A wedding is a wonderful occasion to be celebrated with family, friends and loved ones, but it doesn’t come cheap. A typical wedding costs $28,000, so it’s no wonder that many modern couples are flouting traditional wedding festivities and opting to spend their money on other things. But there are still many people who spend millions of dollars on a wedding, particularly the rich and famous.

Check out these mouth-droppingly extravagant weddings of the 21st century:

Barrie Drewitt and Tony Barlow (2006)

Cost: £800,000 (AUD$1.4 million)

Drewitt and Barlow are chemical research millionaires and gay surrogate parents. Their wedding took place in Chelmsford, Essex, where they arrived in a pumpkin-shaped glass carriage like in Cinderella, which was pulled by six white horses. This was followed by limousines valued at $500,000. Their daughter, Saffron, wore a dress by Christian Dior.

Donald Trump and Melania Knauss (2005)

Cost:£900,000 (AUD$1.6 million)

Trump, a real estate tycoon, married his third wife Knauss, a Slovenian model, at Palm Beach, Florida. The bride’s dress cost £106,000, weighed 50 pounds and had a 13-foot train. Guests included Hillary Clinton, Tony Bennett and Billy Joel.

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (2006)

Cost: US$2 million (AUD$2.15 million)

Cruise and Holmes got married at the Odescalchi Castle in Italy. They had all the guests wear Armani, which included Brooke Shields, Jim Carrey, Jennifer Lopez, David and Victoria Beckham, and Andrea Bocelli, who performed a ballad onstage. Everyone danced to pop hits, enjoyed a fireworks display and ate Italian cuisine, which was prepared by Dal Bolognese Restaurant. Sadly, Cruise and Holmes got divorced in 2012.

Arun Nayar and Elizabeth Hurley (2007)

Cost: US$2.5 million (AUD$2.7 million)

The wedding of Indian billionaire Nayar and British actress Hurley took eight days. They got married in an English castle, where Elton John led Hurley to the altar. Then they went to Jodhpur, India with their 200 guests for a few parties before holding another wedding ceremony at Umaid Bhawan Palace. However, two ceremonies weren’t enough to make the couple stay together forever.

Paul McCartney and Heather Mills (2002)

Cost: $3.2 million (AUD$3.4 million)

Beatles member McCartney and model Mills had their wedding ceremony at Castle Leslie in Ireland. The guest list numbered 300, including Bill Clinton, heads of state from around the world and other Beatles members like Ringo Starr. After the ceremony, the guests danced to The Beatles hit songs on a large dance floor, rode in a yacht during the event, and watched evening fireworks worth £100,000. The marriage lasted six years.

David Gest and Liza Minnelli (2002)

Cost:£1.8 million (AUD$3.2 million)

TV personality Gest and actress Minnelli had guests ride in limousines to the Marble Collegiate Church in New York. The ceremony was orchestrated by Preston Bailey, a world-famous wedding planner. 1,000 people came to the wedding, including Elton John, Barbara Walters, Diana Ross, Lauren Bacall, Mia Farrow, Michael Jackson as best man and Elizabeth Taylor as maid of honour. Then they moved to the lobby of a Regent hotel, where Tony Bennett sang along with a 60-piece orchestra as guests danced. There was a $40,000 12-tier wedding cake and guests received satin candy boxes with gifts. The couple divorced a year and half later.

Francois-Henri Pinault and Salma Hayek (2009)

Cost: $3.5 million (AUD$3.8 million)

Pinault and Hayek got married inside a famous opera house called Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy. The celebrity guest list included Penelope Cruz, Woody Harrelson and U2’s Bono. Harrelson led the attendees in singing Over the Rainbow.

Marc Mezvinsky and Chelsea Clinton (2010)

Cost: $5 million (AUD$5.3 million)

Mezvinsky, a banker, and Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former US President Bill Clinton, got married in front of 400 people at the Astor Courts estate in Rhinebeck, New York. The ceremony and party were held in secrecy as the city roads and airspace above it were closed, and special ID bracelets were issued to guests. The bride wore a dress by Vera Wang who attended the event. Three catering companies prepared the wedding feast, costing $750,000, including a 5-foot wedding cake.

Al-Muhtadee Billah and Sarah Salleh (2004)

Cost: $5.7 million (AUD$6.1 million)

Billah, the heir to the Sultan of Brunei, married 17-yr-old Salleh in a week-long ceremony filled with fireworks and 103 limousines. Salleh had a gold crown, a lavish gown and a gold-and-diamond bouquet. A royal wedding is a great cause for a national celebration, with activities held for two weeks, including a parade with marching bands and international A-listers attending the event.

Wayne Rooney and Coleen McLoughlin (2008)

Cost:£5 million (AUD$8.8 million)

England footballer Rooney and his childhood sweetheart McLoughlin got married in a 16th century castle that overlooked the Italian Riviera in Portofino. 64 guests were flown to the place in private jets. The bride wore a £200,000 Marchesa gown with pearls and crystals and a 25-foot train. Following the ceremony, the guests had a 24-hour party on a multi-storey, multimillion pound yacht that had gold fittings and a helicopter pad, and they also spent time on three other boats on the Italian Riviera coast. The couple spent £400,000 for a performance by Westlife and guests released tropical butterflies from boxes they received from the couple.

Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian (2011)

Cost: $10 million (AUD$10.7 million)

Humphries is a basketball player and Kardashian is a well-known socialite. The engagement ring cost $2 million, with 20.5-carat diamonds. A tent was built on their Montecito estate in California, which was filled with many guests, thousands of roses in crystal vases and a $20,000 cake. The wedding cost also included facelifting for Kardashian. Unfortunately, the marriage only lasted 72 days.

Andrey Melnichenko and Aleksandra Nikolic (2005)

Cost: $30 million (AUD$32.2 million)

Russian businessman Melnichenko and former ‘Miss Yugoslavia’ Nikolic got married in a chapel and then moved to the Cote d’Azur (French Riviera) in Antibes. They had Christina Aguilera and Whitney Houston fly in on a private plane and paid them $3.5 million for attending the event. Julio and Enrique Iglesias were also guests. The wedding meal was made by Alain Ducasse, a renowned French chef.

Prince William and Kate Middleton (2011)

Cost: $34 million (AUD$36.5 million)

Prince William, the heir to the British Throne, and Middleton first met at the University of St Andrews. For their wedding, $32 million was spent on security, while the rest went to the wedding ring ($136,000), cake ($80,000), dress ($70,000), flowers ($800,000), wedding reception ($600,000), and hotel rooms for 2000 guests that cost $500 a room per night.

Amit Bhatia and Vanisha Mittal (2004)

Cost: £30 million (AUD$53.3 million)

Bhatia is a London investment banker and Vanisha Mittal is the daughter of steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. Their nuptials took place at the Palace of Versailles near Paris. They hired nightclubs in the city so they could star in a Bollywood musical about their early relationship. 1,000 guests were flown in on 12 jets, including Ash Kumar, a world-famous artist. The week-long celebrations included fireworks and a performance by Kylie Minogue, as well as 45 chefs, cocktails, small silver caskets, 10,000 flowers, 5,000 bottles of wine, a few dozen kilos of caviar and a huge wedding cake. Female guests also received bags of gifts.