Billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani's youngest son Anant and Viren Merchant's daughter Merchant, both 29, tied the knot on July 12 in Mumbai following months of pre-marriage parties. Four-day-long lavish wedding celebrations not only saw Bollywood celebrities make an appearance but also countless international ones. The Kardashian sisters and, 'you could see him' John Cena graced the wedding in traditional Indian outfits. In light of two of the most influential families in India coming together, here's more about the newlywed couple, the original friends to lovers.
Though not many details have been shared by the families about their love story, it was in 2018 that rumours began when a photo of Anant and Radhika went viral.
How did Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant meet?
It was during their pre-wedding celebrations in Jamnagar this year that the duo mentioned being in love with each other for seven years.
According to Free Press Journal, Anant and Radhika grew up together as friends and have multiple mutual friends. The two also attended the same school before parting ways for further education. Radhika went on to New York University, while Anant went to Brown University in Rhode Island.
Rumours of their relationship began around 2018 when pictures of them at Lake Como in Italy went viral. It was the engagement ceremony of Anant's sister, Isha Ambani, which Radhika and her family attended. Radhika was part of the wedding festivities and was even part of a group that walked with the bride during her phoolon ki chadar (canopy of flowers) ceremony, according to Lifestyle Asia The event sparked suspicions that the two truly might be something more than friends, and evidently, their families too approved of the match. However, the couple did not reveal anything to the media nor confirm these speculations.
In the following years, Radhika was seen attending several family events alongside Anant, always leaving the public guessing the status of their relationship.
Anant and Radhika's engagement was officially announced in December 2022.
This announcement came after Radhika's soon-to-be in-laws organized an Arangatram ceremony for her, to celebrate her debut performance as a professional Bharatnatyam dancer, for which she trained for many years under the guidance of Guru Bhavana Thakar.
The whole Ambani family, in addition to Anant of course, was in attendance to publicly showcase their support for her at the star-studded event in a truly heartwarming moment. A particularly sweet picture of Nita Ambani giving a tight hug to Radhika also received a lot of traction.
After their engagement, the couple had many events to celebrate their love, including two pre-weddings, the traditional roka, sangeet, and haldi ceremonies, and finally the wedding last weekend. The most recent pre-wedding celebration went viral on social media due to the presence of global icon Rihanna and so many influential people and countless celebrities.
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