Insiders spill the secrets behind a Bezos-sized 'super-wedding'

Super-weddings today often include a celebrity entertainer, where families shell out for a headliner to perform a few hits

- Chavie Lieber

Floor-to-ceiling floral installations. Performances by pop megastars. Catering by Carbone. A security guard just for the gold-plated cutlery.

For the wealthiest people on Earth, it's no longer enough to have a luxury wedding. Today, the new normal is a "super-wedding," akin to a music festival in size and with costs running into the millions.

Anant and Radhika Ambani's three-day wedding in India last year included a custom-built glass palace and a performance by Rihanna. The wedding of Sofia Richie Grainge and Atlantic Records Chief Executive Elliot Grainge in 2023 spanned multiple days in Antibes, France, featured haute couture Chanel gowns and an afterparty headlined by rock band Good Charlotte.

When Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez tie the knot in Venice in a multiday celebration that's anticipated next week, their event is expected to raise the bar even higher.

The trend has turned planners into "wedding producers," as London luxury planner Sarah Haywood put it, leading armies of vendors in pulling off what couples hope will not only be the most memorable event of their lives, but their guests' lives too.

"It used to be about fireworks, then it was about drones," said Colin Cowie, a luxury planner who's done weddings for celebrities like Jennifer Lopez. "Now, it's shooting fireworks from drones."

A multiday luxury wedding with 200 guests now carries a price tag of about $4 million, according to Jamie Simon, director of events at luxury planning firm Banana Split, which brought the Grainge wedding to life. Cowie said he's worked on weddings that cost eight figures.