Image courtesy of the Today Show
Celebrities have been known to go big with their weddings, and big-name athletes are no exception. Successful athletes are among the highest paid of all celebrities, so it makes sense that their weddings often have massive price tags. While the average couple spends around $27,698 on their wedding, many professional athletes spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars on their big day. Wondering which athletes went the biggest with their nuptials? Keep reading to learn which athletes threw the most extravagant weddings.
MICHAEL JORDAN
It’s no surprise that Michael Jordan, one the of the wealthiest athletes of all time, would be able to throw an extravagant wedding. When Jordan married his second wife Yvette Prieto in 2013, their Palm Beach nuptials included fireworks and performances by Usher, DJ MC Lyte, and Robin Thicke. The wedding reportedly cost $10 million, making it one of the most expensive celebrity weddings of the decade.
SERENA WILLIAMS
When tennis legend Serena Williams married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in 2017, the couple spared no expense. Their $1 million New Orleans wedding was a luxe affair that featured sentimental details, like tables that were named after Williams’ grand slam titles. They had a large and star-studded guest list, which included such A-listers as Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian, and Caroline Wozniacki.
TIGER WOODS
When golf legend Tiger Woods married Elin Nordegren in 2004 at The Sandy Lane Resort in Barbados, it was a private affair. The couple booked the entire resort for the week of their wedding, including the hotel, the beachfront, the two golf courses, and the clubhouses. Altogether, their wedding was estimated to have cost $1.5 million. Though the wedding was spectacular, the marriage, unfortunately, did not last. The couple split in 2010 in the wake of Woods’ highly publicized cheating scandal.
KRIS HUMPHRIES
Here’s another athlete who hit eight figures with his wedding: Kris Humphries. The basketball star proposed to Kim Kardashian with a 16.2-carat emerald cut engagement ring, at the time worth $2 million, and wed in 2011. The lavish ceremony was covered on Kardashian’s reality show Keeping up With the Kardashians. The wedding reportedly cost $10 million, though the marriage didn’t last. Their marriage was famously brief, lasting only 72 days (the price of their wedding breaks down to $138,888 per day of marriage).
ELI MANNING
Giants quarterback Eli Manning wed Abby McGrew in 2008 in a beachfront ceremony in Mexico at the One and Only Palmilla resort. 60 of their closest friends and family members made up the guest list at their beautiful ceremony. Though they had a rather intimate wedding, it still came with an extravagant price tag: $500,000.
LEBRON JAMES
Basketball star LeBron James’s lavish 2013 wedding spanned three days. The first day consisted of a welcome dinner, the second day was the main event (which included a performance by Beyonce and Jay-Z), and the final day included a farewell brunch. While we don’t have an exact number for the cost of their San Diego wedding, it’s estimated to have cost a minimum of several million dollars.
DAVID BECKHAM
When David Beckham and Victoria Beckham wed in 1999, it was one of the most highly anticipated celebrity weddings of all time. The power couple wed at the Luttrellstown Castle in Ireland and their ceremony was attended by 230 guests. The wedding cost $800,000, which Beckham later said was perhaps “a little excessive.” But it was a beautiful ceremony and the couple is still going strong today, with more than 19 years of marriage under their belt.
HANK BASKETT
In 2009, former NFL player Hank Baskett wed Kendra Wilkinson in a $1 million ceremony. Wilkinson had previously dated Playboy’s Hugh Hefner (and was famously on the reality show about his girlfriends, The Girls Next Door), and the two must have still been on good terms, as Baskett and Wilkinson’s wedding took place at the Playboy mansion. The wedding had a star-studded guest list, which included Wilkinson’s former Girl Next Door costars Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt, who were bridesmaids at the event.
