Newlyweds Bezos and Sanchez gear up for final party at Venice gala

VENICE: 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.

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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 pm (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.

COST OF THE WEDDING

The wedding celebrations for around 200-250 guests are expected to cost 40 million to 48 million euros ($47 million to $56 million), Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto region, which includes Venice, told reporters on Tuesday.

Italy’s tourism ministry said on Friday it carried out a study estimating the overall economic impact of the wedding at 957 million euros ($1.12 billion), including an 896 million euro benefit from “media visibility”.

The rest would come from direct or indirect spending related to the event, such as 28.4 million euros ($33.33 million) for hotel and location expenses and 17.6 million euros ($20.66 million) for transportation and other service expenses.

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VENICE WEDDING VENUES

Celebrations began on Thursday evening in the cloisters of Madonna dell’Orto, a medieval church in the central district of Cannaregio that hosts masterpieces by 16th century painter Tintoretto.

On Friday, the couple were due to exchange rings on the small island of San Giorgio, opposite St Mark’s Square, accompanied by singing from Matteo Bocelli, son of the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

The main party is due on Saturday at the Arsenale, a former shipyard where vessels were built for the Venetian Republic’s maritime empire. Several media outlets are reporting there will be performances by Lady Gaga and Elton John.

WHICH CELEBRITIES ARE ATTENDING THE BEZOS WEDDING?

U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner were among the first guests to arrive in Venice on Tuesday. They were joined by dozens of other A-listers including Bill Gates, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, the queen of Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and Kim and Khloe Kardashian as well as Domenico Dolce from Dolce & Gabbana.

Bezos and Sanchez landed in Venice on Wednesday, arriving by helicopter.

WHERE ARE THE WEDDING GUESTS STAYING IN VENICE?

Five of the city’s most luxurious hotels have been booked, including Cipriani on the island of Giudecca, and the St Regis near St Mark’s Square. Bezos and Sanchez took up residence at the Aman, where rooms with a view of the Grand Canal go for at least 4,000 euros per night. The same hotel hosted U.S. actor George Clooney for his 2014 wedding with human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin.

BEZOS AND SANCHEZ CHARITY DONATIONS

Bezos and Sanchez donated 3 million euros to three Venetian institutions, with 1 million euros each going to CORILA, an academic consortium that studies the lagoon ecosystem, UNESCO’s local office, and the Venice International University.

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