Rihanna A No-Show At Russell Brand Katy Perry Wedding

Rihanna was a no-show at her best friend Katy Perry’s weekend wedding to British comic Russell Brand.

“Russell Brand and Katy Perry are overjoyed to confirm that they were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Brand on Saturday, October 23,” the couple said in the statement. “The very private and spiritual ceremony, attended by the couples’ closest family and friends was performed by a Christian minister and longtime friend of The Hudson Family.”

The besties seemed happy enough at Katy’s bachelorette party a few weeks ago and the “Umbrella” hitmaker had been expected to act as Maid of Honor as Katy exchanged vows with Brand in a traditional Hindu ceremony in India, surrounded by 85 family and friends, on Saturday. Work restraints, however, kept Rihanna from boarding a plane for the three-day celebration that will likely be one of the most important days of her best friend’s life. We hear Rihanna pulled out because she had to go to the studio to put the finishing touches on Loud, her fifth studio album, set to drop next month.

“Rihanna was a part of Katy’s Las Vegas bachelorette party – but, according to our source, Rihanna told Katy she couldn’t make it [to the wedding] because she had to hit the studio,” TMZ.com tipsters said over the weekend. “We’re told Katy booked a special room for Rihanna – but she totally understood why RiRi couldn’t hop on a plane to India.”

Sounds pretty weird to us! Who puts work ahead of their best friend’s wedding? Particularly when said wedding involves tigers?

The couple dressed in traditional Indian outfits – Katy in a blue sari and Russ in a long embroidered coat. Katy wore a traditional Indian nose ring and Russell had his hands painted with henna. The groom arrived on horseback accompanied by a procession of 21 camels, horses and elephants.Katy’s parents meet a camel – one of the 21 animals involved in the wedding procession. The couple sat in gold wedding thrones under a mandap (traditional wedding canopy) strung with red and yellow ribbons and garlands of marigolds where they both made speeches following the ceremony. Katy’s went for an epic 30 minutes as she rambled on about her belief in reincarnation. The wedding was alcohol-free (Russell is a recovering drug addict) and 1,380 cans of soft drink and 5,000 bottles of mineral water were ordered in for the big day. The food was traditional Indian/vegan.