On 16 May 1770 Versailles opened its new Royal Opera, a room for nearly 1,500 spectators, for one wedding feast: the future Louis XVI's marriage to Marie Antoinette. From that night this list of the most extravagant royal weddings in history runs in date order to Amman in 2023. Almost none has a sourced total cost, so each is measured in guests, days and craft.
Each entry counts guests event by event. Bring your own counts to your Wedded Advisor through Wedded Concierge.
Every entry gives the guests at each event, the days, the procession, the gown and the jewels, and says so where no source gives a figure.
It isn't a world survey: it keeps to weddings with an official published account, so Habsburg, Romanov, Greek, Ottoman and African royal weddings are absent. If you read only three, read 1810 for spending, 1981 for scale and 2011 for how a modern day is split.
Marie Antoinette, 14, had married Louis by proxy in Vienna on 19 April, a diplomatic match (Britannica).
The Château de Versailles gives the record:
Court and venue: The palace chapel, with the Archbishop of Reims, then the feast in Gabriel's Royal Opera.
Guests: No count is given; the Opera's 1,500 is its capacity.
What went wrong: A storm called off that night's fireworks, and the 30 May fireworks on Place de la Concorde killed 132 people.
The Louvre's Salon Carré was cleared of its masterpieces and turned into a chapel (Fondation Napoléon).
The Fondation's account:
Court and venue: A civil marriage at Saint-Cloud on 1 April, then the religious ceremony in the Salon Carré and a banquet at the Tuileries.
Guests: "Some 10,000 guests" in the Grande Galerie, the Fondation says.
The gown: By Leroy, in silver tulle embroidered with pearls, with an Alençon lace veil. The full wedding outfit cost 12,000 francs (Fondation Napoléon).
A fanfare sounded at midday on 10 February 1840, and thousands lined the route to the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, where Victoria married in orange blossom rather than a tiara (Historic Royal Palaces).
What the Royal Collection records:
The gown: Cream Spitalfields silk satin with Honiton lace, and a court train of 5.5 metres per Historic Royal Palaces.
Worn again: Her Honiton lace flounce returned at royal weddings in 1858 and 1893.
Held by: The Royal Collection, RCIN 71975.
Norman Hartnell learned in August that his design was approved, less than three months before the wedding at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947 (Royal Collection).
The detail, from royal.uk and the Royal Collection:
Guests: About 2,000.
The gown: Hartnell, in duchesse satin with 10,000 seed pearls, made with 200 extra clothing coupons. Royal.uk gives the train as 15 feet; the Royal Collection gives 13.
Jewels: A diamond fringe tiara lent by her mother (Westminster Abbey), and a ring of Welsh gold.
Held by: The Royal Collection, RCIN 100019.
Monaco gave the wedding a full week, from 12 to 19 April 1956 (Visit Monaco).
How the week was split:
Court and venue: The palace Throne Room on 18 April, then Monaco Cathedral on 19 April (Monte-Carlo SBM).
Guests: 80 at the civil ceremony, 700 in the cathedral and 600 at the Hôtel de Paris reception, according to an unsigned Hello Monaco feature.
The gown: By Helen Rose, made by MGM's wardrobe department as a gift, in ivory peau de soie with a Brussels lace bodice. The Philadelphia Museum of Art holds it.
Michiko Shoda was a commoner, and the marriage broke a 1,500-year-old tradition (Britannica). The rites took place in the Imperial Palace on 10 April, with a banquet over three days from 13 April (Imperial Household Agency).
No guest count was published, but 530,000 lined the route and 15 million watched on television (University of Tokyo).
St Paul's was chosen for its size and longer route, and no heir to the throne had married there for 480 years (St Paul's). Three choirs and three orchestras played.
The day in figures:
Guests: 3,500, including heads of state.
The broadcast: 350 million (St Paul's) to 750 million in 74 countries (Guinness World Records).
The gown: Silk taffeta by the Emanuels, with Queen Mary's Carrickmacross lace and a 25-foot train (royal.uk).
Jewels: Not a royal loan but the Spencer family tiara, lent by her father and remodelled by Garrard in 1937 (Garrard).
They married in Copenhagen Cathedral on 14 May 2004, and the evening moved to Fredensborg Palace (Kongehuset).
How Copenhagen counted the day:
Guests: More than 800 in the cathedral (NBC News) and 428 at the banquet (ABC Australia).
The gown: By Uffe Frank in white duchesse, with a six-metre train.
Jewels: A tiara given by Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik.
Madrid married its crown prince ten weeks after the train bombings of 11 March, and lined the route with 192 cypress and olive trees for the victims (Casa Real). Security ran to about 18,000 police (ABC Australia).
The Madrid day:
Court and venue: Almudena Cathedral in heavy rain, then a luncheon in the Patio del Príncipe.
Guests: 1,400 by NBC News, 1,600 by ABC Australia.
The gown: By Manuel Pertegaz, with a 15-foot train embroidered with heraldic symbols.
Jewels: Queen Sofía's Prussian tiara, made by Koch in 1913 for Princess Victoria Louise of Prussia (The Court Jeweller).
They married in Storkyrkan on 19 June 2010, and a 6.8 km cortège and a crossing on the royal barge Vasaorden followed.
From Kungahuset:
Guests: 558 at the gala banquet.
The gown: Pär Engsheden.
Jewels: The cameo tiara, given to Empress Joséphine, Napoleon's first wife, in 1809 (Kungahuset).
Field maples lined the nave of Westminster Abbey (Westminster Abbey), and the Palace published guest figures for each event (royal.uk).
The day, by event:
Guests: Around 1,900 invited to the Abbey, 600 to the Queen's lunchtime reception and 300 to the Prince of Wales's dinner.
The gown: Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, with lace appliqué by the Royal School of Needlework in the Carrickmacross technique (royal.uk).
Jewels: The 1936 Cartier halo tiara, lent by the Queen, whose mother gave it to her at 18.
Flowers: A shield-shaped bouquet of myrtle, lily of the valley, sweet William and hyacinth.
In service order, from royal.uk:
Processionals: A fanfare for the Queen, then Parry's I was Glad for the bride.
Hymns: Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer, Love Divine and Jerusalem.
Anthem and motet: Rutter's This is the day, and Mealor's Ubi caritas.
National Anthem: Sung just before the signing of the registers.
Signing: Parry's Blest Pair of Sirens, then an RAF fanfare.
Recessional: Walton's Crown Imperial, then Widor's Toccata and Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5.
In a parish church, the hymns need only an organist and a singing congregation; I was Glad and Ubi caritas need a trained choir.
Prince Abdul Malik married Dayangku Raabi'atul 'Adawiyyah in rites that ran for 11 days and ended on 15 April 2015 (IBTimes UK). The ceremony in the Balai Singgahsana Indera Buana at Istana Nurul Iman brought out the Royal Regalia and 17 cannon salutes (Borneo Post).
The bride wore gold, diamonds and rubies, and carried a bouquet made of gems. No guest count was published.
Windsor invited 2,640 members of the public into the Castle grounds (royal.uk).
How Windsor split the day:
Guests: About 600 at the service and the St George's Hall lunch, and about 200 at Frogmore House that evening (Gulf News, via AP).
The music: The St George's Chapel Choir; Karen Gibson's Kingdom Choir in Stand by Me (ABC News); and the cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who played Fauré's Après un rêve at the signing (NPR via WFAE).
The gown: Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy, in double bonded silk cady, with a five-metre veil embroidered with flora from all 53 Commonwealth countries (royal.uk).
Jewels and flowers: Queen Mary's diamond bandeau of 1932, lent by the Queen; white garden roses, peonies and foxgloves by Philippa Craddock (Gulf News).
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, and his brothers Sheikh Maktoum and Sheikh Ahmed married in the same season. Sheikh Hamdan's bride was Sheikha bint Saeed bin Thani Al Maktoum, whose given name, Sheikha, is also the title (The National).
The weddings ran as two events, three weeks apart:
The ceremonies: Private, on 15 May during Ramadan (Gulf Business).
The reception: For men, at Dubai World Trade Centre on 6 June during Eid Al Fitr, with the Rulers of the Emirates among the guests (Khaleej Times).
What was not published: Guest numbers, seating and precedence, security arrangements, the gowns and the women's celebration, held apart by Emirati custom.
Jordan's crown prince married Rajwa Al Saif at Zahran Palace in Amman on 1 June 2023 (Royal Hashemite Court). Guests included Jill Biden and the Prince and Princess of Wales (Jordan Times).
The Amman detail:
Guests: Around 140 at the ceremony and more than 1,700 at the reception (Arab News).
The gown: Elie Saab.
Before the wedding: Queen Rania hosted a henna evening for the bride (Jordan News).
Figures with a primary source, in the original currency:
1810: Leroy's wedding outfit for Marie-Louise cost 12,000 francs.
2011: The families paid for the wedding and the public for security (Channel 4 News), with policing reported at £6.35 million, a figure Full Fact could not check against official data.
2018: The Royal Family paid, and Thames Valley Police estimated its gross cost at £2.082 million in May 2018 (Thames Valley PCC).
The figures that change from list to list:
Diana's guests: Some lists say 2,700; St Paul's says 3,500.
The famous totals: $48 million for 1981, and $45 million or $100 million for an Abu Dhabi wedding that year, have no primary source.
Gown prices: Estimates; Brides has given two figures for the 2011 gown.
What scales down, and what does not:
At any size: A guest count for each event, and a family ceremony before a larger reception, as in Amman.
The gown: A couturier booked well ahead of Hartnell's three months, lace made to be worn again, and a veil that carries the detail, as Windsor's did.
At a dinner under 100: Flowers on Windsor's lines; one musician of your choosing for the signing; an heirloom jewel with its provenance in writing.
For privacy: A private ceremony with the news shared afterwards, as in Dubai, and separate receptions where your family hosts that way.
State scale only: Crowds on the route, broadcasts, choirs with orchestras, and policing paid by the public.
Entry 8's bride, Mary Donaldson, grew up in Hobart and is now Queen of Denmark (ABC Australia). The Notice of Intended Marriage goes to your celebrant at least one month and no more than 18 months before the date, and in Victoria, applying to shorten that month carries a non-refundable $62 assessment fee (BDM Victoria).
For Italy, check Smartraveller's Italy page first. The Australian Embassy in Rome asks for an Atto Notorio from an Italian consulate before you leave, then a Nulla Osta sworn in person in Rome or Milan, valid six months and legalised at a Prefettura. Confirm each step with the Australian Embassy in Rome before you book. In Puglia, ask each venue for its exclusive-use terms, minimum stay and whether quotes include VAT; start with the WW Italy guide and the Cala dei Balcani listing.
Fortune reports that guest lists over 1,000 are not uncommon and some Emirati weddings pass 1,500, so a count for each event matters more here. It names noise rules, weather and privacy as reasons weddings stay indoors, with men and women traditionally apart, in ballrooms that may be side by side.
Ask how a room divides. Atlantis The Royal's Diamond Ballroom seats 660 and splits into three spaces with their own entrances (Skift, 2023); The St. Regis Downtown Dubai lists 400 for its largest room. Both are on WW's Dubai venues page.
The latest reported Dubai royal reception was Sheikha Mahra's, at Dubai World Trade Centre on 27 May 2023 (Grazia Middle East). For a legal civil marriage, Abu Dhabi's court lists a standard fee of AED 300, open to anyone other than UAE nationals (Abu Dhabi Judicial Department).
A civil ceremony in England and Wales must not include anything religious, and GOV.UK names hymns and Bible readings. So hymns mean a religious ceremony; a country house can still host the wedding breakfast.
For a Church of England parish church, one of you must live in the parish or have a qualifying connection, such as six months' worship there at any time or a parent's wedding there. Then come banns on three Sundays (Church of England) or a Common Licence, around £200 and valid three months. The nearest royal precedent is Peter Phillips's wedding at All Saints, Kemble, on 6 June 2026 (AP via KXAN).
In New York City the marriage licence costs $35, lasts 60 days and needs a 24-hour wait before the ceremony (NYC311). In-person appointments at the Marriage Bureau go through Project Cupid on the City Clerk's site. A civil ceremony at home can then come before a larger celebration abroad; for Italy, start with the WW Tuscany guide. To see Grace Kelly's gown, ask the Philadelphia Museum of Art before you travel: its object page doesn't say whether it is on view.
Bring your guest count for each event to your Wedded Advisor through Wedded Concierge. They plan and book it, drawing on WW's venue listings and the couture and florists on the Wedded Marketplace.
WW claims no access to any royal household's suppliers. More royal and celebrity weddings sit in the Trending section.
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