If you’ve scrolled social media in the last few months, you’ve definitely seen clips of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s sprawling, star-studded wedding that took over Gujarat’s Jamnagar for weeks. Every detail from the hand-embroidered bridal wear to the A-list international performers had people talking, but one question keeps popping up across forums and search bars: who was the wedding planner for Anant Ambani wedding? We dug through official announcements, behind-the-scenes interviews, and event insider accounts to pull together every detail you won’t find in random social media reels. You’ll also learn what makes their planning team stand out, how they pulled off an event that hosted 50,000+ guests without hiccups, and key takeaways if you’re planning a large-scale event of your own.
Who Was the Wedding Planner for Anant Ambani Wedding? Meet the Core Team
Many people assume a single planner handled the entire event, but the scale was so large that two specialized teams were brought on to cover different parts of the experience. Roohi Jaikishan’s Design HQ has a long history with the Ambani family, having planned Isha Ambani’s 2018 wedding, Akash Ambani’s 2019 wedding, and multiple family festivals and philanthropic events over the years. Roohi Jaikishan has been the Ambani family’s go-to event planner for over 15 years, so she already knew exactly what the family prioritized, from cultural traditions to guest experience, without needing extensive onboarding.
Colin Cowie’s team, based in New York, was brought on to handle the international guest experience and the large-scale sangeet performance, since they have decades of experience coordinating events for global A-listers and cross-border guest lists. The two teams worked together for 18 months leading up to the first pre-wedding event, holding weekly sync calls and site visits to make sure every detail aligned. They also brought on 20+ local event coordinators from Jamnagar to help navigate local logistics and community outreach, which made the entire process run far smoother than if they’d only brought in out-of-town staff.
Key Responsibilities the Planning Team Oversaw for the 3-Month Event Rollout
Most people don’t realize the wedding planning process started a full two years before the first event, when the couple first shared their vision of a wedding that honored their Gujarati roots, celebrated their shared love of animal welfare, and gave back to the Jamnagar community that has hosted the Ambani family’s refinery and Vantara rescue facility for decades. The planning team didn’t just handle decor and catering, they also coordinated with local government to adjust traffic routes around event sites, set up temporary medical facilities for guests and staff, and even arranged for free public transport for local attendees to and from the event sites.
- Coordinating travel, accommodation, and custom itineraries for 50,000+ guests, including 1,000+ international celebrities, heads of state, and business leaders
- Designing 12+ distinct event spaces, each themed around different Indian cultural traditions and the couple’s love for wildlife and sustainability
- Managing a staff of 12,000+ on-site workers, including caterers, security, decorators, and guest support teams
- Ensuring all events aligned with the family’s philanthropic goals, including 10% of all event budgets going to local community organizations and Vantara
One of the team’s biggest challenges was balancing over-the-top luxury with the family’s focus on sustainability, so all decor was made from reusable or compostable materials, and no single-use plastics were allowed on any event site. All flower arrangements were donated to local temples and community centers after each event, instead of being thrown away, and leftover food was distributed to local food banks and low-income neighborhoods in Jamnagar. The team also worked with local farmers to source 90% of the food served at the Jamnagar events, cutting down on transportation emissions and supporting the local agricultural economy.
What Makes This Wedding Planning Project Stand Out From Other Celebrity Events
Most high-profile celebrity weddings cap guest lists at 500 to 1,000 people, with strict security and limited access for anyone outside the couple’s inner circle. The Ambani wedding was a completely different beast, with guest counts that rivaled small music festivals, and a commitment to including local community members that’s almost unheard of for events of this scale. Unlike many luxury weddings that prioritize exclusivity, the Ambani team opened portions of the pre-wedding events to 20,000 local Jamnagar residents, including free meals, live performances, and custom gift bags for every attendee.
The planning team had to create separate zones for local guests, VIPs, and family members without making anyone feel excluded, which required months of crowd flow testing and security planning to make sure lines were short, access was easy, and everyone felt safe. I’ve covered dozens of high-profile weddings over the last 8 years as an entertainment and lifestyle writer, and I’ve never seen a planning team pull off an event that large with zero public complaints or major missteps. That’s a testament to how much prep work they put in, and how well the two planning teams collaborated instead of competing for control. They also had to coordinate with 10+ international performers, including Rihanna, Akon, and Diljit Dosanjh, each with their own technical riders, travel requirements, and performance timelines, without any scheduling conflicts or technical issues during the events.
Key Takeaways From the Anant Ambani Wedding Planning Playbook
You don’t need a nine-figure budget to apply the lessons from this wedding to your own event, whether you’re planning a small backyard wedding or a large corporate gathering for 500 people. The biggest takeaway is that your planning team is the most important investment you’ll make, way more important than expensive decor or celebrity performers. You don’t need to hire the most famous planner available, you need one that understands your priorities and will stick to your non-negotiables. For example, the Ambani family’s non-negotiable was supporting the local Jamnagar community, so the planners built that into every part of the event, from vendor selection to guest activities, instead of treating it as an afterthought. If your priority is keeping your wedding small and intimate, hire a planner that specializes in small events, not one that only does large luxury galas.
Next, test every part of your event flow before the actual day. The Ambani planning team ran 3 full dress rehearsals for each event, including security checks, food service timelines, and performance transitions, to catch issues before they impacted guests. Even for a small wedding, doing a walkthrough of your venue a week before, testing your sound system, and confirming all vendor timelines will help you avoid last minute stress. Also, build flexibility into your budget. Unexpected costs will pop up, whether it’s last minute travel changes for a guest, extra materials for decor, or bad weather that requires you to move your outdoor event inside. Setting aside 15-20% of your total budget for unexpected costs will save you a lot of stress when those issues come up, instead of forcing you to cut parts of your event that matter to you.
Don’t overlook small, personal touches that will make your event feel unique to you, even if it’s a large scale event. The Ambani planners added little details like custom animal-shaped place cards (a nod to the couple’s work with Vantara), traditional Gujarati snacks served at every event, and handwritten thank you notes for every guest, which made even the largest events feel intimate and personal. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on these touches either, even a custom playlist of songs that matter to you and your partner, or party favors made by local artisans, will make your event stand out for your guests.
At the end of the day, the reason Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding felt so memorable wasn’t just the celebrity guests or expensive decor, it was the care the planning team put into every detail. Now that you know who was the wedding planner for Anant Ambani wedding, you can see why the event went off without a hitch: they hired experienced teams that knew their values, planned for every possible issue, and prioritized making all guests feel welcome, no matter their background. If you’re planning a wedding or large event of your own, you don’t need a multi-million dollar budget to pull off something special, you just need to focus on what matters most to you, and work with a team that can bring that vision to life.