1947. A woman from New York, reportedly, sent her a turkey so that she had something to eat during the lean time.
For the wedding of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nayhan and Princess Salma in 1981, the groom’s father gifted the newlyweds a 20,000-seat custom-built stadium for the wedding. What eventually became their wedding venue set the king back $22 million (INR 180 crores approx). The sheikh visited every town in the emirate on horseback and fed the public for days after the wedding. Theirs is one of the most expensive weddings on record with the total coming to $100 million.
Aside from being ridiculously good-looking and talented, Amal and George Clooney are exceptional gift-givers. The couple got married in 2014 in Venice and the grom, reportedly, gifted the bride a countryside mansion in England where they had planned to spend their honeymoon. Amal, on the other hand, gifted George a pair of cufflinks with his name inscribed in Arabic, as part of his wedding outfit. Post the wedding, she commissioned a 12-piece Murano cocktail glasses set from Venice, designed to match the ones they used at their wedding venue, with each glass worth $100 (INR 8,600 approx). She also added matching silk napkins and handcrafted napkin holders that cost $2,500 (INR 2 lakhs approx).
The Qing dynasty that ruled over China from the 17th century till 1912 had their own sets of wedding traditions. According to historians, imperial weddings lasted for weeks and involved the whole country in celebrations. During one such wedding in 1888, the royal household declared a 20-day holiday across the country in which nobody could be punished for any crime. Talk about a gift the masses would truly appreciate!
When James Righton and Keira Knightley got married in 2013, the groom set the bar high for wedding gifts with his gesture. James planted a 100-year-old olive tree (costing about $4,000 or INR 3 lakhs) in the back garden of Keira’s home in France. The tree’s trunk had their initials and wedding date carved on it inside a heart.
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
