Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez exchanging wedding vows on island in Venice
'This magical place has gifted us unforgettable memories,' the bride and groom said on their wedding invitation, in which they asked for 'no gifts' and pledged charity donations for three Venetian institutions. Their donations are worth €3m.
'GIFT-WRAPPED' VENICE
Businesses have welcomed the glitz and glamour but it is being resisted by a local protest movement whose members resent what they see as Venice being gift-wrapped for ultra-rich outsiders. Bezos is No 4 on Forbes' billionaires list.
Giulia Cacopardo, a 28-year-old representative of the 'No Space for Bezos' movement, complained that the needs of ordinary people were being neglected in a city that is a tourist magnet and fast depopulating largely due to the soaring cost of living. Venice's city centre has less than 50,000 residents, compared to almost 100,000 in the late 1970s.
'When you empty a city of its inhabitants, you can turn it into a stage for big events,' Cacopardo told Reuters. "(But) 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.'
Cacopardo was one of 30-40 activists who staged a protest in St Mark's Square on Thursday, chanting 'We are the 99%' as a masked couple posed as bride and groom and one man climbed a pole to unfurl a banner reading 'The 1% ruins the world'.
Police intervened, forcibly removing the protesters.
The anti-Bezos front is planning a march on Saturday, and their activities have already led authorities to step up security and move the location of Saturday's party to a more secluded part of Venice, the Arsenale former shipyard.
But politicians, hoteliers and other Venice residents are happy about the wedding, saying that such events do more to support the local economy than the multitudes of day-trippers who normally overrun the city.
'We are happy and honoured to welcome Jeff Bezos and his consort Lauren Sanchez,' said mayor Luigi Brugnaro, who sent white roses to the bride and a maxi-bottle of Amarone luxury red wine to the groom.
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The Herald
a day ago
- The Herald
Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez exchanging wedding vows on island in Venice
'This magical place has gifted us unforgettable memories,' the bride and groom said on their wedding invitation, in which they asked for 'no gifts' and pledged charity donations for three Venetian institutions. Their donations are worth €3m. 'GIFT-WRAPPED' VENICE Businesses have welcomed the glitz and glamour but it is being resisted by a local protest movement whose members resent what they see as Venice being gift-wrapped for ultra-rich outsiders. Bezos is No 4 on Forbes' billionaires list. Giulia Cacopardo, a 28-year-old representative of the 'No Space for Bezos' movement, complained that the needs of ordinary people were being neglected in a city that is a tourist magnet and fast depopulating largely due to the soaring cost of living. Venice's city centre has less than 50,000 residents, compared to almost 100,000 in the late 1970s. 'When you empty a city of its inhabitants, you can turn it into a stage for big events,' Cacopardo told Reuters. "(But) 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.' Cacopardo was one of 30-40 activists who staged a protest in St Mark's Square on Thursday, chanting 'We are the 99%' as a masked couple posed as bride and groom and one man climbed a pole to unfurl a banner reading 'The 1% ruins the world'. Police intervened, forcibly removing the protesters. The anti-Bezos front is planning a march on Saturday, and their activities have already led authorities to step up security and move the location of Saturday's party to a more secluded part of Venice, the Arsenale former shipyard. But politicians, hoteliers and other Venice residents are happy about the wedding, saying that such events do more to support the local economy than the multitudes of day-trippers who normally overrun the city. 'We are happy and honoured to welcome Jeff Bezos and his consort Lauren Sanchez,' said mayor Luigi Brugnaro, who sent white roses to the bride and a maxi-bottle of Amarone luxury red wine to the groom.
TimesLIVE
a day ago
- TimesLIVE
Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez exchanging wedding vows on island in Venice
'This magical place has gifted us unforgettable memories,' the bride and groom said on their wedding invitation, in which they asked for 'no gifts' and pledged charity donations for three Venetian institutions. Their donations are worth €3m. 'GIFT-WRAPPED' VENICE Businesses have welcomed the glitz and glamour but it is being resisted by a local protest movement whose members resent what they see as Venice being gift-wrapped for ultra-rich outsiders. Bezos is No 4 on Forbes' billionaires list. Giulia Cacopardo, a 28-year-old representative of the 'No Space for Bezos' movement, complained that the needs of ordinary people were being neglected in a city that is a tourist magnet and fast depopulating largely due to the soaring cost of living. Venice's city centre has less than 50,000 residents, compared to almost 100,000 in the late 1970s. 'When you empty a city of its inhabitants, you can turn it into a stage for big events,' Cacopardo told Reuters. "(But) 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.' Cacopardo was one of 30-40 activists who staged a protest in St Mark's Square on Thursday, chanting 'We are the 99%' as a masked couple posed as bride and groom and one man climbed a pole to unfurl a banner reading 'The 1% ruins the world'. Police intervened, forcibly removing the protesters. The anti-Bezos front is planning a march on Saturday, and their activities have already led authorities to step up security and move the location of Saturday's party to a more secluded part of Venice, the Arsenale former shipyard. But politicians, hoteliers and other Venice residents are happy about the wedding, saying that such events do more to support the local economy than the multitudes of day-trippers who normally overrun the city. 'We are happy and honoured to welcome Jeff Bezos and his consort Lauren Sanchez,' said mayor Luigi Brugnaro, who sent white roses to the bride and a maxi-bottle of Amarone luxury red wine to the groom.
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Bezos and Sanchez arrive in Venice for marathon wedding party
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his journalist fiancée Lauren Sanchez arrived in Venice on Wednesday ahead of three days of lavish VIP parties in the romantic lagoon city to celebrate their wedding, despite protests from locals. About 90 private jets are set to land in local airports this week, bringing A-listers from show-business, politics and finance to the widely-dubbed 'wedding of the century' that will cost Bezos an estimated €40m-€48m (R827.4m-R992.9m). The couple were spotted by a Reuters reporter entering the exclusive Aman Venice Hotel on the Grand Canal, where many of the celebrities will stay. Festivities will kick off on Thursday night with an open-air gathering in the cloisters of Madonna dell'Orto, a medieval church in the central area of Cannaregio known for its lively nightlife, a source close to the matter told Reuters. Venice City Hall issued a directive on Wednesday cordoning off the area, isolating guests from activists who have been protesting for weeks that the celebrations will turn the city of gondolas and palazzi into a private amusement park for the rich. 'There's only one thing that rules now: money, money, money, so we are the losers,' said Venice resident Nadia Rigo. 'We who were born here have to either move to the mainland or we have to ask them for permission to board a ferry. They've become the masters.' Amid the criticism, the governor of the Veneto region that comprises Venice said Bezos and Sanchez had donated €3m euros to three local institutions: CORILA, an academic consortium that studies the lagoon ecosystem, UNESCO's local office, and the Venice International University. 'Welcome to Venice, Jeff,' Luca Zaia said in his statement, thanking the couple for their 'gesture of extraordinary generosity'. The date and venue of the wedding itself are still unknown and some have speculated that Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, may already have tied the knot in a private ceremony in the US. Most of the estimated 250 guests are expected to arrive in time for the second party, which the source said is slated for Friday on the small island of San Giorgio, in front of the famed St. Mark's Square with its 99m-high bell tower. San Giorgio island is home to the Cini Foundation, which organises international cultural and political meetings in an ancient monastery dating back to the year 1000, with a maze in the garden. PRYING EYES Outside the Aman Venice Hotel workers erected a striped canvas canopy with side walls on a floating wharf to protect guests from prying eyes and photographers' long lenses. Celebrations will conclude on Saturday with the main wedding bash to be held at one of the halls of the Arsenale, a vast former medieval shipyard turned into an art space in the eastern Castello district. Surrounded by water and impossible to reach by land when connecting bridges are raised, the hall is considered a safer site than a previous location choice for the final party, a former medieval religious school in Cannaregio. Bezos, executive chair of e-commerce giant Amazon and No. 4 on Forbes' billionaires list, got engaged to Sanchez in 2023, four years after the collapse of his 25-year marriage to Mackenzie Scott. The couple's decision to marry in Venice follows other celebrity weddings in the floating city, such as that of US actor George Clooney and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin in 2014.
