The 25 Most Iconic Celebrity Weddings of All Time

A great celebrity wedding is not simply a famous one. The weddings on this list are here because they changed something: the dress brides asked for the following year, the kind of place couples chose, how many people were invited, or whether the world was invited at all. We ranked them by that lasting influence, and by how clearly they are still remembered, rather than by cost or guest count. Each links to a full account, with the facts of the day and practical ways to borrow the idea. For the gowns alone, see our guide to celebrity wedding dresses.

The list

1. Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, 1981

On July 29, 1981, some 3,500 guests filled St Paul’s Cathedral and an estimated 750 million people watched on television. Diana’s ivory silk taffeta gown by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, with its 25-foot train and 10,000 pearls, defined bridal fashion for a decade: big sleeves, bigger skirts, as much romance as the fabric could hold. Read the full story.

2. Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco, 1956

The Oscar-winning actress married a reigning prince in two ceremonies: a civil wedding at the palace on April 18, 1956, and a religious one at Saint Nicholas Cathedral the next day. Her gown, by Helen Rose of MGM and a gift from the studio, set the template for the long-sleeved lace bodice over a full silk skirt. More than 30 million people watched the broadcast. Read the full story.

3. Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, 1947

The future Queen married at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947, in a Norman Hartnell gown of duchesse satin embroidered with star lilies and orange blossom, for which she still needed ration coupons. BBC Radio carried the service to an estimated 200 million listeners, a moment of splendor in austere postwar Britain. Read the full story.

4. Jacqueline Bouvier and John F. Kennedy, 1953

The young senator married at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island, on September 12, 1953. The bride’s ivory silk taffeta gown, with its bands of tucking and small wax flowers on the skirt, was made by Ann Lowe, a Black designer who went uncredited at the time and is now rightly celebrated. Read the full story.

5. Prince William and Catherine Middleton, 2011

About 1,900 guests at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, and tens of millions watching around the world. Sarah Burton’s gown for Alexander McQueen, with a lace V-neck bodice, long lace sleeves and a pleated skirt, has been copied by brides ever since. Read the full story.

6. John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, 1996

The most private wedding on this list, and one of the most influential. On September 21, 1996, about 40 guests gathered by candlelight at the First African Baptist Church on Cumberland Island, Georgia, and the press found out only afterward. Bessette’s silk slip dress by Narciso Rodriguez, then a little-known designer, inspired knock-offs almost at once and made minimalism the most fashionable way to marry. Read the full story.

7. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, 2018

At St George’s Chapel, Windsor, on May 19, 2018, Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon on love and the Kingdom Choir’s gospel performance brought something new to a royal wedding. The bride’s bateau-necked gown by Clare Waight Keller of Givenchy was a study in restraint. Read the full story.

8. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, 1964

After one of the most publicized romances of the era, Taylor married Burton in the Royal Suite of the Ritz-Carlton in Montreal on March 15, 1964, in a short canary-yellow chiffon dress by Irene Sharaff, with hyacinths in her hair. They divorced, remarried in Botswana in 1975 and divorced again. The yellow dress still gives brides permission to wear color. Read the full story.

9. Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, 1954

A judge’s chambers at San Francisco City Hall, January 14, 1954, a ceremony of a couple of minutes, and hundreds of people in the corridors. Monroe married in a dark brown broadcloth suit with a white ermine collar, and in doing so created the definitive courthouse wedding look. Read the full story.

10. George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin, 2014

A long weekend in Venice: a ceremony at the Aman Canal Grande on September 27, 2014, officiated by Walter Veltroni, then a civil wedding at Ca’ Farsetti two days later. Amal’s Oscar de la Renta gown of French lace and her cream Stella McCartney town-hall look remain the benchmarks for the destination wedding. Read the full story.

11. Beyoncé and Jay-Z, 2008

On April 4, 2008, one of the most famous couples in music married at home in New York with a reported 40 guests, no announcement and no official photographs. The bride’s mother, Tina Knowles, designed the dress. It made privacy the ultimate luxury and helped popularize the phone-free wedding. Read the full story.

12. Elvis and Priscilla Presley, 1967

The King married Priscilla Beaulieu at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas on May 1, 1967, in a ceremony that lasted about eight minutes, followed by a press conference and a breakfast reception. The wedding helped make Las Vegas the place where stars could marry quickly and still make headlines. Read the full story.

13. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, 2000

A sunset ceremony on a Malibu clifftop on July 29, 2000, about 200 guests, a gospel choir and fireworks over the Pacific. Aniston’s slim, low-backed gown by Lawrence Steele, a designer few had heard of, was copied almost immediately and set the tone for a decade of pared-back bridal style. Read the full story.

14. Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer, 1954

Hepburn married the actor Mel Ferrer in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, on September 25, 1954, in a tea-length Pierre Balmain dress with a high collar and puffed sleeves. It is still one of the loveliest arguments for a short wedding dress, especially for a small ceremony in the mountains or the country.

15. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, 2014

A rehearsal dinner at Versailles, then a Medici fortress above Florence on May 24, 2014. Riccardo Tisci’s Givenchy Haute Couture gown, a wall of white flowers and a photograph that set an Instagram record made this the first great wedding of the social-media age. The couple divorced in 2022. Read the full story.

16. Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, 2018

A Christian ceremony on December 1 and a Hindu ceremony on December 2, 2018, at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur. A Ralph Lauren gown with a 75-foot veil, then a crimson Sabyasachi lehenga that took 3,720 hours to embroider: the definitive model for a wedding that honors two traditions. Read the full story.

17. Letizia Ortiz and Prince Felipe of Spain, 2004

A former television journalist married the heir to the Spanish throne at Madrid’s Almudena Cathedral on May 22, 2004, the first royal wedding held there. Manuel Pertegaz’s gown, with its high collar and long train, was a lesson in modern royal modesty. Read the full story.

18. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, 1958

A quick Las Vegas wedding on January 29, 1958, a champagne silk cocktail dress by Jax, and a marriage of fifty years. Two months later Woodward won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Proof that the best weddings need not be large. Read the full story.

19. Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres, 2008

On August 16, 2008, in the brief window when same-sex marriage was legal in California, the couple married at their Beverly Hills home before their mothers and 19 other guests, both dressed by Zac Posen. It was one of the most visible same-sex weddings of its time, and it mattered well beyond Hollywood. Read the full story.

20. Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian, 2017

A Beauty and the Beast theme in New Orleans, a custom Alexander McQueen ball gown by Sarah Burton, then Versace for dancing with jeweled sneakers. Guests included Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian and Anna Wintour. It showed how a bride could be both classic and entirely herself. Read the full story.

21. Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant, 2024

Months of celebrations, from a pre-wedding weekend in Jamnagar with a performance by Rihanna to a Mediterranean cruise, culminated in the wedding in Mumbai in July 2024. With estimates of its cost running from $600 million to $1 billion, it is among the most expensive weddings ever held. Read the full story.

22. Sofia Richie and Elliot Grainge, 2023

Married in the south of France on April 22, 2023, in three custom Chanel dresses, Richie offered a model of understated elegance for a new generation of brides. Read the full story.

23. Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, 2013

A villa on Lake Como on September 14, 2013, three Vera Wang gowns and “All of Me,” the song Legend wrote for Teigen, whose video ends with footage from the day. A destination wedding with warmth and humor. Read the full story.

24. Justin and Hailey Bieber, 2018 and 2019

A New York courthouse in 2018, then a chapel in Bluffton, South Carolina, for 154 guests a year later. Hailey’s Off-White gown by Virgil Abloh, with “Till death do us part” embroidered on the veil, gave brides a new idea: words on the veil. Read the full story.

25. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, 2025

A three-day celebration in Venice, with the ceremony on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore on June 27, 2025, and between 200 and 250 guests. It was also the most contested wedding on this list, drawing protests from Venetians over the city’s commercialization; the couple made a donation to research on the Venetian lagoon. Read the full story.

Also in our collection

Barack and Michelle Obama, 1992. Married on October 3, 1992, at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, three years after they met at a law firm.

Prince Albert and Charlene Wittstock, 2011. An Olympic swimmer in Armani, and a bouquet left for Monaco’s patron saint, as Princess Grace had done.

Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling, 2010. The heir to the Swedish throne married her former personal trainer at Stockholm Cathedral on June 19, 2010.

Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 2020. A small wedding at Windsor in July 2020, in a vintage Norman Hartnell dress lent by Queen Elizabeth II.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, 2022. Twenty years after their first engagement, a Las Vegas wedding on July 16, 2022, and a celebration the following month; the divorce was finalized in January 2025.

Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco, 2025. Santa Barbara, three custom Ralph Lauren gowns and Taylor Swift among the guests.

Paris Hilton and Carter Reum, 2021. Married on November 11, 2021, in a long-sleeved lace Oscar de la Renta gown.

Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger, 2019. A June 2019 wedding in Montecito, California.

Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, 2012, Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez, 2021 and Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton, 2021 complete the collection: a Marchesa gown and a later apology, a silk column at home in Montecito, and a veil embroidered with a family’s names.

What they have in common

Look closely and a pattern emerges. The weddings that last are rarely the most expensive. They are the ones where a single choice, a yellow dress, a slip of silk, a courthouse, a veil with words on it, said something true about the couple. That is the part worth borrowing. Start with how to plan a wedding, and keep the guest list, the dress and the setting in proportion to the people you are.