Céline Dion’s wedding dress was hand made by Mirella and Steve Gentile and reportedly took more than 1,000 hours to make. This wedding dress is considered by many to be one of the best looking wedding dresses of all time. It had a twenty-foot train and was decorated with a seven-pound tiara made of over 2,000 Austrian crystals.
It’s reported that the dress cost anywhere from $25,000 to $100,000 to make. Many people have criticized the wedding dress as being too extravagant, especially when considering the singer’s more modest personality and style of singing.
Controversy Over the Age Gap
Both René Angélil and Céline Dion knew that the public would not be immediately understanding of their romantic relationship. It was clear to them that the twenty-six year age gap was not a small deal, especially considering that the singer wasn’t even twenty years old yet. Show business is a very lucrative industry and tends to attract predatory type men who end up taking advantage of young women who want to make it big, sometimes even underage girls. The couple knew that it might appear as-if they began dating before it was legal to do so, as they originally started working together when Céline was just 12. They both decided that it would be best to just come out publicly instead of hiding it, especially since they had nothing to be ashamed of.
This was the beginning of a beautiful and blossoming relationship that would end up lasting until the last day of René’s life. Céline said in her autobiography, My Story, My Dream, that she was already in love with the manager from a very young age. He was also romantically attracted to her, but refused to do anything sexual before she was already a woman. Her mother was initially worried about the relationship, but the singer told her "I'm not a minor. This is a free country. No one has the right to prevent me from loving whoever I want to." She eventually revealed her relationship with René in a tearful 1992 interview with journalist Lise Payette.
A Beautiful Wedding Ceremony
Celine Dion and René Angélil weren't just attracted to each other, they were deeply in love. The two decided to get married on December 17, 1994, after coming out as a couple back in 1992. They quickly went from a secret couple that only five other people, including Céline's mother, knew about, to having one of the most televised and publicly discussed relationships in the entire entertainment industry.
Their marriage ceremony was conducted at Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica and was broadcasted on live national TV. The wedding was highly luxurious and featured many celebrities, as-well-as friends and family. The two went through the entire religious process, including holding the candles while wearing crowns. They were still facing some public criticism even during the wedding ceremony, but public opinion eventually turned around when everyone saw that the two were truly in love with each other.
She Was a Natural Business Leader and Entrepenéur
Outside of her extremely successful business career, Céline Dion had one of the most successful business careers of any singer in the world, second only to titans like Jay Z and Dr. Dre. She had various business dealings throughout her career, including owning an artist management company, a restaurant food chain named Nickels, a golf club called the Le Mirage, a restaurant named Schwartz' in Quebec, and much more. She even opened a popular nightclub called Pure in association with Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, and the legendary NBA player Shaquille O'Neal.
Her line of perfumes, simply called Céline Dion Perfume, grossed over $850 million to date. As you can clearly see by these examples, she was not a woman to take lightly, as her business acumen helped her secure a net worth of over $700 million by the age of 50. Although many of her fans know her as the charismatic and passionate singer that she is, there's a seriously cool side to her that is probably only seen behind closed doors by people in suits and briefcases. Can we just say that Céline pulls off an incredibly alluring look when she’s in a suit?
She Sued The National Enquirer For Over $20,000,000
Céline’s life has always been extremely busy and full of adventures, both good and bad. During the ‘90s the singer was at the absolute peak of her career. She released a total of 13 albums, which is an incredible amount in contrast to any other singer, while also touring the country and filling stadiums consistently. Her life received a major sudden blow when she found out that her husband, René Angélil, a music producer and talent manager, was diagnosed with throat cancer. This was one of many health challenges that he faced during his life, including a heart attack just a few years prior to his cancer diagnosis. This sudden challenge prompted the popular singer to take a step back from her career and help her husband get better. While she was on a hiatus, tabloids and magazines kept inquiring and making rumors about the singer due to her being at the height of her popularity at the time.
Céline’s sudden departure left a hole and some disingenuous media companies were perfectly willing to capitalize on it. In the year 2000, Céline found out that the National Enquirer published a fake story about herself and René who had just recovered from throat cancer. The magazine intentionally misquoted her and printed a headline saying "Céline — 'I'm Pregnant With Twins!'". This prompted her to sue the magazine for more than $20 million in damages. The editors of the magazine printed a full apology and complete retraction of the story, as-well-as donating money to the American Cancer Society in honor of her husband's illness. She later dropped the lawsuit.