Radhika Merchant’s veil at pre-wedding ceremony was made from ‘real gold threads’, an outfit that took six months to make

Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant hosted a three-day pre-wedding festivities in Jamnagar and surprised the world with the scale of the festivities. The festival saw Rihanna perform her first concert in seven years and featured memorable performances from Bollywood’s biggest stars – Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh and many others. International popstars like Diljit Dosanjh and Akon also performed at the event held for over 1500 people in Gujarat.

In a recent interview with Vogue, Radhika explained why she chose Jamnagar as the celebration venue and said, “Choosing Jamnagar was our way of honoring our roots and family heritage.” She said that she and Anant spend most of their time in Jamnagar so it holds a special place in their hearts. He further added “This is where Anant works and where we spend most of our time away from the hustle and bustle of urban life. This is also where Ananth’s grandmother Kokilaben was born and this is truly where our heart lies. Their animal sanctuary Vantara is also located here and Radhika has described it as her “karma bhoomi, or land of duty”.

Radhika also revealed that Anant’s mother Nita Ambani and designer Manish Malhotra, who was the creative director of the event, planned the three-day extravaganza in just three months. Radhika said that the dupatta for one of her outfits was made by Manish over six months, and also shared that her veil for her second outfit was made from “real gold threads” in Banaras. The Vogue interview stated that the couple “legally signed their marriage papers in the presence of 1,500 guests.” Anant and Radhika are going to get married in July.

The three-day festival hosted several international dignitaries, including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. Even after the conclusion of the celebrity-hosted festival, Ambani organized another concert for the people of Jamnagar. Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, Arijit Singh and a few others performed at the event held on Wednesday.