Five Biggest Weddings of All Time

Almost every girl, from the time she was seven (or five), has dreamed of that magical day when she marries her Prince Charming and lives happily ever after.

Well, a lot of princes don't remain charming and "happily" may not last ever after, but the dream wedding remains - and some girls are actually fortunate enough to get them! Here is a list of the five biggest weddings of all time.

Number 5: Aleksandra Nikolic to Andrey Melnichenko, $30 million. The bride, Aleksandra, was a Serbian model, the former Miss Yugoslavia. Her groom, Andrey, was the founder of the MDM bank. He was also a billionaire. In 2005, they were married in France, at the Cote D'Azur. Their guests were entertained by the likes of Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, and Whitney Houston, who were all flown to the venue via a private jet and sent home with more than $3 million each.

Number 4: Prince William and Kate Middleton, $34 million. The couple hardly needs introduction. He is the eldest son of England's crown prince. She is a smart and beautiful commoner, with a rags-to-riches story. For many, it was the Cinderella story come alive. Their 2011 wedding was watched by the whole world, and hundreds of millions of people sent their well wishes that this prince's fairy tale wedding will fare much better than that ill-fated one that took place in the very same site and family twenty years ago.

Number 3: Vanisha Mittal and Amit Bhatia, $60 million. Vanisha is the daughter of the richest man in India, steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the owner of the most expensive house in the world. Amit was the owner of Swordfish Investments. For their 2005 wedding, they sent out invitations enclosed in silver cases. Guests were flown to the 17th-centure Vaux le Vicomte, "the finest chateau and garden" in France, and were booked at a five-star hotel. The wedding has been reported in an Indian magazine, in an article headlined, "Papa, Buy Me the Eiffel".

Number 2: Prince Charles and Lady Diana, $70 million. Well, to be exact, they only spent $48 million - but that was in 1981. Taking inflation into account, that's worth $70 in 2012. Like many high-profile royal weddings, though, much of the cost were actually expenses for security. Still, the wedding featured a horse and carriage, a guest list of 3,500 people, 27 cakes, and an ivory silk wedding dress in the range of $15,000 - plus five back-up copies of the same dress, just in case something went wrong with the first one.

Number 1: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Princess Salama, $100 million. The dollar amount was smaller in 1981, but we have adjusted it with today's dollar value in mind. We are talking here about the wedding of the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, now the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and the constitutional monarch of Dubai. The couple had a guest list of 20,000 people. To hold that crowd, they had to build an amphitheatre especially for the event. Emirs, ambassadors, and sheiks were flown in on private jets. Song-and-dance troupes performed. Bejewelled camels brought in gifts for the bride. The entire extravaganza lasted seven days.

Even if not all these fairy tale weddings had happy endings, it is undeniable that the ceremonies themselves were something to behold. For the ones that didn't last - well, at least their wedding photographer was able to capture that one brief shining moment, to keep the grand (and expensive) images alive forever.