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From elephants to an on-demand glam squad to freshen up guests, celebrities cover all the bases twice over when planning their “I do” moments. While some couples like Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell have been more modest — they only spent $142 on their simple courthouse nuptials — there are a few handfuls of celebrities who have opted for lavish, multi-million celebrations instead.
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No expense or detail was spared for the highly anticipated nuptials of Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker. The couple, along with their families and A-list friends, jetted off to Portofino, Italy to tie the knot in an extravagant Italian celebration. Kardashian’s rock-chic corset mini dress was custom-made by Dolce & Gabbana — the brand responsible for styling the family for the weekend. She also wore an extravagant veil consisting of two yards of fabric. The reception was held at the historic Castello Brown. Guests arrived at the celebration via riva boats decked out in — you guessed it — Dolce & Gabbana.
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You’ve heard of surprise birthday parties, but Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick ran with that popular celebration style in a big way. In 1997, Parker and Broderick invited 100 guests to a cocktail party. But when the guests showed up to the synagogue in New York City, they entered into a full-on wedding and celebration instead. The bride wore a black wedding dress during the surprise nuptials and show tunes played at the party into the night — a nod to Broadway, where the couple met.
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With a $3 million price tag, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise’s elaborate wedding is one of the most expensive and luxurious celebrations in recent history. The pair married in an Italian castle with their entire wedding party dressed in Armani — and it took 350 hours to place each crystal on the bride’s blinged-out dress.
Fairytales do exist and the wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco is living proof — and we’re not just talking about the part about a Hollywood actress marrying a prince and becoming a princess. For starters, Kelly’s wedding dress was so unique and iconic that it is still an inspiration for brides looking for the perfect dress to say “yes” to. It had a high neck and long sleeves with a billowing skirt and 10-and-a-half-foot train. The ceremony — which took place at Monaco's Saint Nicholas Cathedral — gained widespread media and public attention and did not disappoint. It was all things regal, extravagant, and gave off serious fairytale princess vibes with tons of white lilacs and lilies of the valley.
When Nicole Richie and Joel Madden tied the knot, their ceremony was anything but conventional. The two married in the backyard of Lionel Richie (the bride’s father) with a French garden theme — complete with a horse-drawn carriage. Also featured in the affair? A live elephant for “good luck,” according to bride Richie.
When singer Céline Dion married her longtime partner and manager Rene Angelil (who was 26 years her senior), she set out to put on the biggest extravaganza of her lifetime — and she definitely succeeded. When Dion walked down the aisle, she wore a gown with a 20-foot train and a seven-pound headpiece embellished with 2,000 Austrian crystals. At the reception, guests were sprinkled with fake snow as they entered. Also on display at the reception was an oversized French profiterole cake.
At their 1999 wedding, the Beckhams spent $800,000 — which would be over $1 million today. They were married at an Irish castle and sat on matching thrones during their reception. Their grandiose celebration included a nearly nude sculpture of the couple atop their wedding cake — which they used a sword to cut into, naturally.
A hopeless romantic (or maybe just a habitual bride), Elizabeth Taylor was famously married eight times. But her last wedding had the heftiest price tag. In 1991, the actress married construction worker Larry Fortensky at Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. The $1.5 million wedding was reportedly mostly paid for by MJ himself. The huge celebration included 100 security guards and plenty of Dom Perignon champagne.
Tattoo artist Kat Von D’s gothic-inspired wedding to Rafael Reyes was truly a lavish celebration. Following a Heaven and Hell theme, Von D rocked a bright red gown with a matching devilish headpiece and veil. The main space was flooded with crimson lighting while the bar area had an angelic aesthetic with all-white furniture. Even the cake was over-the-top: it was a vegan cake shaped like an opulent red castle with a projection of the newlyweds on it.
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Why have a wedding day when you can have an entire wedding weekend? That was the philosophy for Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas. The pair had two ceremonies: a Christian ceremony and a Hindu ceremony at the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur. For the Christian ceremony, Chopra wore a custom Ralph Lauren gown complete with a 75-foot train. Throughout the weekend, the couple had multiple receptions and events. They even booked an entire hotel, which reportedly cost more than $400,000.
Khloé Kardashian’s wedding to basketball player Lamar Odom was documented on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” The couple married only one month after they first met and although the wedding was planned in under two weeks, you’d never know it. The bride wore a custom silk Vera Wang gown with all of the bridesmaids decked out in Vera Wang, too. The $1 million nuptials took place at a Beverly Hills mansion with a slew of celebrities and professional athletes in attendance.
Most celebrity weddings feature an elaborate, expensive wedding gown, but Pamela Anderson opted for a white string bikini when she married musician Kid Rock aboard a yacht in Saint-Tropez — she also sported a bikini during her spontaneous beach wedding to first husband Tommy Lee. For his part, Rock went shirtless with a pair of jeans. Since the wedding wasn’t entirely legal, the couple made things official at a courthouse the following week.
The royal wedding of Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles is one of the most significant weddings of all-time. With around 3,500 guests in attendance, the couple welcomed monarchs from all over the world to celebrate their nuptials and enjoy 27 different wedding cakes. Spencer’s wedding dress cost a reported $100,000 and had a 25-foot train. In today’s currency, the wedding would cost about $110 million.
Despite holding their reception in their own backyard, Elton John and David Furnish spent between $1.5 to $2 million when they said, “I do” in 2014. With more than 600 guests to celebrate their love, the couple spent an estimated $2,500 per person — with vintage pink champagne and caviar contributing to the cost.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, the Kardashian family is known for larger-than-life wedding celebrations. Kim Kardashian’s wedding to Kanye West took place in Florence, Italy, although the pre-wedding festivities began in Paris. Kardashian’s Givenchy gown cost a whopping $500,000. Also contributing to the multi-million dollar celebration was a performance by Andrea Bocelli and a full glam squad to touch-up guests.
The wedding of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones was so on the down-low that guests had to show invites with holograms on them to get in. The lovebirds wed at the Plaza Hotel and spent somewhere between $1.5 to $2 million — most of which they earned back from selling their wedding pictures exclusively to a magazine for $1.4 million.
Liza Minnelli married her fourth husband David Gest with Michael Jackson serving as the best man. The wedding was held in New York City with a slew of A-listers attending, including Elizabeth Taylor and Elton John. They spent $3.5 million to say, “I do,” only to say “No, I don’t” one year later when they divorced.
Basketball all-star Michael Jordan started off his 2013 marriage to Yvette Prieto by setting a world record. The couple earned the title for biggest tent ever at 40,000 square feet — that’s larger than the mansion they lived in. For the evening’s entertainment, Robin Thicke, MC Lyte, and Usher all performed.
A sizable $32 million of the $34 million spent on the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge was spent on security. For the event, the couple had trees brought inside Westminster Abbey and drove off in Prince Charles’ vintage Aston Martin. There were several big-name celebrities in attendance including David and Victoria Beckham and — of course — Elton John.
Like his wedding’s brother before him, the budget for Prince Harry’s royal celebration was mostly consumed by security — $40 million out of $45 million, to be exact. The couple also spent about $1 million on things like waste disposal, barriers, screens, and a PA system for the crowd gathered outside to be able to witness the ceremony. They also spent about $680,000 on food and $200,000 on Markle’s Givenchy gown.
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