$15m for a wedding

When celebrities get married, budget is not a consideration. The latest to seal the knot are Kayne West and Kim Kardashian who clearly wanted to outdo every other couple who got married this century. 

Kim Kardashian is an American television and social media personality, fashion designer, model, and actress. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she came to prominence after a sex tape with her then-boyfriend Ray J was leaked in 2007. In the same year, she and her family were commissioned to star in the reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Its success has led to the creation of spin-offs including Kourtney and Kim Take New York and Kourtney and Kim Take Miami. In 2010, Kardashian was named the highest-paid reality television personality, with estimated earnings of $6 million.

In August 2011, Kardashian married basketball player Kris Humphries in a widely publicized ceremony. After 72 days of marriage, she filed for a divorce, which was finalized in June 2013 with an undisclosed settlement. The same month, Kardashian gave birth to a daughter, North, from her relationship with rapper Kanye West, which began in April 2012.

Kayne West is one of the best-selling and among the most awarded artists in popular music; he has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all-time and the most Grammy-awarded artist of his age.^[Time has named West one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He has also been included in a number of Forbes annual lists. Three of his albums rank on Rolling Stone's 2012 "the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.

The wedding

First there was the rehearsal at Versailles in Paris which cost $681,600 including a $20,4480 firework show.

Then there was the wedding itself in Florence. The wedding dress cost $2.1m and the music another $1.7m. The wedding venue cost $410,000. Private jets were hired for the guests along with security and hotel rooms.

The estimated total came to $14.7m and that did not include things like the meal and the flowers. Estimates for the food say it would have been $2,000 per head. 

Am I alone in thinking this is an obscene amount of money even for a couple who have an estimated wealth of $140m? Am I being cynical if I say that it will only be a matter of time before they separate because people with such huge egos rarely stay together in marriage.