Google it – and the first search result will be the 2016 wedding of Russian oil billionaire Said Gutseriev to Khadija Uzhakhov – to the tune of a cool ONE. BILLION. DOLLARS.

The bride’s pearl-encrusted Elie Saab gown cost the first million USD. There was extravagant decor…

… days of festivities ….

… a fleet of luxury cars for the guests, a nine-tier wedding cake…

… and performances by Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, and Sting as well as a fireworks show to keep their guests entertained. ENORMOUS!

BUT: there is precedent!!

And that precedent took place about 600 years earlier. A royal wedding: King Charles the Bold of Burgundy married Margaret of York, sister to two successive Kings of England, in the city of Bruges, Belgium, in 1468.

Here the bride (in white lace dress) meets the groom for the first time. The bride was transported in a white horse-drawn golden litter, and she wore a beautiful gown trimmed with ermine. A truly priceless bespoke crown decorated with pearls and diamonds was made for her wedding day:

THAT wedding is estimated to have cost more than USD 300 million in current money. As was typical of royal weddings of the time, this union was not for love, not even for money – it was for purely political reasons. It was over-the-top lavish with festivities over nearly two weeks, parades, opulent dinners …

… and tournaments – one of them around a huge golden tree!

The streets of the city were covered in flowers, and all houses in the city were decorated with tapestries and banners. Well… that’s serious competition for the wedding of the Russian oligarch, don’t you think?!

In any case, inspiration for you – and for me!