Ranking The Top Luxurious Weddings In The World

18. Irene Belenova and Daniel Kenvey

An 18-year old Russian heiress named Irene Belenova married Daniel Kenvey, 18, in an elaborate ceremony paid for by the bride’s billionaire father. The wedding included a live performance with Mariah Carey and Elton John at the Landmark Hotel in London. Instead of sitting back and enjoying the music, Irene jumped up on stage in her wedding dress to dance next to Mariah as if she was a backup dancer. The entire ceremony reportedly cost $4.5 million. The bride told the press that this huge wedding was just to “piss off her ex-boyfriend”, and that quote ran in nearly every headline. Hopefully, she was just joking because the couple is still together.

The billionaire Russian wedding is evidence of just how quickly societies can change. The former USSR only dissolved in 1991 and ended decades of authoritarian communist rule resulting from the Russian Revolution. When the USSR fell, many were poised to quickly privatize and purchase all of the previously nationalized industries such as manufacturing, natural gas, and more, allowing for the rapid explosion of billionaire oligarchs in the country, including President Vladimir Putin. While such a lavish wedding would have been unthinkable in Stalin’s era, capitalism has quickly flourished and run rampant in the country, allowing for such excesses.