Incredible scenes as Bezos' ‘wedding of century' kicks off
The spectacular festivities are in full swing as hundreds of A-List celebrities and business leaders descend on Venice for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former Fox News anchor Lauren Sanchez's wedding.
Much of the 'floating city' has been cordoned off to accommodate the three-day extravaganza that is reportedly set to cost the billionaire around $86 million.
Kim and Khloe Kardashian have been spotted numerous times moving from venue to venue, newly single Orlando Bloom has been doing the rounds and Oprah Winfrey has touched down after making the trip to Italy.
Security around the hotels and wedding venue has been tight as local residents and tourists voice their disapproval over travel and venue restrictions, as more and more high profile visitors pour into the city. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez leave the Aman Hotel to go to dinner with guests ahead of their wedding. Credit: GC Images.
Mr Bezos and Ms Sanchez landed in Venice via helicopter on Wednesday and took up residence in the luxury Aman hotel, where rooms with a view of the Grand Canal go for at least $7155 per night.
The couple was spotted around dinner time as they left the hotel in a water taxi, waving at photographers and crowds, with Ms Sanchez blowing air kisses in a vintage Alexander McQueen dress. Oprah Winfrey is one of the latest stars to arrive in Venice for the Bezos/Sanchez wedding. Credit: GC Images.
US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner have also been spotted shopping in Venice after arriving earlier in the week, American sporting superstar and NFL Hall of Famer Tom Brady is also in town and Hollywood megastar Leonardo Di Caprio has been trying to keep a low profile ahead of the big day.
Numbers for the nuptials are expected to be around 200-250 in what has been dubbed the 'wedding of the century', with guests set to gather on Thursday evening in the cloisters of Madonna dell'Orto, a medieval church in the central area of Cannaregio that hosts masterpieces by 16th century painter Tintoretto.
The city council has banned pedestrians and water traffic from the area from 4.30pm local time until midnight, blocking out protesters who have pledged to spoil the party.
Mr Bezos and Ms Sanchez are set to exchange vows on Friday on the small island of San Giorgio, opposite the main St Mark's Square, in a ceremony which, according to a senior City Hall official, will have no legal status under Italian law. Kim and Khloe Kardashian is Venice for the wedding extravaganza. Credit: SGP/Sipa USA.
Some have speculated that the couple have already legally wed in the United States, sparing them from the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage, such as it having to take place in an approved venue and the local town hall needing to be notified in advance. US television personality Kris Jenner takes pictures of Khloe and Kim Kardashian. Credit: AFP.
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.
The 'No Space for Bezos' movement is planning demonstrations against an event they see as a sell-off of Venice to the uber-wealthy while the needs of ordinary citizens are ignored — but not all the locals are hostile.
Politicians, hoteliers and other residents say high-end events, rather than multitudes of low-spending daytrippers, are a better way to support the local economy, and dismiss the protesters as a fringe minority. Leonardo Di Caprio was keeping a low profile in Venice. Credit: GC Images.
'We're not talking about hundreds or thousands of people, we're talking about a few dozen,' said Daniele Minotto, vice president of the Venetian Hoteliers Association.
Davide Busato, an archaeologist behind the 'Yes Venice Can' pro-Bezos group, said billionaire tourism gives the city a chance to show off its specialities.
'The idea that a 'morality office' should decide who gets to marry in Venice is a disturbing concept, unworthy of a free city,' he wrote on Facebook.
Venice has hosted scores of VIP weddings. US actor George Clooney and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin tied the knot there in 2014, and Indian billionaires Vinita Agarwal and Muqit Teja did so in 2011, without significant disruptions.
Mr 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.
with AAP.
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