Anyone who was familiar with pop culture in the ’90s is aware of the marriage between Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, Hollywood’s original “it” couple. The young stars tied the knot in a $1 million wedding ceremony in July of 2000. That may not seem like a huge amount of money compared to some others on the list, but it’s still quite a bit, especially considering it went down nearly two decades ago.
The event was wholly star-studded and some guests in attendance included Salma Hayek, Cameron Diaz, and the cast of “Friends,” except Matt Leblanc who was working at the time. Four bands were hired to perform throughout the festivities, along with Melissa Etheridge and a church choir. Unfortunately, the marriage ultimately went downhill.
The Billion-Dollar Wedding
Said Gutseriev, son of Russian oil tycoon, Mikhail Gutseriev, got married in Moscow in 2016. The bride was 20-year-old dental student Khadija Uzhakhovs, who wore a dress that was covered in so many jewels that it weighed nearly 30 pounds. The celebration cost Mikhail an incredible $1 billion, almost ¼ of his total net worth.
Several stars showed up to perform at the show, including Sting, Enrique Iglesias, and Jennifer Lopez, who was paid a cool million for the evening. Guests were shuttled to and from the ceremony in Rolls Royces and dined on a cake that was taller than everyone in the room. An incredible fireworks display provided the perfect end to the fairytale when it was time for everyone to leave.
Madonna's Wedding
There was no way this material girl was going to have some mediocre ceremony when she wed film director Guy Ritchie in 2000. The couple held an intimate, but incredibly lavish, ceremony at Skibo Castle in Scotland. They booked each and every room in the entire place for their guests, which included Sting and Gwyneth Paltrow.
The star-studded wedding cost the two an estimated $1.5 million, which in today’s terms equals out to about $2.5 million. Madonna wore a beautiful gown by Stella McCartney, while Ritchie decided to don a kilt, a nod to his own Scottish heritage. The castle was rife with security guards, which kept the reporters at bay until they had officially tied the knot.
A Minelli Wedding
Eleven years after Minnelli attended best friend Elizabeth Taylor’s marriage to Larry Fortensky, Taylor would find herself returning the favor as a guest at Liza’s wedding to producer and comedian David Gest. Like Taylor, this was far from Minnelli’s first rodeo, as this marriage would be her 4th. The couple dropped between 3 and 4 million dollars on their ceremony, which took place inside the Marble Collegiate Church in NYC.
The wedding was such a huge deal that some of the biggest names in show business were in attendance, like Mia Farrow and Anthony Hopkins. The millions of dollars spent on the event went towards things like a $40,000 cake and over $700,000 of flowers. Michael Jackson actually acted as Fortensky’s best man, while Elizabeth Taylor was the maid of honor. Minnelli walked down the aisle in a custom-made Bob Mackey wedding dress strewn with crystals and pearls as Natalie Cole sang her father’s hit song, “Unforgettable.”
Alex Carl and Peter Campbell
Alex Carl, whose father is a wealthy lawyer in the DC area, married her boyfriend, Peter Campbell, in 2015. The couple first met when Campbell was basically Carl’s landlord in South Africa when she was studying abroad in 2006. The two had an extravagant wedding that spanned the course of several days and was held at Carl’s estate in the Hamptons.
The Carl’s hired esteemed wedding planner Mindy Weiss, along with a team of other professionals, to produce the celebration. Alex wore a beautiful gown from Oscar de la Renta, and 250 guests enjoyed a cigar bar and cocktails served in…ostrich eggshells. The bride’s father also hired multiple photographers and videographers, which turned into a legal battle after the family said that they never received any of those photos or videos. But those weren’t the only legal issues that came from the affair. Mindy Weiss is suing Alex’s father and claims that he never paid her for her services.