The canals of Venice glistened beneath camera flashes and whispered speculation this week as billionaire Jeff Bezos and journalist Lauren Sanchez commenced their opulent three-day wedding celebrations. But even as international celebrities disembarked from private boats and helicopters, some Venetians raised placards in protest against what they called a “sell-out” of their historic city.
The Amazon founder and his fiancée arrived in the floating city on Wednesday and checked into the exclusive Aman Hotel, where rooms with views of the Grand Canal command upwards of €4,000 a night.
A-list guests including Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, the Kardashians, Orlando Bloom, and Queen Rania of Jordan have made their way to the city, joining a guest list reportedly totalling 200 to 250 names. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were among the early arrivals, spotted shopping in Venice ahead of the festivities.
The couple is expected to exchange vows on Friday at the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, across from St Mark’s Square. According to a senior City Hall official, the ceremony will hold no legal standing under Italian law, prompting speculation that the pair may have formalised their marriage previously in the United States.
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The final celebration is scheduled for Saturday night at the historic Arsenale, a restored mediaeval shipyard that now serves as an arts venue in the Castello district.
Despite the glamour, not all Venetians are rolling out the red carpet. A lone protester climbed a flagpole in St Mark’s Square on Thursday and unfurled a banner reading, “The 1 per cent ruins the world,” as part of demonstrations organised by the "No Space for Bezos" campaign. The group argues that such high-profile events turn Venice into a playground for billionaires, compromising its cultural fabric and exacerbating inequality.
Still, some local residents and business owners see the celebration as an economic boon.
“If you look at what concretely the Bezos wedding brings for the good of Venice, there are only advantages and no disadvantages,” Mattia Brandi, a local tour guide, told Reuters. “If anything is different, it is because of the protesters... They don’t realise that it is them who are disrupting the quiet life of the city.”
Similar elite ceremonies have been staged in the city in recent years, notably George and Amal Clooney’s wedding in 2014 and the 2011 nuptials of Indian billionaires Vinita Agarwal and Muqit Teja, both of which proceeded without significant backlash.
Bezos, 61, and Sanchez, 55, became engaged in 2023, four years after the former’s divorce from MacKenzie Scott, his wife of 25 years. Currently ranked fourth on the Forbes billionaires list, Bezos remains one of the most visible symbols of global wealth, making this wedding as much a display of influence as affection.
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