An Exclusive Look Inside Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s Lavish Pre-Wedding Weekend

On March 1, more than 1,500 guests arrived in Jamnagar as the festivities officially began. For the first night, Radhika wore a blush pink custom Versace dress, accented with bespoke jewelry by Parthiv Mehta of Kantilal Chhotalal. Anant, meanwhile, wore custom Dolce & Gabbana.

The couple chose not to see any of the venues beforehand, as they wanted some elements of the pre-wedding to be a surprise. Little did they know Radhika’s mother-in-law and Malhotra had constructed a glass palace evoking the Palm House in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden—a favorite place of the bride’s when she was a college student in New York City—adorned in flowers from Jeff Leatham. A mini train transported the guests throughout. After dinner, 5,500 drones took to the sky to tell the story of Vantara, becoming India’s largest drone show ever in the process.

As the night grew later, Radhika changed into an Ashish dress just in time for Rihanna to take the stage. “I wanted to be fun, free, and young,” she says. “An Indian wedding is incomplete without a lot of dancing.”

The couple stayed out until 7 a.m. When finally heading to bed, they saw a rainbow. Radhika viewed it as a surreal moment within an already otherworldly weekend. “Rain in March is an anomaly in India, and yet, during those three days, we experienced weather unlike anything we’ve ever known,” she says. “It felt magical, as if I were living in a dream.”

Several hours later, the couple held a lunch on the grounds of Vantara’s Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. “We went to great lengths to accommodate our 1,500 guests, complete with an audio-guide system to ensure that everyone could connect with the animals that have been given a new lease on life here,” Radhika says. She wore a custom blue leopard-print look by Dolce & Gabbana—her personal take on the mob-wife aesthetic currently dominating fashion.

Come nightfall, it was time to party again. The theme? Mela Rogue, a playful spin on the film Moulin Rouge. Radhika opted for an outfit designed by Malhotra, who is renowned for his Bollywood costumes. “For the first look, we chose a modern interpretation of the traditional ghagra,an Indian wedding gown, intentionally omitting the dupatta, or scarf, to reveal a meticulous cutwork back that mimicked lace, complete with intricate embellishments,” she says. “We wanted to reinvent the bow by incorporating a drape around the shoulders for a geometric contrast of gold and silver against cool blue.” The ghagra was embellished with Swarovski crystals, and Radhika complemented the outfit with more jewels by Kantilal Chhotalal. David Blaine did magic tricks for the crowd, and there were a number of family dances. Then, Diljit Dosanjh—the first Punjabi singer to perform at Coachella—took the stage. Radhika then changed into her second look by Malhotra. “Malhotra, a true master of innovation, actually spent six months developing a mesh, or jaal, from a thin sheet of metal for a modern twist on the traditional dupatta,” she says.