Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Emmy-winning journalist Lauren Sánchez on Friday left their luxury hotel in Venice's Grand Canal to head to their star-studded wedding ceremony, which is a part of a grand three-day affair featuring dozens of high-profile faces, but also protests by local activists.
Sánchez, 55, dressed in a golden off-the-shoulder duchess skirt suit, waved to onlookers as she boarded a sleek motor boat outside the luxury Aman Venice, where canal-view rooms rake up a tariff of at least ₹3.58 lakhs. The Aman Venice is housed within the Palazzo Papadopoli, one of just eight grand palazzos lining Venice's famed Grand Canal.
Around two hours later, Bezos, 61, clad in a black tuxedo, made the same short trip across the lagoon to the small island of San Giorgio, where the couple will exchange rings, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of famed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
However, the opulent evening wedding ceremony will have no legal status under Italian law, a senior city hall official said, suggesting that the high-profile couple may already have legally wed in the US, in order to avoid dealing with Italian marriage legislation, a Reuters report explained.
Touted as the 'Wedding of the Century', the posh celebrations for 200-250 guests are expected to cost upwards of $45 million, according to Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto region, which includes Venice, as per another Reuters report.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey, Orlando Bloom, Tommy Hilfiger, Tom Brady, the queen of Jordan, Kris Jenner, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Domenico Dolce (from Dolce & Gabbana) are among the guest list.
The festivities will conclude on Saturday with a party at the Arsenale, a former medieval shipyard that is now an art space. Reports also say that the party will be headlined by performances from Lady Gaga and Elton John. The latter had officially retired from touring in 2023, though he continues to perform one-off shows and release new music occassionally.
The other side of the festivities
As Venice hosts one of the world's richest billionaires and his guests, the wedding continues to receive opposition by a local protest movement titled 'No Space for Bezos', whose members resent the influx of high-profile faces as Venice's population declines and the cost of living continues to rise.
“The money that Bezos spends on this wedding does not end up in the pockets of Venetians. The owners of luxury hotels are not Venetians," alleged Giulia Cacopardo, one of the 30-40 activists against the wedding being held at Venice—whose protests have led to police intervention in the past, as per the Reuters report.
The anti-Bezos front is planning a march on Saturday, as a result of which security arrangement were ramped up, and the closing party was moved to the Arsenale, which is situated in a much more secluded part of Venice.
