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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Newlyweds Bezos and Sanchez gear up for final party at Venice gala
By Sara Rossi VENICE (Reuters) -Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez, flush from their Venice wedding ceremony on Friday, are gearing up for the final day of partying in the lagoon city with scores of celebrity guests from media, fashion and show business. The three-day gala, estimated to cost some $50 million, will culminate on Saturday evening with the closing party in a former medieval shipyard where Lady Gaga and Elton John are expected to perform. Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, exchanged rings on Friday evening on the small island of San Giorgio, across the water from Saint Mark's Square, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The bride at the ceremony wore a high-necked silhouette dress and a tulle and lace veil by Dolce and Gabbana, which she told magazine Vogue was based on Sophia Loren's dress to marry Cary Grant in the 1958 film Houseboat. Sanchez was also wearing a pair of diamond earrings by Dolce & Gabbana, which, according to Vogue, were lent to her in keeping with the tradition that it brings good luck for a bride to wear something borrowed. Bezos, who is No. 4 on Forbes' global billionaires list, donned a black tuxedo and bow tie over a white shirt. The ceremony had no legal status under Italian law, a senior city hall official told Reuters, suggesting the couple may have already legally wed in the United States, avoiding the bureaucracy associated with an Italian marriage. Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, Jordan's Queen Rania, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian, as well as Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner and Domenico Dolce from Dolce & Gabbana were among the 200-250 guests. PROTEST SCHEDULED While the celebrities rub shoulders in the isolated halls in the east of the city, not far away activists will be protesting at what they see as Venice being gift-wrapped for ultra-rich outsiders. A protest march is planned at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Saturday from the railway station to the Rialto Bridge. For days, members of the "No Space for Bezos" movement have been trying to spoil the party, hanging anti-Bezos banners on the iconic Rialto Bridge and laying out a huge canvas in central Saint Mark's Square telling the tech-tycoon to pay more taxes. While some residents and activists see Bezos's extravaganza as a symbol of inequality and arrogance, Venice's businesses and the city authorities have welcomed the event, claiming a major boost for the local economy. "Those who protest are in contradiction with the history of Venice, which is a history of relations, contacts and business," the city's mayor Luigi Brugnaro told Reuters in an interview. "Bezos embodies the Venetian mentality, he is more Venetian than the protesters," said centre-right mayor, adding that he hoped Bezos, who donated 3 million euros ($3.51 million) to local institutions, would return to the city to do business. Brugnaro said Bezos had attached no conditions to holding his wedding celebrations in Venice, and City Hall had only learned about his donations after they had already been made. Bezos, Amazon's executive chair, got engaged to Sanchez in 2023, four years after the collapse of his 25-year marriage to MacKenzie Scott. ($1 = 0.8552 euros) (Writing by Gavin Jones and Angelo Amante; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Till Jeff us do part: divisive, star-studded Bezos wedding hits full swing in Venice
The Black Death. Byron on the prowl. Rising water levels. Cruise ships the size of city blocks. Venice may have endured many tumultuous events and sinister challenges over the centuries but rarely in its long history has it had to contend with an issue quite as odd and quite as divisive as the sort-of nuptials of the world's fourth-richest person. Friday morning found the lagoon city doing what it does best: looking gorgeous and slightly unreal as it played host to thousands of tourists who posed in silver-prowed gondolas, chugged mid-morning spritzes or simply wilted in the muggy heat. But across the water from St Mark's Square, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's big day was getting under way. The precise choreography of events may not have been clear, but an elaborately planned and stealthily executed operation was unfolding on the tiny island of San Giorgio Maggiore, where the couple would later pledge eternal love and fidelity before a crowd of 200 mainly famous guests. A handful of camera crews mooched around the entrance to the Giorgio Cini foundation, where a pair of tight-lipped but polite individuals sat before monitors under a gazebo and politely fended off requests for information. And no, they really didn't know when the ceremony would begin. According to reports, the couple had already tied the knot in the US, making Friday's event as symbolic as it was expensive. The long Venetian afternoon stirred from its torpor at 5pm when Sánchez emerged from the Aman hotel, wearing a cream suit, sunglasses and a headscarf. The bride then boarded a water taxi that ferried her past the legions of photographers and over to the island. The groom, dressed in black tie, followed an hour later. Despite the heavy media presence and the epic scale of the festivities, however, not everyone on San Giorgio Maggiore was fizzing with excitement. Hosing down the deck of his boat in the island's harbour, 100 metres away from the venue, one local man had offered a laconic and not untypical take on what has become known, a little tediously, as 'the wedding of the century'. What did he make of all the fuss? 'I'm not thinking about it at all,' he said. 'I don't care.' The wedding celebrations – which began in earnest on Thursday night and are due to culminate in a reception held at the Arsenale historic shipyard complex on Saturday – have split the city into three groups. There are those, such as the yachtsman, who simply don't care; there are those furious that Venice is prostrating itself before a man with an estimated net worth of $212bn (£154bn), and then those who, like the city's mayor, see the £40m extravaganza as a welcome money-spinner and a wonderful showcase for the area's attractions. Bezos and Sánchez's famous friends do not appear to have been put off by the controversy, and there have been imaginative protests over the past few days – including rumours of a reserve armada of canal-blocking inflatable crocodiles. Thursday night's welcome party in the cloisters of the Madonna dell'Orto, a 14th-century church in the Cannaregio area, was attended by celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady and Orlando Bloom. But it was followed by yet another resourceful display of disapproval. A little before 11pm, a green laser was used to spell out the slogan, 'No Kings, No Bezos', on the belltower in St Mark's Square. Similar guerrilla actions over recent days have included the unfurling of a banner reading: 'If you can rent Venice for your wedding you can pay more tax.' Those behind the protests – a coalition of groups angered by the selling-out of the city, housing activists and anti-cruise ship campaigners – say their punning 'No Space for Bezos' alliance has already paid off. They claim their sustained pressure, not least the threat to deploy the blow-up crocodile fleet, had prompted the couple to switch the location of the reception from the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a majestic 16th-century building in the city centre, to the more private Arsenale. Others have a different take on the superyachts and the 90 private jets that have descended on Venice this week. The city's mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, has dismissed the protesters as 'shameful' and said the Bezos-Sánchez union will fill Venetian coffers. That view is shared by Italy's tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè. 'There will be photos everywhere, social media will go wild over the bride's dress, over the ceremony,' she told Associated Press. 'All of this translates into a massive free publicity campaign. In fact, because they will spend a lot of money, they will enrich Venice – our shopkeepers, artisans, restaurateurs, hotels. So it's a great opportunity both for spending and for promoting Italy in the world.' One man, however, had his very own reasons for wishing the Amazon founder all the best. Cagdas Halicilar, a 47-year-old German who runs a delivery truck company, has a sideline as a pretty convincing Bezos lookalike. He had travelled to Venice to greet and confound the crowds and was also hoping for a quick encounter with Bezos so that he could give him the €3,000 (£2,600) bottle of whiskey he had bought him as a wedding present. 'I realised the resemblance three years ago,' he said. 'My life has changed a lot since then. Wherever I go, people are like, 'Jeff! Jeff!'' He had come tantalisingly close to his doppelganger on Thursday night when a beautiful burgundy boat cruised past him. 'He saw me and I waved and he gave me a thumbs-up,' said Halicilar. 'I was so happy. I cried.' If the German delivery boss does finally get to meet Bezos, he has a simple message. 'I will just tell him that I'm proud to look like him. That's all. He's not arrogant and he has a big heart. He makes people smile and I'm a huge fan.' (He also hopes that if Bezos is reading this piece, his people can arrange a meeting to hand over the whiskey.) As the day wore on, the secret preparations continued and the vicious June sun beat down on tourists, guests and journalists, one visitor making her way around San Giorgio Maggiore shook her head. This was all proof, if further proof were needed, of the awesome power of the 21st-century super-rich. 'It's grotesque,' said the woman, who was from northern Spain. 'Two hundred and fifty guests and a bill of €50m? This is why I don't buy anything on Amazon.'
Globe and Mail
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez's extravaganza dubbed ‘wedding of the century' kicks off in Venice
The Italian city of Venice was making waves Friday with the most anticipated wedding of 2025 – that of billionaire Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez. The sky itself is no limit for this couple who have traveled into space, and expectations are about as high. One of the world's most enchanting cities as backdrop? Check. Star-studded guestlist and tabloid buzz? Of course. Local flavor? You bet. Beyond that, the team of the world's fourth-richest man has kept details under wraps. Still, whispers point to events spread across the lagoon city, adding complexity to what would have been a massive logistical undertaking even on dry land. On Thursday, dozens of private jets touched down at Venice's airport as yachts pulled into the city's famed waterways. Aboard were athletes, celebrities, influencers and business leaders, converging to revel in extravagance that is as much a testament to the couple's love as to their extraordinary wealth. The heady hoopla recalled the 2014 wedding in Venice of actor George Clooney to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, when adoring crowds lined the canals and hundreds of well-wishers gathered outside City Hall. Celebrities descend on Venice for Bezos and Sanchez's wedding extravaganza Not so for these nuptials, which have become a lightning rod for protests. Still, any desire to dampen the prevailing fever pitch has yet to materialize. Instead, the glitterati were set to party, and the paparazzi jostling for glimpses of the gilded gala. Whatever happens, it will be a wedding for the ages. Venice is famed for its network of canals, where gondoliers croon for lovestruck couples and even ambulances are aquatic. But water transport of everything from bouquets to guests makes Venice among the world's most challenging cities for a party, according to Jack Ezon, CEO of luxury travel advisory and event planner Embark Beyond. 'It's a very tight-knit community; everyone there knows everyone, and you need to work with the right people,' said Ezon, whose company has put on a dozen high-end events in Venice. 'There's very tight control, especially on movement there with boats.' It at least triples the cost versus staging the same soiree in Rome or Florence, he said. How much will Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's wedding cost? The celebrity affair in Venice, by the numbers Veneto Gov. Luca Zaia was first to give an estimated tally for the Bezos/Sánchez bash: He told reporters this week the most recent total he saw was between €40-48 million (up to US$56 million). It's an eye-popping, jaw-dropping figure that's over 1,000 times the US$36,000 average cost of American couples' weddings in 2025, according to wedding planning website Zola's annual report. Bezos' team has been tight-lipped about where these millions are going. When the youngest son of Asia's richest man married last July, performances by pop stars Rihanna and Justin Bieber pushed up the pricetag. 'How do you spend $40 million on a three- or four-day event?' Ezon said. 'You could bring headliners, A-list performers, great DJs from anywhere in the world. You could spend $2 million on an incredible glass tent that's only there for 10 hours, but it takes a month to build,' or expand the celebration to local landmarks. There's no sign Sánchez and Bezos, the former CEO of Amazon, intend to take over any of Venice's tourist-thronged hotspots. Still, intense hand-wringing about the prospect prompted their wedding coordinator, Lanza & Baucina, to issue a rare statement calling those rumors false. Bezos's Venice wedding party moved to isolated area on security concerns On Thursday, a string of water taxis cut through the lagoon to bring Bezos, Sánchez and guests to the Madonna dell'Orto cloister as some onlookers cheered. Paparazzi followed in their own boats, trying to capture guests on camera – Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady, Orlando Bloom – as police on jet skis patrolled. Local media have reported the couple will hold a ceremony Friday on San Giorgio island, across the lagoon basin from St. Mark's Square. Associated Press journalists circling the island Thursday saw workers assembling tents and private security personnel stationed at every pier, including a newly built one. Media have also reported a reception Saturday in the Arsenale, a former navy base best known as a primary venue for the Venice Bienalle. There are some who say these two should not be wed in this city. They characterize the wedding as a decadent display of wealth in a world with growing inequality, and argue it's a shining example of tourism taking precedence over residents' needs, particularly affordable housing and essential services. Venice is also one of the cities most vulnerable to rising sea levels from climate change. About a dozen Venetian organizations – including housing advocates, anti-cruise ship campaigners and university groups – are protesting under the banner 'No Space for Bezos,' a play on words referring to his space exploration company Blue Origin and the bride's recent space flight. Opinion: As Jeff Bezos prepares for a grand Venice wedding, locals are pushing back harder than ever Greenpeace unfurled a banner in St. Mark's Square denouncing Bezos for paying insufficient taxes. Activists floated a bald-headed Bezos-inspired mannequin down a Venice canal atop an Amazon delivery box, its hands clenching fake cash. Authorities – from Venice's mayor to the nation's tourism minister – have dismissed the outcry, saying it ignores the visibility and economic boost the wedding brings. 'There will be photos everywhere, social media will go wild over the bride's dress, over the ceremony,' Italy's tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, told the AP. 'All of this translates into a massive free publicity campaign. In fact, because they will spend a lot of money, they will enrich Venice – our shopkeepers, artisans, restauranteurs, hotels. So it's a great opportunity both for spending and for promoting Italy in the world.' As Amazon's CEO, Bezos usually avoided the limelight, frequently delegating announcements and business updates to his executives. Today he has a net worth of $231 billion, according to Forbes. In 2019, he announced he was divorcing his first wife, MacKenzie Scott, just before the National Enquirer published a story about an affair with Sánchez, a former TV news anchor. Sánchez filed for divorce the day after Bezos' divorce was finalized. He stepped down as CEO in 2021, saying he wished to spend more time on side projects, including Blue Origin, The Washington Post, which he owns, and his philanthropic initiatives. Sitting beside Sánchez during an interview with CNN in 2022, he announced plans to give away the majority of his wealth during his lifetime. Last week, a Venetian environmental research association issued a statement saying Bezos' Earth Fund was supporting its work with an 'important donation.' CORILA, which seeks protection of the Venetian lagoon system, said contact began in April, well before any protests.
Daily Mail
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The A-list wedding of the year in pictures: Inside Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's lavish celebrations as star-studded guest list descends on Venice for $50m extravaganza
The glitzy wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez is just hours away. The lavish and theatrical nuptials will take place overlooking a Venice lagoon and the ceremony will be attended by more than 200 A-list guests including Ivanka Trump, Leonardo Di Caprio, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and Barack Obama. The entire Kardashian-Jenner clan including Kim, Khloe, Kylie, Kendall and Kris are in the Italian city. The main event will be on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, run by the Cini Foundation, this evening. Bezos and Sanchez are due to say their vows in the restored amphitheatre on the island while Matteo Bocelli, the son of tenor Andrea, sings. Celebrities have been mingling in the city today after arriving on Wednesday ahead of the main event this evening. Venice's most luxurious hotels have been booked out by Amazon billionaire Bezos, as part of three days of festivities ending in the early hours of Sunday morning. Upon her arrival in Venice, her sister Khloe strutted along the walkway like a supermodel while clutching onto a Stanley Cup and a large pink Louis Vuitton holdall Kim was joined by her mother Kris Jenner in travelling to Venice, who was also dressed in black, showcasing her figure in a low-cut dress upon her arrival Oprah Winfrey gave a glimpse at her frame as she attended a party later on Thursday while sporting a purple and white-colored ensemble with small cutouts on the sides Newly-single Orlando Bloom is also on Venice after his reported split from Katy Perry alongside friends including Scooter Braun (second from left) Tommy Hilfiger and his wife Dee Ocleppo are also in town for the nuptials Gayle King, Orlando Bloom, Khloe Kardashian Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sànchez are seen breakfasting in Venice this morning Khloe Kardashian (left) is pictured alongside Kris Jenna in Venice this week Ellie Goulding is photographed in blue at a reception ahead of the wedding, due to take place this evening Sydney Sweeney leaves a reception in Venice last night aboard a gondola Orlando Bloom and Tom Brady spotted in Venice amidst temperatures expected to reach 40C Ivanka Trump waves to a crowd as she arrives in Venice prior to the wedding of the century Ivanka Trumps and Jared Kushner will both be in attendance at Saturday's nuptials Ted Sarandos and Nicole Avant arriving at Venice airport ahead of Jeff Bezos' wedding US singer Usher Raymond IV and wife Jennifer Goicoechea are pictured on a taxi boat in Venice lagoon Lachlan Murdoch and Sarah Murdoch arriving at Venice airport ahead of the wedding Veronica Smiley, wife of US filmed producer Brian Gazer, has also travelled to Venice from the US Kering Ceo, Francois-Henri Pinault, sits on a boat at Venice Marco Polo airport ahead of Jeff Bezos' wedding to Lauren Sanchez The business executive was one of the many celebrities who shrugged off raging protests by the Italian locals; a 'No Space For Bezos' sign is seen on the Rialto Bridge A team of former US marines has already been hired to provide security for the event by Bezos, which is due to take place over three days from June 26 in the iconic lagoon city. Pictured: A banner against Bezos lies on the ground in St. Mark's Square
The Independent
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
The best that Bezos' money can buy: A wedding for the ages in timeless Venice
The Italian city of Venice was making waves Friday with the most anticipated wedding of 2025 — that of billionaire Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez. The sky itself is no limit for this couple who has traveled into space, and expectations are about as high. One of the world's most-enchanting cities as backdrop? Check. Star-studded guestlist and tabloid buzz? Of course. Local flavor? You bet. Beyond that, the team of the world's fourth-richest man has kept details under wraps. Still, whispers point to events spread across the lagoon city, adding complexity to what would have been a massive logistical undertaking even on dry land. On Thursday, dozens of private jets touched down at Venice's airport as yachts pulled into the city's famed waterways. Aboard were athletes, celebrities, influencers and business leaders, converging to revel in extravagance that is as much a testament to the couple's love as to their extraordinary wealth. The heady hoopla recalled the 2014 wedding in Venice of actor George Clooney to human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, when adoring crowds lined the canals and hundreds of well-wishers gathered outside City Hall. Not so for these nuptials, which have become a lightning rod for protests. Still, any desire to dampen the prevailing fever pitch has yet to materialize. Instead, the glitterati were set to party, and the paparazzi jostling for glimpses of the gilded gala. Whatever happens, it will be a wedding for the ages. Logistics and costs Venice is famed for its network of canals, where gondoliers croon for lovestruck couples and even ambulances are aquatic. But water transport of everything from bouquets to guests makes Venice among the world's most challenging cities for a party, according to Jack Ezon, CEO of luxury travel advisory and event planner Embark Beyond. 'It's a very tight-knit community; everyone there knows everyone, and you need to work with the right people,' said Ezon, whose company has put on a dozen high-end events in Venice. "There's very tight control, especially on movement there with boats.' It at least triples the cost versus staging the same soiree in Rome or Florence, he said. Veneto Gov. Luca Zaia was first to give an estimated tally for the Bezos/Sánchez bash: He told reporters this week the most recent total he saw was between 40 and 48 million euros (up to $56 million). It's an eye-popping, jaw-dropping figure that's over 1,000 times the $36,000 average cost of American couples' weddings in 2025, according to wedding planning website Zola's annual report. Bezos' team has been tight-lipped about where these millions are going. When the youngest son of Asia's richest man married last July, performances by pop stars Rihanna and Justin Bieber pushed up the pricetag. 'How do you spend $40 million on a three- or four-day event?' Ezon said. 'You could bring headliners, A-list performers, great DJs from anywhere in the world. You could spend $2 million on an incredible glass tent that's only there for 10 hours, but it takes a month to build," or expand the celebration to local landmarks. There's no sign Sánchez and Bezos, the former CEO of Amazon, intend to take over any of Venice's tourist-thronged hotspots. Still, intense hand-wringing about the prospect prompted their wedding coordinator, Lanza & Baucina, to issue a rare statement calling those rumors false. On Thursday, a string of water taxis cut through the lagoon to bring Bezos, Sánchez and guests to the Madonna dell'Orto cloister as some onlookers cheered. Paparazzi followed in their own boats, trying to capture guests on camera — Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Ivanka Trump, Tom Brady, Orlando Bloom — as police on jet skis patrolled. Local media have reported the couple will hold a ceremony Friday on San Giorgio island, across the lagoon basin from St. Mark's Square. Associated Press journalists circling the island Thursday saw workers assembling tents and private security personnel stationed at every pier, including a newly built one. Media have also reported a reception Saturday in the Arsenale, a former navy base best known as a primary venue for the Venice Bienalle. 'No Space' There are some who say these two should not be wed in this city. They characterize the wedding as a decadent display of wealth in a world with growing inequality, and argue it's a shining example of tourism taking precedence over residents' needs, particularly affordable housing and essential services. Venice is also one of the cities most vulnerable to rising sea levels from climate change. About a dozen Venetian organizations — including housing advocates, anti-cruise ship campaigners and university groups — are protesting under the banner 'No Space for Bezos,' a play on words referring to his space exploration company Blue Origin and the bride's recent space flight. Greenpeace unfurled a banner in St. Mark's Square denouncing Bezos for paying insufficient taxes. Activists floated a bald-headed Bezos-inspired mannequin down a Venice canal atop an Amazon delivery box, its hands clenching fake cash. Authorities — from Venice's mayor to the nation's tourism minister — have dismissed the outcry, saying it ignores the visibility and economic boost the wedding brings. 'There will be photos everywhere, social media will go wild over the bride's dress, over the ceremony,' Italy's tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, told the AP. 'All of this translates into a massive free publicity campaign. In fact, because they will spend a lot of money, they will enrich Venice — our shopkeepers, artisans, restauranteurs, hotels. So it's a great opportunity both for spending and for promoting Italy in the world.' Philanthropy As Amazon's CEO, Bezos usually avoided the limelight, frequently delegating announcements and business updates to his executives. Today he has a net worth of $231 billion, according to Forbes. In 2019, he announced he was divorcing his first wife, MacKenzie Scott, just before the National Enquirer published a story about an affair with Sánchez, a former TV news anchor. Sánchez filed for divorce the day after Bezos' divorce was finalized. He stepped down as CEO in 2021, saying he wished to spend more time on side projects, including Blue Origin, The Washington Post, which he owns, and his philanthropic initiatives. Sitting beside Sánchez during an interview with CNN in 2022, he announced plans to give away the majority of his wealth during his lifetime. Last week, a Venetian environmental research association issued a statement saying Bezos' Earth Fund was supporting its work with an 'important donation.' CORILA, which seeks protection of the Venetian lagoon system, said contact began in April, well before any protests. ___ Biller reported from Rome. AP reporter Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco contributed to this report.
