Anant Ambani, Radhika Merchant pre-wedding event: All you need to know

While celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan and family, Rihanna, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and wife, Bollywood filmmaker Boney Kapoor, actors Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Rani Mukherji, Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt have already arrived Jamnagar, the 2000 strong guest list names several more.

Bollywood actor-couple Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone on their arrival at the airport in Jamnagar, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, to attend pre-wedding events of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. (PTI Photo)

Among the expected guests are also Microsoft founder Bill Gates, actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Kajol, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, Madhuri Dixit and Anil Kapoor.

According to a report by Network 18, among international guests are Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick, Disney CEO Bob Iger, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Adnoc CEO Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, EL Rothschild chair Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Ivanka Trump and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and wife Jetsun Pema of Bhutan who have already arrived at the destination.

#WATCH | Gujarat | Actor Shah Rukh Khan along with his family arrives in Jamnagar for the three-day pre-wedding celebrations of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant. pic.twitter.com/1PP6p3fZJb

— ANI (@ANI) February 29, 2024

Several top political leaders are also expected to make an appearance for the pre-wedding festivities. Maharashtra Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray and family, along with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ wife Amruta Fadnavis are among the ones who have already landed in Jamnagar.

Why Jamnagar?

While destination weddings have been all the rage for upscale celebrity weddings such as Anant and Radhika’s, the choice of Jamnagar in Gujarat has some significance to the Ambanis. Around 1,000 guests will be ferried to the venue on chartered flights.

In an exclusive interview with India Today, Anant Ambani opened up about the family’s decision to hold the festivities in Jamnagar. The city, he said, is close to his heart as his grandmother’s birthplace and as the place which saw the birth of the Ambani empire by his grandfather Dhirubhai Ambani and father Mukesh Ambani.

Reliance Foundation Director Anant Ambani with his fiance Radhika Merchant distribute traditional Gujarati food to villagers during Anna Seva as part of their pre-wedding function, at the Jogwad village near Reliance Township in Jamnagar on Wednesday. (ANI Photo)

Moreover, the youngest Ambani son also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘Wed in India’ inspired the family to choose a within country destination as well. PM Modi in a Mann Ki Baat address last year had expressed he was saddened to see the rise in the number of couples choosing international destinations for grand weddings.

Additionally, in a video released by Nita Ambani, she said that celebrating the courtship of her youngest son with Radhika where the family’s roots lay, Jamnagar, was important to her.  “Jamnagar holds a special place in our hearts, and has a profound signifiance. Gujarat is where we come from, its where Mukesh and his father built the refinery and I started my career by converting this arid and desert-like area in a lush, green township and a vibrant community,” she said in the video.

#WATCH | Jamnagar, Gujarat | Founder and chairperson of Reliance Foundation Nita Ambani speaks on the pre-wedding function of her son Anant Ambani with Radhika Merchant.

“…When it came to my youngest son Anant’s wedding with Radhika, I had two important wishes – first, I… pic.twitter.com/udOVozqbWP

— ANI (@ANI) March 1, 2024

She also added that incorporating India’s rich arts and culture in the celebrations was of paramount importance to the family who want the wedding to be pay tribute to all of India creative workers – the second reason to choose India, Gujarat, and Jamnagar.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi Thackeray and son Aaditya Thackeray pose for media as they arrive to attend the pre-wedding celebrations of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, in Jamnagar, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (PTI Photo)

From 2,500+ dishes to dress coded parties, here’s what has been planned

According to the event guide that has been acquired by News 18, all the guests will be flying to Jamnagar on March 1. Each guest is requested to not carry more than one hand luggage and one piece of hold luggage, or three suitcases in total per couple.

Rihanna is in Jamnagar to perform at Ambani’s pre-wedding festivities. (Photo: Varinder Chawla/Instagram)

The three-day-long event will be themed.

• Day 1 will be called ‘An Evening in Everland’, an “elegant cocktail” party.
• Day 2 will host ‘A Walk on the Wildside’ with “jungle fever” being the suggested dress code. It is set to be held outdoors in the Ambanis’ animal rescue centre in Jamnagar, and guests will be dressed in comfortable clothes and shoes as it will be a kind of a safari. The guests will then proceed to ‘Mela Rouge’ which will be a potpourri of desi activities and the guests will wear their favourite south Asian attires.
• On day 3 the guests will attend two events — ‘Tusker Trails’ and ‘Hashtakshar’. The first event will be an outdoor affair where the guests will enjoy in the natural beauty of Jamnagar and for the last and final event, they’ll be dressed in “heritage Indianwear”.

All the guests will be provided with personal laundry services, saree drapers and other custom assistance. It is being said that the Ambanis, even after putting out such a detailed dress code have urged the guests to wear what they are comfortable in as they have mentioned in the guide book that the family “would like” them to “enjoy each moment to the fullest and make beautiful memories that last a lifetime”.

“The pre-wedding festivities will include music, dance, carnival, visual artistry, a special surprise performance as well as an experience of the nature conservation organised over the last few decades at Jamnagar, an experience of the animal rescue and rehabilitation work being carried out under Anant’s leadership and the traditional Hastaakshar (signing) ceremony at Jamnagar Township Temple complex,” a source added.

Moreover, according to reports, a team of 21 chefs is being flown in for the lavish event. Over 2,500 dishes will be prepared over the course of the three-day event, with cuisines ranging from Thai, Japanese, Mexican, and Parsi. Over 70 items will be available for breakfast, over 200 for lunch, and over 275 for dinner. Midnight meals will be on offer from 12 am to 4 pm, with over 85 items on offer.