Inside Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's viral trip to Dubai

Ahead of their coming 'marriage ceremony of the year', the Indian power couple met a wedding planner

The Ambani family has been turning heads in Dubai.

Over the weekend, Anant, the youngest son of Indian billionaire Mukesh, and his fiancee Radhika Merchant were pictured in multiple locations around the emirate. The couple’s visit comes on the heels of their lavish pre-wedding ceremony, which made international headlines for its opulence as well as for its stellar guest list.

They were filmed driving in an orange Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge accompanied by some 20 security vehicles. There are also videos of them strolling in Dubai Mall and City Walk, again flanked by security personnel.

“They love to visit Dubai and are having a great time,” Mahesh Verma, a wedding planner and businessman who lives in Dubai, tells The National.

Verma was with the couple on Sunday as they visited the Green Planet, an indoor zoo and garden at City Walk. “They are big-time nature lovers,” he said. “They had a great time seeing and interacting with the various species of reptiles, birds and animals at the Green Planet.”

He said the couple also took an excursion to the desert, where they had “great fun".

The couple’s pre-wedding celebrations in Jamnagar made global headlines last month.

The 1,200-strong guest list was a who's who of Bollywood, business leaders, Indian cricketers, politicians and business tycoons. UAE businessman and Emaar Properties founder Mohamed Alabaar was invited; as were Bollywood stars Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone; Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan; and Shah Rukh Khan.

Performers, meanwhile, included Rihanna, who expressed joy at having her “first real show” in eight years, as well as Punjabi music star Diljit Dosanjh.

The main wedding event, which will be held in July in Mumbai, is already reported to become “the biggest of the year” in India.

Anant, who is one of the heirs of the Reliance Industries empire, is no stranger to Dubai. He is the owner of what has been dubbed one of the most expensive houses in the city. The beachside villa is situated on The Palm and costs an estimated $80 million. It includes 10 bedrooms, indoor and outdoor pools and a spa.