The 10 most extravagant celebrity weddings
A study by bidvine.com has tracked down what it says are the most expensive high profile celebrity weddings of the 21st century. It calculated the cost of the top 20, and worked out that on average, these celebrities somehow spend £1.6 million on their big day.
The wedding experts found that on average, celebrities had spent: £39,000 on flowers, £3,566 on the wedding cake, £30,304 on the food, £145,403 on the wedding dress and £104,119 on the venue.
But who made the list?
Top ten
1. Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel - £ 4,936,584
The couple were married in Puglia, Italy. She wore a custom petal pink Giambattista Valli Haute Couture gown, and waltzed down the aisle to a song he had written for her.
2. Beyoncé and Jay Z - £3,190,515
In 2008 the couple married in New York. Perhaps their most extravagant splurge was on the 70,000 white orchids, placed inside a white tent in the enormous living room dominating Jay Z's penthouse
3. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian - £2,985,801
The couple got married in Florence, Italy in 2014. They kicked off proceedings a week earlier with a special reception in Paris, and a dinner at the Palace of Versailles, before flying their guests to Italy. She wore a Givenchy Haute Couture gown for the ceremony - but managed several costume changes during the celebrations.
4. George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin - £2,848,185
The pair were married in 2014 in Venice. They held a pre-wedding dinner the night before at the famous Hotel Cipriani. Guests had breakfast there again the following day before taking a boat to the 16th century Cavalli Palace for the ceremony. Then it was back to the Cipriani for more drinks, partying and fireworks. Alamuddin wore an Oscar de la Renta dress.
5. Liza Minelli and David Gest - £2,658,160
Their quirky New York wedding featured 16 bridesmaids, and more than 500 guests - who showed up for 56-year old Minelli's fourth wedding. Michael Jackson walked her down the aisle, and Elizabeth Taylor was Matron of Honour. The bride changed into a red sparkly mini dress for the reception at the Wall street Regent Hotel.
6. Paul McCartney and Heather Mills - £2,468,290
In 2002, the pair wed at a 17th-century church in Monaghan, Ireland. The 300 guests included Elton John, Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr. Among the extravagances were flowers estimated to have cost almost £100,000, and an enormous firework display costing tens of thousands of pounds.
7. Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky - £2,278,423
The couple were married in a $12 million historic home in New York in 2010 - with a select crowd of 400 friends and family. She wore a Vera Wang dress, and the pair were married outside, in an aisle dotted with floral gazebos and a harp.
8. Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman – £1,518,949
The pair were married in 2005, in a vineyard in Napa Valley California. Her dramatic dress was Christian Lacroix, and the paid exchanged vows in front of 130 friends and family.
9. Prince William and Kate Middleton - £ 1,516,243
This 2011 public event has entered the top ten of the most watched British TV programmes of all time. The fairytale wedding actually cost a great deal more than this, but the researchers excluded the cost of security - which would have put this wedding at the top of the pile - by an enormous margin.
10. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes - £1,500,000
The couple were married in 2006 in Italy, and pushed the boat out with a Medieval castle, fireworks, and a Giorgio Armani gown and tux. The 150 guests included Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith and Jim Carrey. The wedding, shortly after sunset, was the culmination of an entire weekend of celebration.
Another glance at this list makes you wonder whether they would spend it again given another chance.
Within six years of their various wedding days, Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman were divorced, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had split, and Heather Mills and Paul McCartney had been through a very public and bitter divorce.
Perhaps we could all learn something from Sir Paul, who opted for a far smaller and cheaper affair the next time he tied the knot.
