The 10 most extravagant weddings ever

Earlier this month, Wayne Rooney and Colleen McLoughlin were married in a lavish ceremony rumoured to have cost £5 million. But while the wedding was criticised in some quarters for its excess, there are plenty of other contenders for the title of most extravagant marriage ever....

he 1. Liza Minnelli and David Gest (March 17, 2002)

Cost: £1.8 million

The Oscar-winning actress’ wedding was a real cabaret, with fleets of black limousines sweeping guests to the Marble Collegiate Church where Minnelli (56) and Gest (48) tied the knot in true Manhattan style. Gest, who compulsively collects memorabilia of Minnelli’s mother, Judy Garland, wed the actress in an extravagant ceremony orchestrated by world-famous wedding planner Preston Bailey. The wedding was attended by hordes of celebrities including Michael Jackson as best man and Elizabeth Taylor as maid of honour, who enjoyed a twelve-tier wedding cake and sixty-strong live orchestra. One bridesmaid described the event as “the night of 1,000 facelifts.”

2. Princess Elizabeth Windsor (later Queen Elizabeth II) and Prince Philip (November, 20 1947)

Cost: unknown

The magnificence of the royal wedding, with its Norman Hartnell dresses and nine 400lb wedding cakes, was frowned upon by some quarters in the frugal atmosphere of post-war Britain, although ingredients for the main cake were in fact a gift from the Australian Girl Guides association. For the rest, the splendour was a welcome break from the privations of a ration-book economy. Thousands turned out on to the streets to cheer for the princess and her new husband, who King George VI gifted with the titles Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich for the occasion. In the interests of economy, some officials proposed an elaborate fireworks display in order to make use of the “surplus explosive chemicals” left over from the war.

Times Archive, 1947: Marriage of Princess Elizabeth

3. David Beckham and Victoria Adams (July 4, 1999)

Cost: £500,000

The multi-millionaires lovingly known to the world as “Posh ‘n’ Becks” wed at Luttrelstown Castle in Ireland in a not-so-subtle statement on the coincidence of royalty and celebrity at the turn of the 21st century. Fireworks and white doves filled the sky as the newlyweds posed on a pair of magnificent velvet thrones, the bride wearing a large gold crown studded with diamonds. OK! Magazine bought exclusive rights to the Beckham wedding for £1 million, the largest sum ever offered for a celebrity wedding, kicking off a harrowing battle with their longstanding rivals, Hello!

4. Amit Bhatia and Vanisha Mittal (June 18-21, 2002)

Cost: £30 million

In the most expensive wedding festivities ever conducted, four days of lavish revelry marked the nuptials of banker Amit Bhatia and Vanisha, daughter of the steel magnate Laxmi Mittal. The engagement ceremony is said to have been the only public function ever held at the palace of Versailles, near Paris; later in the festivities, nightclubs were hired across the city and the couple starred in a specially written full-scale Bollywood musical version of their early relationship. Kylie Minogue was amongst the many performers. Thousands of guests, flown in from over the world, sipped cocktails after the Mehendi ceremony, where world-famous artist Ash Kumar designed an exclusive henna pattern to match the embroidery on the bride’s designer dress.

5. Donald Trump and Melania Knauss (Jan 22, 2005)

Cost: £900,000

Real-estate mogul Trump married his third wife, Slovenian model Melania Knauss, in a ceremony at Palm Beach. The wedding was designed to be “understated”, despite the bride’s £106,000 dress by John Galliano, which sported a 13-foot train and weighed an astonishing 50lb. Scores of rowdy onlookers gathered outside the reception desperate to spot celebrity guests such as Hilary Clinton, Tony Bennett and Billy Joel, who later serenaded the waiting crowds in an impromptu performance. ‘This is the closest you’ll get to a royal wedding in America,’ said one guest.

6. Barry Drewitt and Tony Barlow (July 1, 2006)

Cost: £800,000

Chemical research millionaires Drewitt and Barlow became the nation’s first openly gay surrogate parents after a five-year transatlantic battle, and were the first men to be recorded jointly as parents on a birth certificate. This extraordinary family does nothing by halves, and their wedding in Chelmsford, Essex was no exception. Daughter Saffron, five, who already owned 150 pairs of shoes and £200,000 worth of designer clothes and bags, chose a Christian Dior off-the-shoulder dress for the event. Her dad and daddy arrived at the ceremony in a pumpkin-shaped Cinderella-style glass carriage pulled by six plumed white horses, followed by stretch limousines worth half a million.

7. Nero and Pythagoras (c.AD 65)

Cost: 25,000 Denarii

In a fallow period between luckless wives, Emperor Nero married a young Greek slave-boy, Pythagoras, in a traditional Roman ceremony with rings and flame-coloured veil. The festivities were accompanied by Tiberian pleasure-boats stuffed with exotic animals, feasting, singing and “high-born” prostitutes. According to the historian Tacitus, the emperor took the woman’s part in the ceremonies.

8. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas (Nov 18, 2000)

Cost: £1.5 million

The actress, who was born on a housing estate in the Welsh village of Mumbles, married Hollywood leading man Douglas amid lush festivities at New York’s famous Plaza hotel. The aftermath of the wedding was even more fantastic than the celebrations themselves. Despite the high security, photographers from Hello! Magazine gatecrashed the event and took surreptitious pictures. Rival glossy OK! had already secured an exclusive photo deal. After a drawn-out civil court wrangle, OK! made legal history by successfully suing Hello! for £1million. Unlike the two embittered magazines, the Douglases continue to enjoy a functional relationship.

9. Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (July 29, 1981)

Cost: undisclosed

A global audience of 750 million viewers tuned in to watch the heir to the British throne wed a blushing 20-year-old former children’s nanny - the largest viewing figures recorded in television history. The royal couple married in St Paul’s Cathedral, with Diana in a dress of antique lace with a 25ft train, as crowds of 60,000 flocked to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds on a one-off British national holiday. Stylishly flaunting royal protocol, the couple stole a kiss on the balcony – an image which remains iconic despite the shattering of this fairytale marriage over years of messy divorce, infidelity and tragedy.

Times Archive, 1981: Wedding of Charles and Diana

10. Wayne Rooney and Colleen McLoughlin (June 14, 2008)

Cost: £5 million

Private jets flew the couple’s 64 guests to Portofino, where the England footballer and his childhood sweetheart were wed in an intimate Catholic ceremony in a 16th-century castle overlooking the Italian Riviera. The bride wore a handmade, £200,000 full-length Marchesa gown embellished with pearls and crystals, with a 25ft train. Afterward the wedding, guests were ferried to 24-hour party on a multi-storey, multi-million pound super yacht complete with solid gold fittings and a helicopter pad. The couple also dished out £400,000 for an exclusive performance by Colleen’s favourite pop group, Westlife.

List compiled by Laurie Penny.

Read How to get hitched without spending a fortune this Saturday in Body & Soul.

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Comments

[phil]

Let Wayne and Colleen do whatever they wish with their cash. Many are showing off with far less that what the Rooney's have.

[phil brandon]

john hurt played caligula in i claudius ???moron

[Joe]

I have a tradition from earlier generations that every bride is beautiful on her wedding day. I can't believe the utter ill will of some posters. If their money is earned honestly they have the right to do what they want within the law. They could use their money for a lot of less good causes than getting married.

[Joe]

I have a tradition from earlier generations that every bride is beautiful on her wedding day. I can't believe the utter ill will of some posters. If their money is earned honestly they have the right to do what they want within the law. They could use their money for a lot of less good causes than getting married.

[Meg]

It's hard to feel ok about anyone who is extremely rich, when the fact is that millions of people around the world are literally starving to death. Maybe if the rich were less selfish, and spent, for example, £5million on improving sanitary conditions in Africa, then people like me would think better of them. Sadly, it seems that it is only the poorer in society who have the generous hearts.

[girraj]

Its better to use money for socail well fare rather than wasting

[Soreofhing]

Why is Lady Diana Spencer still referred to as a former children's nanny (which is correct) whilst keeping very quiet about the fact that she was born into one of England's wealthiest families who have intermarried with the Royal Family various times in the past.
Rich marrying rich, not rags to riches.

[ageofaquarius]

There are some really bitchy comments abouth the Rooneys, back off and get a life! so what they spent £5m on their wedding, they could obviously afford it. you're only jealous, good luck to them, bet their marriage lasts.

[V.P (I.T & Marketing)]

It's nice to be expressive over public issues, The moment, Times brought these ex-vagant to the forum, It became public. We are all doing the same as expected by Times, they are getting hi-traffic & nos of visitors. But the fact remains same, your upbringing reflects in your statements however having a +ve vision makes your next gen uplifted. Critics give u nothing but negativity.

[amy]

I cannot believe I just saw someone calling Colleen "a chav"! If she did exactly the same things but happened to be a weathly heiress you would all take a different note. Seems like some people just can't get off of their middle class high horses. Unfortunate.

[m wilson]

Wayne Rooney is rich. He is also as thick as two short planks. Odds on a divorce within 2 years and he will fork out half of his ill gotten loot and half his future earnings.Lawyers will also take him to the cleaners.

[Paolo]

I seem to remember news about a weddign in Burma (Myanmar) a few years back, between the daughter of one of the generals and another local hi flyer... the price tag was around 25M$, if I remember correctly. Maybe paid with UN or FAO contributions...

[lyn]

Seems as though "have your say" and "post a comment" are platforms for the nasties to vent their frustrations. She seems very sweet towards him in the photo and he is as cute as my nephew.....

[Ben]

Private Jets? I heard that they used Ryanair for the guests from Liverpool airport!

[rcs]

Don't you think we should call Elizabeth Taylor MATRON of Honour not Maid?

[Jen]

Not being English, I have no idea who Colleen McLoughlin is, but what exactly makes her ugly?

I would like to see pics of all of you who claim she's ugly, and we'll test that claim, shall we?

Love seeing jealousy rear its butt-ugly head.

[Keith Manaton]

I'd like to see the Hello coverage of the Nero wedding! The product placement opportunities would have been brilliant. John Hurt did a great Nero in 'I Claudius' - good imagery. Posh must be seething to think they are so far down the spending list. Any overpaid sportsperson and their spouse are fair game in my book.

[Modern Man]

Confirms that the "institution" of marriage is a joke most often entered into by the feeble-minded - under pressure from the churches

[Sarah]

Why all the vitriol about Colleen?
What an angry, jealous bunch we have become.
She seems to me like a genuinely nice young woman - devoted to her family and friends. Like Lynda B says, she looked lovely on her wedding day.
If you find all this so offensive, don't buy the magazines and don't read articles like this on the Times website. Easy!

[Lynda B]

I was visiting someone last night who had a magazine containing Colleen and Wayne's wedding pics. I thought she looked really pretty and extremely happy. It seemed as though the wedding was successful, everyone having a good time.

They are an ordinary pair, apart from Wayne being a talented sportsman. Isn't it nice to see an ordinary couple doing well? It's not as if they are particularly "up" themselves.

Anyway, today's news is tomorrow's chip wrapper so why worry.

Princess Anne's son (forgotten his name) got married a couple of weeks ago and made a bit of a splash in the news. No comments about that?

[Chryseis]

You know, Coleen and Wayne met when they were in school, and they're still together. Unless she's a fair bit more prescient (and more accurate at predicting global footballing success) than your average football coach, I'm guessing that they got together and stayed together for love - he could have failed, anything could have happened. She's no money-grubber, and of all of them she deserves unwarranted vitriol the least. Good luck to them!

[Anil Siqueira]

A half dozen or more weddings of Indians in the past few years would qualify for the most extravagant. Though I doubt Laurie Penny would even know of them. Also, the problem might be in finding out figures, as most of them are quite un-forthcoming about finances.

[A Merican]

Who are Rooney and Colleen? Never heard of them. Are they the new, ugly Posh n' Becks? Is she is a singer?

[Samantha]

I think you are all being extremely harsh and unnecessarily nasty; you sound like a bunch of jealous kids in the playground! Do any of you actually know Colleen personally?
I have had the pleasure of meeting her and she is the nicest, most down-to-earch and humble girl you could hope to meet, she just happens to be married to a footballer who has done rather well for himself. Good luck to the pair of them!

[Calista]

THREE spelling mistakes in one short piece. And I used to think the Times meant quality. I remember the days when you could read it cover to cover and not spot a single spelling mistake!

[kok]

Plain stupidity and vanity. Money could be better spent on building school, health care, and community projects.

[kmv]

Catherine Zeta Jones wasn't born on an estate. It's a pretty middle class area, lots of half a mill cribs and the like.

[david]

I got married a long time ago!.The streets were busy so my wife walked along them with bridesmaids in tow and hoots from the traffic.I had £15[3 weeks wages] to pay for Wedding/reception and rent.Left wife in digs after three weeks,and served queen and country for the next 18 months abroad before seeing wife again.This occured for the next twelve years.We are still together with children,grandchildren and great grandchildren.Put you a bet on about the Rooneys? Witness the body bags coming back home from Iraq and Afghanistan,the pittance these guys are paid,the sqalid conditions their loved ones have to live in and remember how much" we" pay young men like Rooney whose only ability is to kick a plastic ball about?It aint a real casey?

[G Henry...]

I quite like Colleen. Talentless, feckless moron she may be but she has at least kept her feet on the ground...

[James Davis]

Poor stupid, ignorant, foolish, decadent, ugly, annoying Colleen...

[A Cynic]

Why do I get the feeling that in a few years we will be seeing a list from Money Central featuring many of these people: the most expensive divorces ever...

[Jenny B]

Let's face it. Colleen is a Chav who is now married to an ape. Taste? Style? I don't think so.

[Real Woman]

Did anyone ever see that programme on ITV - Colleen's Real Women? It was embarassing. Real hide behind the sofa cring-worthy stuff...

[ronnie]

I presume tomorrow, its the 10 most exorbinant divorces?

[Louise]

I can't help but pity Colleen; she's a boring, talentless nobody with no style or class who constantly craves attention for doing little else besides spending money. Owning a hundred pairs of Louboutins does not make you a style icon, and the sooner she realises she will never be a respected fashionista the better.

[Anastasia]

And poor old coleen still looked comical. It goes to show that just because someone gets money and fame it does not change the fact that they are an orange plain jane marrying an unattractive, rather stupid man, trying to look like someone they are not. WAGs face this fact- you look silly the more and more you try to look elegant.

[Neil]

I'm sure Posh and Becks will be disappointed to have only spent a paltry 500.000 on their wedding.