Amazon founder Jeff Bezos married his fiancée Lauren Sanchez in a controversial three-day celebration. Estimated to cost up to $56 million, the guest list included Hollywood stars, athletes and even royalty.
Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos married Lauren Sanchez in a lavish ceremony on Friday in Venice's San Giorgio Maggiore island.
Sanchez first stepped out from the luxury Aman hotel the couple were staying at, wearing a skirt suit, and Bezos followed some two hours later.
Sanchez's wedding dress was still kept under wraps at the time she hopped onto a motorboat from her hotel, but she later revealed the dress on her newly branded Instagram page with the name: Lauren Sanchez Bezos.
The former journalist reportedly has 27 outfits prepared for festivities over three days, with Dolce & Gabbana having been the fashion house behind her wedding gown.
Bezos wore a black tuxedo and a bow tie over a white shirt, as the official photo Sanchez shared on her Instagram photo showed.
The interest around the power couple's wedding sent the media into a tizzy, with dozens of photographers having parked themselves in boats outside Aman, and other hotels where guests stayed.
Papparazzi took photos of numerous VIP guests includingKim Kardashian,Oprah Winfrey, Orlando Bloom, Jordan'sQueen Rania, US football player Tom Brady, singer Usher and Ivanka Trump — the daughter of US PresidentDonald Trump.
But the lavish wedding was not without its objectors.
Venice is one of the most iconic cities in the world, but it is also among the most vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Its popularity has also led toovertourism, with local residents complaining ofa lack of affordable housing and poor access to essential services.
At least 95 private planes requested permission to land at Venice's Marco Polo airport for the wedding, theCorriere della SeraItalian daily reported, while several megayachts have also moored off the city.
Environmentalists, housing advocates, anti-cruise ship campaigners and university groupshave come together to protest the weddingunder the banner "No space for Bezos."
The slogan is a play on words that references his space exploration company, Blue Origin, as well asthe bride's recent space flight.
Greenpeaceunfurled a banner in St Mark's Squaredenouncing the billionaire tech mogul for not paying enough in taxes.
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Other activists displayed mannequins mocking Bezos around the city, including one that bobbed in the city's canals, clinging to an Amazon parcel to stay afloat.
Bezos and Sanchez are donating €3 million ($3.5 million) to the city, according to Veneto's regional president Luca Zaia, and are employing historic Venetian artisans.
The celebrations are set to wrap up on Saturday with a party likely at the Arsenale, a vast shipyard complex dating back to when the city was a naval powerhouse and which nowadays serves as a venue for theVenice Biennale.
The party bags will reportedly feature glassware from Laguna B as well as traditional Venetian cookies made by the city's oldest pastry maker Rosa Salva.
The governor of Veneto told reporters that the most recent price tag for the three-day event was between €40 and €48 million (up to $56 million).
That's more than 1,000 times the cost of the average US couple's wedding, which came in at $36,000 in 2025, according to wedding planning site Zola.