World's First BILLION-DOLLAR Wedding

With entertainment provided by Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias and an £18,000 ($25,000) designer wedding dress, this is far beyond the reach of most brides, but when the groom's father is worth billions, you can afford to splash that out.

Billionaire's son Said Gutseriev, 28, married 20-year-old student Khadija Uzhakhovs in Moscow this weekend in a jaw-droppingly lavish affair, rumoured to have cost up to $1 billion.

Held at the luxury Moscow restaurant and banqueting venue Safisa, which was dripping with fairy lights and decked with wall-to-wall fresh flowers, the wedding set a new bar for extravagance.

The young bride arrived in a beaded gown with a billowing skirt by Elie Saab, whose wedding dresses range from £5,000-£18,000. Her bespoke gown was reported to have cost between $1 million USD or 25 million roubles - £692,000 or £256,000.

Her dress was imported from Paris and reportedly weighed 25 lbs (almost two stone) because of the huge train and heavy embellishment and the bride needed the assistance of several people to carry her train and help her walk upstairs.

With a tight bodice, long sleeves and a full skirt cascading in folds to the floor, the gown was pure fairy tale - and came with a floor-length veil and bejewelled handbag to match.

Khadija's look was completed with a matching handbag, diamond tiara and whopping diamond pendant around her neck. She was also pictured in a change of outfit, as she posed with guests in an embellished satin dress with delicate mesh sleeves with her hair tied back.

Meanwhile, guests travelled to the grand nuptials in a fleet of luxury cars including Rolls Royces which were seen lined up outside the venue ahead of the ceremony.

The entertainment also did not come cheap, with Jennifer Lopez - who was reported to have been paid $1million for singing for Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the president of Turkemenistan in 2013 - jetting in to give the moneyed crowd in an energetic performance in a series of skimpy outfits.

But providing an unforgettable show was the least of J Lo's worries as the singer apparently told guests that pronouncing the newlyweds' names was 'the hardest thing I had to do today'.

The singer, who performed her hits If You Had My Love, Dance Again and Get Right went through several outfit changes including a black tailored suit and a bejewelled leotard - not to mention a sparkly silver jumpsuit.

And she clearly received a generous pay cheque for the performance as the 46-year-old singer treated herself to some fancy accessories at Moscow store Aizel, which shut down for two hours to allow the star to shop in private, over the weekend.

Guests reported Jennifer was visibly shocked when she held out the microphone that the wedding guests did not know the words of her songs. She put on a brave smile when only two or three voices sang with her.

There was also social media criticism of Lopez for being underdressed for a Muslim wedding.

‘If you have money you can invite anyone you like, but Vainakhs (another word for Ingush people) should have asked her to get dressed in a more appropriate way,’ one person said.

Enrique Iglesias took to the stage to perform Bailando, casually dressed in jeans, a T shirt and baseball cap.

Sting also performed and was joined by a group of young girls and women for his song Desert Rose.

Images from inside the lavish affair swept Instagram, with photographs showing the venue dripping with flowers from floor to ceiling.

French singer Patricia Kaas serenaded the guests and the Georgian national folk dance ensemble Sukhishvili also made an appearance, despite artists from the region unofficially boycotting performances in Russia since the 2008 war.

And as if last weekend's nuptials weren't extravagant enough, reports suggest Russia's most extravagant wedding celebration of the year will relocate to London this weekend.

Beyoncé and Elton John are also due to sing at the second instalment of the grandiose wedding, according to Russian media reports. J. Lo's storming set certainly looked suitably lavish, with several outfit changes as the star delighted guests with classics like Waiting ForTonight.

The couple's 600 guests dined on European cuisine and sushi and the wedding cake was a lavish nine-tier creation, decorated with elaborate white icing and layers of pink floral garlands, topped with a star and crescent moon as a show of the couple's Muslim faith.

And guests were presented with a delicate gold box engraved with the couple's names and date of the wedding as a thank you gift.

But the extravagance of the occasion is surely fitting for the son of Kazakh-born Mikhail Gutseriev, a Muslim born in the Caucasus, who is thought to be worth $6.2 billion (£4.3billion).

The self-made man who now calls Russia home ensured he gave his public school-educated son a day to remember.

Said, who was born in 1988, was educated at Harrow and then the University of Oxford where he studied archaeology and geology.

He faced tragedy when his son Chingis - who also went to Harrow - died in a mysterious car accident in Moscow while driving his Ferrari. It was reported that Russian papers tried to investigate but both the police and ambulance service then denied all knowledge of it. Chingis was buried in Baku, Azerbaijan, where his family have links.

Said also completed a master's degree at the University of Plymouth, focusing on management of oil and gas industries, before returning to Russia to join the family business.

He's also spoken of his desire to one day return to the UK to study for an MBA at London Business School, but for now is director of Russneft’s Orsk Refinery.

Little is known about the bride other than that she's a first year student at the Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry.

Fireworks were let off at the end of the evening to celebrate the happy couple's union.

But in Russia there has been something of a backlash against the lavish ceremony - following a report by Russian Tatler that the bride from an ‘ordinary’ family was chosen after a lengthy search for a woman to fit ‘all the strict demands, to be beautiful, a virgin, shy and not public’, meaning not seeking the limelight.

‘The quest for the ideal bride for Said Gutseriyev went for long four years,’ said Tatler, explaining the conditions that had to be met.

This sparked a heated online debate, with comments apparently from female readers saying: ‘So she is 19 and she is a virgin? What village did she come from?’ and ‘A virgin at 19? And it took them just four years to find her? That was quick.’

‘Khadizha is a future dentist. Her page in VK (a social media site) has no personal pictures, but instead has several images of how to do local anaesthetics,’ reported Tatler.

‘Her parents prefer to stay low profile. Currently we only know that they are an ordinary Ingush family. By marrying Said, Khadizha became a member of one of the wealthiest clans in the country. Khadizha is 20 years old and doesn't have Instagram.

‘She didn't need it either, as the grandiose wedding ceremony was illustrated in every detail by multiple friends and relatives.

BUT WHO IS THE GROOM'S FATHER MIKHAIL GUTSERIEV?

Kazakh-born Gutseriev is worth $6.2 billion (£4.3billion) according to Forbes magazine.

Gutseriev owns the private oil giants Russneft and Neftisa and last year spent $1.5billion (£1.04) acquiring banks, pension funds, oil fields, factories, real estate development companies, warehouses and a popular Russian radio station, Radio Shanson.

He also purchased Moscow's famous National Hotel from billionaire Elena Baturina, Russia's richest woman.

In 2008 his Harrow-educated son Chingis was killed in a mysterious car crash while driving his Ferrari in Russia.

His death followed the Kremlin's move to accuse his father of fraud and money laundering, charges, but Gutseriev claimed they were  trumped up and political.

Mr Gutseriev applied for political asylum in Britain after the secret services advised he would be at risk if he was made to return home to Russia.

He returned three years later after charges against him were dropped.

In his spare time Gutseriev is said to writes lyrics for songs performed by famous Russian singers.

Culled from dailymail.co.uk