Florence - An Indian millionaire has splashed out £14million on the lavish wedding of his son in a ceremony taking place over three days in Florence.
Around 500 guests are thought to have been invited to the nuptials of Rohan Mehta and his bride Roshni, which are being held in the Italian city. Mr Mehta is the only son of Yogesh Mehta, a millionaire who established the Petrochem empire in Dubai in 1995. The three-day wedding began on Wednesday after guests from around the world jetted into Florence and were put up at some of the city’s best hotels.
Yesterday the bride emerged from one hotel on the Arno River wearing a traditional Indian sari while holding hands with some of the younger guests.
Later the newlyweds were pictured enjoying a lavish party and dancing at a historic venue in the city. Today it is expected the marriage will be celebrated in All Saints Square, where there will be a procession led by the groom. However, Italian media have reported that Florence City Council refused a request for him to arrive at the ceremony on an elephant. According to Florence newspaper La Nazione, the request was turned down on grounds of health and safety and animal welfare concerns. The groom’s father Mr Mehta, also known as Yogi, posted on his Twitter account earlier in the week about the wedding.
He wrote: ‘Our son Rohan will marry his sweetheart Roshni on 27 November 2015 in Florence, Italy. A magical RORO wedding!’ Mr Mehta is believed to have a wealth of around $623million which he amassed after moving to the Middle East at the age of 29 with no job or business plan. He set up the Petrochem company, one of the largest independent petrochemical distributors in the Middle East.
It is expected that Rohan will play a bigger role in the company in the coming years after gaining a BA in business from Northeastern University in Boston. In a recent interview with Arabian Business he described Petrochem as a ‘chemicals supermarket’ and talked about how he was looking forward to getting involved in the business more.
He also owns the Raging Tiger events company, staging a number of concerts and balls across the United Arab Emirates. His new wife Roshni was born and raised in London and owns a fashion company. The newlyweds are expected to settle in Dubai.